June 14th-25th Luminato @ various locations. Toronto’s international multi-arts, multi-platform festival dedicated to performance, visual art, music, theatre, dance, and programming that cuts across traditional art form boundaries.
June 15th-18th The Toronto Art Book Fair @ Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St. Now in its second year, TOABF will showcase hundreds of artists, publications, small presses, independent publishers, archives, contemporary art galleries, critics, designers, writers, and performers. Runs 12-8 pm Friday and Saturday, and 12-6 pm Sunday.
June 15th-18th Taste of Toronto, Garrison Common at Fort York (100 Garrison Rd.). Now in its fourth year, Taste of Toronto will once again transform the Garrison Common into a foodie wonderland with an all-star cast of chefs, live cooking demonstrations, tastings, cooking classes, mixology lessons, and more. Tickets are $17 for Thursday and Friday or $21 for Saturday and Sunday and can be purchased here.
June 16th-18th Taco Fest @ Ontario Place, 955 Lakeshore Blvd. W. Tacos, guacamole, churros, tequila, hot sauce, and everything Mexican! An electric atmosphere showcasing Toronto’s best and most celebrated chefs with an authentic Mexican twist. $9.95-14.95 tickets available online.
June 16th-18th Taste of Little Italy @ College St. (from Bathurst to Shaw). Toronto’s annual festival celebrating Italian heritage, with live music, tastings, wine, cheese, and more.
June 16th-25th NXNE @ various locations. North by Northeast celebrates 22 years this June! Performances include Passion Pit, Kaytranada, Post Malone, Sleigh Bells, and many more.
WEDNESDAY
7 pm Music Bingo @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A FREE weekly event combining the love of music with the traditional bingo format. Each player receives a Music Bingo card which consists of an assortment of songs. Instead of calling out numbers, they play the music! Singing along encouraged.
8 pm The MUFF Society Presents: Death Proof @ Imagine Cinemas Carlton, 20 Carlton St. Join The MUFF Society for a screening of Quentin Tarantino’s explosive Death Proof, where every seat in the theatre is death proof (they promise). Pop-up shop + photobooth fun at 8 pm, screening at 9. $10 advance tickets available online.
8 pm Drake Trivia @ The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. Teams of four or less put their random knowledge to the test as hosts Megan Griffith-Greene and Jeromy Lloyd fire off questions ranging from sporting records and celebrity scandals to geographic discoveries and culinary lingo. $2 to participate and the winning table gets an $80 Drake gift card (plus bragging rights)! Click here to reserve with OpenTable, or show up early to ensure a spot for your team.
THURSDAY
7 pm “At Night” Opening Reception @ Unlovable General & Gallery, 1415 Dundas St. W. A solo exhibition by Toronto-based photographer Mike Morris featuring excerpts from two separate bodies of work he has focused on since 2015. The first includes photos taken from behind the bar as he works his various bartending jobs, while the second are photos taken while pool hopping late in the night during Toronto’s scorching hot summers. Until 10 pm. Exhibition runs to June 25th.
9 pm Be Bop N Roll @ Stop, Drop & Roll, 300 College St. A night of old school rockabilly and garage rock tunes with DJs Medusa and Raw-Hide + a Go-go performance by Dolly Berlin and Sul Tana.
10 pm Get Lo @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Bangs & Blush bring you the ULTIMATE ’90s til now dance party, GET LO! They’ll be playing all the shit you wanna hear from the ’90s to today.
10 pm Love Shack @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. DJ DangerCat spinning your favourite rock and roll, indie, garage, surf, and new wave hits all night!
10 pm Max Graef and Thought Project @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. In partnership with Mural X Mutek, Deep Gold brings you an intimate night of house, disco, and techno with Max Graef and Thought Project. $10 advance tickets available online.
FRIDAY
7 pm #FNLROM: Indigenous Now @ Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. Honour Aboriginal Heritage Month with contemporary Indigenous artists, and explore the ROM’s special exhibition, “Anishinaabeg: Art & Power.” $17 tickets available online and at the door.
8 pm All-Star Gala in support of SickKids @ Arcadian Court, 401 Bay St., 8th floor. The the third annual All-Star Gala in support of SickKids will bring together celebrities, young professionals, and pro athletes together for a night of complimentary cocktails, live and silent auctions, and live entertainment by DJs and musicians. $142 tickets available online, with all net proceeds going toward a research project led by Dr. Mike Seed of the SickKids Family Heart Centre in tandem with other pediatric heart surgeons in Canadian children’s hospitals.
10 pm Bad News @ Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave. Thee Blitzkrieg Slop a.k.a. garage, soul, ’60s trash, and rock ‘n’ roll. With DJs Neil and Derek.
10 pm Birthday Sex @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. Diego Bros are back to play your favourite throwback RnB and hip-hop jams all night long! With special guest DJ Black Cat. $5.
10 pm Shadows of Motown @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. DJs Slater, Well Said, and Ty play the best of the Motown label and their contemporaries. $5.
10 pm Distorted with Raär & CL @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Bambi’s welcomes Raär from Paris for his North American debut, offering up a medley of choked out drums, heart soaked vocals, grumbling bass lines, and crisp hats. With support from Toronto’s CL. $10 advance tickets available online.
10 pm DJ Blush’s ’80s Mix Tape Dance Party @ Stone’s Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Super-fun, high-energy, all-’80s dance party with DJ Blush on the decks! $5.
10 pm Carlton Ranks @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. The ultimate smooth party groove. Hip-hop, dancehall, soul, RnB, reggae – everything you need.
10 pm Girl & Boy 90s Dance Party @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. A pulsating dance party rocking the retro sounds of the 1990s! All your favourite dance, pop, hip-hop, R&B, and so on and so on and so on. $5 with student ID, $10 without.
10 pm DJ Digital’s Hair Metal Record Collection @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Bring your favourite metal records or dig through DJ Digital’s crates. You pick ’em, they’ll play ’em!
10 pm Beam Me Up: Eighties @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. After a late 1970s backlash, disco dove back into the shadows. The music that drove dancefloors evolved, emerging as house, electro funk, italo, and new wave. For this special ’80s edition, Beam Me Up residents A Digital Needle and Cyclist look at the post-disco sound, and how it helped shape the dance music of today! $10.
11:45 pm Rude: Shade @ Studio Bar, 824 Dundas St. W. The Rude Collective is hosting the BIGGEST, BADDEST, SHADIEST after party for the Black Nuance Shade. DJs Ace Dillinger, Karim Olen Ash, Vaughan, and Club Fitness spinning world beats, throwbacks, house, techno, vogue beats, Jersey club, afro beats, and more. $5 all night if you show your bracelet from Black Nuance Shade, $10 before 1 am, or $15 after 1am, with 20% of profits going towards YMCA Sprott House.
SATURDAY
11 am Toronto Etsy Street Team Mid-Summer Market @ Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen St. W. Handmade and vintage from Toronto Etsy members! There will be goods both indoors and outdoors, demonstrations, music, workshops, delicious foods to eat, and tours of the museum all day. Until 6 pm.
3 pm Red Bull Sound Select Block Party @ Drake Commissary, 128 Sterling Rd. Join Red Bull Sound Select and Collectif NUDE for live music and fun in the sun! Featuring performances by MADDEE, Shagabond, RALPH, and Young Clancy. $3 with RSVP, $10 without.
9 pm CA$H for GUTS Dance Party @ Geary Lane, 360 Geary Ave. Celebrate the release of GUTS magazine’s Spring Issue: CA$H. There will be amazing DJs, door prizes, and dancing, and you’ll be helping to raise the necessary cash to pay GUTS contributors and keep the magazine alive. $12 in advance; $12 at the door until 11 pm, $15 after.
10 pm Hey Girl Hey @ The Steady, 1051 Bloor St. W. Hey Girl Hey celebrates Pride Month AND their first anniversary! Get ready for DJ Orange Pekoe playing the best hip-hop and R&B by female artists, midnight floorshow with house queen Beardoncé and special guests, $5 edible glitter shots, and more surprises. $10.
10 pm Motown Party: Michael Jackson Edition @ Studio Bar, 824 Dundas St. W. Come shimmy and shake your tail feather as Motown Party pays tribute to the King of Pop! Featuring the best and brightest music from the Motown, Northern Soul, Stax labels throughout the night, with a special focus on Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. $5 in advance and at the door, with a portion of proceeds going to Children’s Aid Society Toronto.
10 pm Saturday Night Jukebox Dance Party @ Stone’s Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Meet DJ Blush at Stones Place every Saturday night for the most fun/positive/energetic dance party on the West side of the 6! She plays the best ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Motown, Stax, classic soul, funk, rock ‘n’ roll, pop, and disco.
10 pm All Soul’d Out @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. DJ Big Jimmy Mills on two turntables spinning old school hip-hop, party jams, dancehall, reggae, and RnB.
10 pm Tiki Disco Saturdays @ Miss Thing’s, 1279 Queen St. W. Post-dinner Saturday night party in the Coconut Room, with special guest DJs to make you MOVE! No cover before midnight.
10 pm Worst Behavior @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. This Saturday, be on your worst behavior. Bangs & Blush play past and present bangers all night long from Drake, The Weeknd, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Nelly, TLC, Missy Elliott, and more! $5 with student ID, $10 without.
10 pm Love Below @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Throbbing music made by machines (and people) moving in slow motion. Quiet storm meets storm rave. Andrew Ross on the button, with a performance by Montreal’s The Beat Escape. $5 before midnight, more after.
10 pm Get It Together @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. Kensington Market’s open format dance party welcoming all genres, all styles, and all people. Selections by Mikey McFly. $5.
10 pm Cold Shoulder @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. Famous Players and Patrick McGuire playing rap music from 1992 to 2017. $5.
10 pm It’s All Good @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. DJs General Eclectic and Splattermonkey play the best music videos from the ’90s for you to dance your butts off too! The best all killer and no filler selections from 1990 to 1999, so expect to hear stuff like Wu-Tang, Pixies, Nirvana, Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk, etc. Nostalgic moments guaranteed, because It’s All Good, baby! $10.
10 pm Bleach @ Nocturne, 550 Queen St. W. : Grunge, alt-rock, and emo video dance party with DJ Lazarus. Bleach will be honouring the legacy of Chris Cornell with extra Soundgarden, Audioslave, and solo videos played throughout the night. ’70s disco and ’80s new wave with DJ Griz in the front room. 4 AM LAST CALL. $10 before 11 pm, $15 after.
10 pm Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: ’80s Dance Party @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. It’s time to save Ferris! Come party ’80s style and dance to all the hits from the decade + the soundtrack from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. $5 advance tickets available online.
10:30 pm Ice Blue Mink @ Oak Island, 121 Ossington Ave. Kick off summer ’17 with DJs Sasha Kalra and Marko Orlic! Expect to hear Kendrick, J Hus, Young Carti Young Carti, Drake, Uzi, Migos, Divine Council, Frank, etc, etc. New Thugger, 2 Chainz, and Big Boi albums drop the night before.
10:30 pm Nasty Women: Robyn Edition @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A celebration of electro females who give no fucks, spotlighting the Swedish Queen of Electro: Robyn. With DJs Winnie, Wei Back, and Lana Leprich. $8 in advance, $10 at the door.
10:30 pm Back In The Day @ Revival, 783 College St. A tribute to ’90s old school hip-hop, R&B, dance, house, reggae, and pop with DJs Starting From Scratch and R2. Email info@themarqueemedia.com for bottle service inquiries and guest list.
11 pm Stuck On Stupid @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. DJs Fase and Dougie Boom throw a no-holds-barred, anything-goes, sky’s-the-limit, all-out dance-a-thon! Expect hits and not-so-hits, jams old and new. 4 AM LAST CALL. $10.
SUNDAY
10 am The Trinity Bellwoods Flea @ The Great Hall (lower level), 1087 Queen St. W. Join the Trinity Bellwoods Flea for a day of local vendors and artisans, sweet treats, and delicious eats. Featuring the best handmade, locally crafted goods, beauty, home decor, art, and vintage. Four-legged friends welcome! Until 6 pm.
10 am Gladstone Flea: Father’s Day Edition @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. Looking for something special for your pops? Peruse the Gladstone Flea’s local marketplace full of goodies that make for great original gifts (and maybe pick up some must-haves for yourselves too). Until 4 pm.
11 am The Leslieville Flea @ The Distillery District, 55 Mill St. A curated market featuring over 70 vendors selling the very best of vintage, upcycled, and handcrafted items. The flea now also has live music, free yoga classes, ice cream, and volunteer clothing menders. Until 6 pm.
11 am Pink Market @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A queer craft, art, fashion, and lit fair featuring over 50 vendors. Until 6 pm. PWYC admission.
11:30 am Father’s Day Brunch & Dinner Cruises @ Mariposa Cruises, 207 Queen’s Quay W. Make dad feel like a captain on Father’s Day with a specialty brunch cruise and dinner cruise! Brunch cruise features a two-hour afternoon getaway on the water with gorgeous views of Toronto’s skyline and harbour, a full cash bar, and buffet; dinner features a two and a half-hour cruise with sunset views, DJ, full cash bar, and buffet. $52.95 tickets available online.
2 pm Screen Queens Presents: Pride Patio Party with Priscilla Queen of the Desert @ The Royal Cinema, 608 College St. Soak up the sunshine on the Royal’s massive patio, complete with Muskoka beer bar, DJ Andrew Awesome, giveaways and “lip sync for your life” from 2-7 pm. Then, head inside for a screening of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, live and potentially very drunk commentary, special guests, performances, drinking games, and plenty of surprises. Pre-show at 7:45 pm, movie at 8. $12 in advance, $15 at the door.
7 pm Brass Facts Trivia @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Test your knowledge and win prizes! Hosted by Famous Kirk Hero. Until 10 pm.
~ For event submissions, email Caitlyn Holroyd at caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com