August 3rd-7th Caribana @ various locations. A festival of Caribbean culture and traditions attracting millions of people from around the world.

August 3rd-13th SummerWorks Festival @ various locations. Canada’s largest curated performance festival of theatre, dance, music, live art, and interdisciplinary forms. This year’s festival features 52 unique projects as well as artist workshops, performance experiments, and nightly parties.

August 3rd-16th Plant Life @ Black Cat Artspace, 2186 Dundas St. W. A photography exhibition and botanical retail experience, presented by PhotoEd Platform and LadyBug Florist. 11-7 pm daily.

WEDNESDAY

6:15 pm 2 for 1 Sip & Sail Cruise @ Mariposa Cruises (Pier 6), 207 Queens Quay W. Beginning July 19th, Mariposa Cruises is offering two tickets for the price of one to this two-hour cruise through the Toronto harbour and Toronto Island waterways at sunset. The evening will feature a DJ spinning soul and lounge; full bar serving a variety of wine, beer, and specialty cocktails; appetizers for purchase; and picturesque views. $24 advance tickets available online.

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.

10 pm Loose Fit @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. New kick-ass monthly featuring Britpop, New York noise, psychedelic, and good vibrations.

THURSDAY

7 pm Pop Culture Trivia @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. A trivia night with the emphasis on entertainment (movies, TV, music). This is the payoff for all the television you’ve been watching. Prizes and cheap drinks all night!

8 pm “Where Home Is” Opening Reception @ Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen St. W. Home is many things to different people; a destination, a place people are in search of, a place to return to, a place that people struggle to keep sometimes. This exhibition offers artists a chance to reflect and explore the many things that home means to them. Exhibition runs until August 13th.

10 pm Throwback Thursdays @ Prettyugly Bar, 1237 Queen St. W. A weekly party series where Good Kids dim the lights low and turn the bass up on some of your favourite jams to move your hips to spanning multiple musical genres and decades.

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 Electricladyland @ The Beaver, 1192 Queen St. W. A queer synthy, sexy dance party, playing all and only electronic ladies! Expect lots of Le Tigre, Erykah Badu, Bjork, Kate Bush, Kelela, Broadcast, Robyn, Madonna, The Knife, Kylie Minogue, M.I.A., Lykke Li, FKA Twigs, Santogold, Grimes, and more.

FRIDAY

10 pm Jerk: Caribana Edition @ Velvet Underground, 508 Queen St. W. Jerk is back just in time for Caribana! With DJs Debby Friday, Paul Souljoyce, Bambii, and a secret guest. Free chicken while supplies last, ’cause whining makes you hungry. $10, with partial proceeds going to the TransWomen of Color Collective.

10 pm Very Special @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. Rap, R&B, and dancehall (current and ’00s classics) with DJs Big Jacks and Jenno. $10 before midnight, more after.

10 pm Wimmin @ Glad Day Book Shop, 499 Church St. A heavy, queer rock ‘n’ roll dance party, featuring music by only female and gender-expansive punkers and rockers like Patti Smith, X-Ray Spex, PJ Harvey, The Cliks, Against Me!, Janis Joplin, Le Tigre, and many, many more. PWYC ($5 suggested, but no one turned away for lack of funds).

10 pm Hold Tight @ Stone’s Place, 1255 Queen St. W. DJ Blush (Brittney Townson) and DJ Misty (Misty McKenzie-Hill) bring this hip-shakin’ dance party to Toronto’s legendary Rolling Stones-themed bar and lounge, Stone’s Place – and you NEED to be there! Featuring soul, funk, and rock music from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. $5 before 11 pm, more after.

10 pm FX & CTRL @ Smiling Buddha, 961 College St. A lineup of femme-identifying queer DJs playing dark sounds all night long. Selections by Vaughan, Valeroo, Chia Seed, and Vapourtrail. $5.

10 pm Some Evidence @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Sets by Dinamo-Azari (M-F, Turbo, 2MR), Dan Wender (The Umbrella, Rinsed NYC), Blacky II (Rinsed, The Umbrella NYC), and Aquarian (UNO NYC). $10 before midnight, more after.

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 Yacht Rock @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. A night of dancing to the smoothest music you’ve ever heard in your life. $5 to step aboard.

10 pm SoulSkank @ Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave. Parkdale Funk and Gramera are back at it again for the final summer edition of SoulSkank! Funk, soul, and reggae; strictly vinyl. $5.

10 pm Lazy Susans @ The Ossington, 63 Ossington Ave. Spinning hip-hop, RnB, soul, rap, trap, and dirty south.

10 pm Beam Me Up Disco @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. A disco jam that celebrates the underrated and the obscure of funk, jazz, soul, boogie, rare groove, reggae, gospel, proto-house! It’s an evening of tuneful transcendence, supplied by residents Patchouli Brothers (f.k.a. A Digital Needle) and Cyclist. $10.

10 pm Cut Class @ The Rec Room, 255 Bremner Blvd. DJ Fawn Big Canoe plays bangers, dance floor fillers, one hit wonders, and nostalgic guilty pleasures from the late ’90s and early 2000s. Nothing is off the table at Cut Class!

10:30 pm Big Primpin’: Sweet Release @ Miss Thing’s, 1279 Queen St. W. Hip-hop and hot times for LGBT people and their guests. Let yourself go with DJs Blackcat and Mizz Recklezz! For line bypass, email bigprimpin@gmail.com. $7.

11 pm Svveet Beats @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. Soul, funk, rockabilly, psych, and old school with DJ Cheff. All vinyl, all night! 4 AM LAST CALL.

11 pm Y2K: A Millennium Dance Party @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. A party devoted to the best jams of the early-to-mid 2000s, brought to you by Good Kids. Guilty pleasures, one hit wonders, chart toppers, and everything in between! $10.

SATURDAY

10 pm Faded @ The Rec Room, 255 Bremner Blvd. A night of your favorite hip-hop, R&B, and dancehall. DJs FBomb and Ry-Fi will keep you wildin’ all night long with classics and new bangers.

10 pm Can You Feel It? @ ROUND Venue, 152-A Augusta Ave. Join DJs Valerie Dour and Zoo Owl for a trip through the golden years of electronic music, from summers of love to the dawn of Y2K. Guaranteed to help you relive those days of big baggy jeans, snug hoodies, and big-bead necklaces. $5 before 11:30 pm, $10 after.

10 pm With It @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. ’60s mod, soul, and reggae record dance party with DJs Nico and Magnificent! Sponsored by Fred Perry Toronto and Kops Records. $10.

10 pm The Beach Boys Dance Party @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. It’s time for Good Vibrations! Playing the Beach Boys’ biggest hits as well as other artists from the era. $5 advance tickets available online.

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 Whatever You Like Feat. Sgt Garbage @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. All hits, all night with spicy DJs that’ll really get you moving and shaking. It’s the good stuff – the prom that never was!

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 Pay Day @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. DJs Stew Innes and Big Runt play hip-hop, RnB, and party jams. $5.

10 pm Ready, Steady, GO! @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Motown, soul, ’60s-90s pop and rock – booty shakin’ good times with DJ Brother Wayne! $5 rail drinks and shots.

10 pm PPParty @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. Why all the the P? ‘Cuz this party is golden! 24 Karat hits from all decades. $5.

10:30 pm Love Saves The Day @ The Beaver, 1192 Queen St. W. Maximal house, maximal disco with DJs Donna Ho and Kevin Ritchie.

11 pm Never Forgive Action @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. A monthly dance party spinning quality hip-hop and R&B anthems from the ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, and beyond. Music provided by resident DJs Numeric and Dalia! Hosted by More or Les. $10.

SUNDAY

6 pm Christie Pits Film Festival Presents: Bring It On @ Christie Pits Park, Bloor St. W. C-H-R-I-S-T-I-E! Christie Pits is the place to be! A screening of the 2000 teen comedy Bring It On, directed by Peyton Reed. Film starts at sundown (9:15 pm); eats and treats from 6 pm onwards, featuring the Arepa Republic, Millie Patisserie & Creamery, Little Havana Cafè, and popcorn from the festival canteen. BYOBlanket. Free/PWYC donations gratefully accepted.

7 pm Brass Facts Trivia @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Test your knowledge and win prizes! Hosted by Famous Kirk Hero. Until 10 pm.

10 pm Love Shack @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Long weekend edition of the Love Shack! DJ DangerCat spinning all your favourite rock and roll, indie, garage, surf, and new wave hits all night.

10 pm Typical Girls @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. Punk, post-punk, psych, indie, and disco with DJ Dolly Mixtures. 4 AM LAST CALL.

10 pm OVO Dance Party @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. A special OVO-inspired dance party featuring the eclectic sounds of the OVO roster and beyond. $5 advance tickets available online.

10 pm Hot Sunday @ The Steady, 1051 Bloor St. W. Another long weekend means another Hot Sunday, so stay up late and party with the cutest queers in town! DJ Orange Pekoe plays pop, disco, ’80s, ’90s, hip-hop, whatever.

~ For event submissions, email Caitlyn Holroyd at caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com