Founded in 2007, the Luminato Festival has had its ups and downs – earlier this year, it relocated its HQ to the TIFF Lightbox, in a bid to cut costs for both arts organizations – even as it has continually managed to deliver on its promise of internationally acclaimed performances, often making their North American debut.
This year’s edition goes big on immersion, with a faux rave, a new work from a Canadian performing artist known for using his body as a canvas, and the Toronto premiere of that one play where they build a house on stage in real-time.
Running June 5 – 16, with several installations subsequently staying in place through the summer, Luminato 2024 is a performing arts festival with the goal of turning Toronto into a “playground of art, creativity and conversation.” Featuring both international and Canadian artists, Luminato combines site-specific works, performance art, theatre, dance, music, and so much more. Centred around the downtown core, this year’s edition also features the “SPACED” satellite events at certain subway stations further afield, with Kennedy Station, Spadina, Finch, and York University Station all hosting artists and exhibitions throughout the festival.
Highlights this year include the many events and concerts at David Pecaut Square (next to Roy Thomson Hall), which run the duration of the festival under the branding Luminato in the Square. Among those is Evanescent, a sculptural installation which looks like a bunch of oversized soap bubbles – not unlike The Prisoner’s Rover – which takes over both David Pecaut Square and Arnell Plaza, Bay Adelaide Centre.
HOME, by Geoff Sobelle, is a highly popular stage show – it’s already been lauded in New York, Boston, and elsewhere – in which the cast of characters slowly constructs a house on stage, over the course of the play.
Similarly, Sonia Hughes’s I Am From Reykjavik is a performance art piece which involves a constructed space, built by Hughes herself during her one-woman performance. Age is a Feeling, Haley McGee’s one-woman show about ageing and the passage of time, is an import from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, here co-produced with Soulpepper Theatre.
There’s plenty more. Day-long outdoor events, dance performances including the aforementioned R.A.V.E. out at Downsview Park, and various musical performances at stages across the city. While there is, sadly, no David Suzuki this year, there’s still more than enough to see, do, and dance to for curious audiences.
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For more on Luminato 2024, including info on free and ticketed events, click here.
