Win tickets to Luminato Festival's Big Bang Bash

Kicking off the grand 10-day festivities known as the Luminato Festival requires a grand opening befitting of the multi-arts occasion and once again it was bigger than the year before.

While the Luminato Festival opening party took place again at the amazing abandoned power generating station, The Hearn (just off Cherry Street), this time juxtaposing the industrial outdoor venue with the luscious greens of nature.

Guests included Luminato artists and artists from the Toronto community. A nice surprise was when I was I was doing photos and greetings with the folks of Greta Constantine when up comes Nelly Furtado. I guess it’s not too big of a surprise since she was slated to perform the next day as part of TimesTalks in conversation with New York Times journalists at the Luminato Festival Hub, David Pecaut Square. But it was a surprise nonetheless. She was saying how happy she was for the success of Greta Constantine.

Kirk Pickersgill, Nelly Furtado, Stephen Wong

Kirk Pickersgill, Nelly Furtado, Stephen Wong

 

Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado

One fun highlight was the swings, which made for awkward (but fun!) photo opportunities.
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There was also a Garden Maze (interesting idea for event planners!) and a fresh flower press for guests to take home as a souvenir to remember the magical night.

In the end it was all about the experience with the many forms of art, good people and of course photo opportunities.
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Christi Francesci, Jen Kirsch, Erin Davis

Christi Francesci, Jen Kirsch, Erin Davis

 

It was a great night with Luminato Festival again with The Hearn Generating Station as a key centrepiece to the magic as well as the Luminato Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square.

Being the 2nd year at The Hearn, it was also the first time limited tickets were sold to be at the opening festivities. Then they also opened it up the whole weekend with UnSoundTO. Definitely a great idea to check out the venue if you’ve never been there before – getting there by car or taxi or uber is probably best.

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The Luminato Festival festivities end this weekend with a Brazilian Block Party (Friday June 26th at David Pecaut Square from 2pm to 11pm) as well as Jason Collett’s Basement Revue.

For more info about Luminato Festival events, scheduling and more visit www.luminatofestival.com

Photos by Nick Lee

Also check out Luminato Festival’s artistic director Jörn Weisbrodt singing with Mayor John Tory.

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Nick Lee

Editor and Photos at BestOfToronto.net