The First 24 hours

Most of the world’s more prominent festivals, Edinburgh & its Fringe and Spoleto included, started out as very small seedlings. A few events tied together by a core idea conceived and produced with little more than a scribble on a napkin and a handshake, and nurtured by a few passionate visionaries and lots of luck.

After spending 24 hours here, it’s clear that can never be said of Luminato—even if its future size will eventually dwarf the first. This is a powerful creativity initiative driven less by the enthusiasm of a few visionaries, although it does not lack for them, than by the collective passion of a great many.

It shows in the amount of quality happenings: the number of contributions from established performers and artists is more characteristic of an event with a long history than a rookie.

Over the past 24 hours we have seen and done all of the following, and we still didn’t get to even 1/10 of what was on offer:

• Eric Idle’s (of Monty Python fame) new  comedy,  Not the Messiah
• A conversation between Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen
• A robotic chair that, on its own with absolutely no human intervention, falls completely apart and then recreates itself by finding each individual piece
• Luke & The Apostles and Sylvia Tyson, both part of the original ’67 Summer of Love Toronto music scene, singing some of the flashback favorites
• A brilliant interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s poems and never before publicly viewed artwork by Philip Glass
• Partied at the opening of the Daniel Libeskind-designed addition to Royal Ontario Museum, the Lee-Chin Crystal
• Heard Chantal Kreviazuk  sing at a relatively intimate outdoor venue

Stay tuned as we post details and reviews of these events.