Carnivalissima: For All Ages

So, here’s what we imagine the situation to be: You’ve got kids. You want to have a good time at Luminato absorbing some art and culture, but the kids tend to get squirmy when you take them to see opera or modern dance recitals. You’d take them to Speigeltent’ntavern, but you know that nobody ever won Parent of the Year for taking their kids to a burlesque show. Where’s a family to go?

We at the Luminato Blog feel your pain, and we’ve got an easy answer: Carnivalissima. It’s a celebration of the diversity and creativity of Toronto’s vastly multicultural population, featuring concerts, art, film, fashion, dance, jazz, international crafts and cuisine… we’re getting out of breath just listing it all.

Here’s the full schedule:

Masquerade Ball: June 8, 8 p.m., Carnivalissima Tent
The Masquerade Ball will start with a call to dance by Maracatu Nunca Antes and continue with music by Jay Douglas and the All Stars and dance lessons by Miko Sobreira and Company. Performances in the Venetian tradition will occur featuring commedia del’arte by MetaPhysical Theatre. Amazing fashion competitions and two fashion shows created by Len D. Henry of Fashcam Productions take place.

Carnival: The Spirit and the Soul: All Weekend, Marilyn Brewer Community Space
An exciting new art exhibition curated by Theodoro Dragoneri will examine tradition based on more contemporary aspects of the uses of theatrical narrative and masking. This three-part exhibition will include masks, photography and mixed media from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

FireWalk: June 9, after dusk, Congo Square
When day turns to night, Carnivalissima ignites the Toronto waterfront with spectacles of swirling fire dancers, daring fire-eaters, majestic stilt performers, mythical giant puppets, and the glimmering lights of a thousand lanterns! Join in a dance procession of shadow and light and follow the sound of Samba, Steel Pan and Tassa Drums through Harbourfront Centre’s transformed boardwalk and streets.

Family Programming: June 9 & 10, Topsy Turvy Territory and Kid’s Hands-On Tent
A two-day carnival arts and crafts extravaganza will take place by the waterfront. Children of all ages, family and friends are invited to create dazzling carnival masks and costumes, bamboo and paper lanterns, and musical instruments from all over the world. Jump up and dance along to the beat of live steel-pan orchestras, chutney Soca, African drums, stilt-dancers, and hoop-dancers all performed by professional youth artists. Special dance workshops, mask theatre performances, aerial dance performances, and the aroma of live food demonstrations from the master chefs of Pier 4 Restaurant and Radisson Hotel will ignite the carnival spirit in kids and adults alike.

Carnivalissima happens entirely at the Harbourfront Centre.

Walking: Distillery to St. Lawrence

If you’re in the Distillery District later in the day, grab a lemon-and-sour-cream sorbet at Soma and kibitz at the giant Scrabble game going on nearby. Ask before offering suggestions — there’s no house rule on whether players can use unsolicited suggestions from passersby (most players, though, will cheerfully accept any offered words — unless they can come up with something better on their own).

If you’ve got a date in St. Lawrence later (maybe you’re seeing a show at the St. Lawrence Center for the Arts), consider taking a west-bound walk down Front Street from the Distillery. Stop for coffee or tea in one of the smaller shops that line Front, or grab a bite at one of the vendors at the St. Lawrence Market, one of the oldest buildings in Toronto.

Later that night, head back for a safe and scenic nighttime walk back to the distillery for a free concert.

The Muhtadi International Drumming Festival

Depending on which part of Queen’s Park you walk in from, you might think the theme of the Muhtadi International Drumming Festival is either Carribean, African, Indian, Malaysian, or something else entirely. Of course, you’ve guessed the punchline by now: It’s all of them. Hence the name.

But if the drums draw you, the food stands keep you there. Head to one stand to buy a styrofoam box full of jerked chicken and rice, then turn around and get a second container, this one full of sweet beignets and fried plantains. If you forget to grab a napkin, you can wipe your hands on the grass as you watch the Bhangra dancers.

Pat Holder and Lenore Chin of The Gourmet Connection have been dishing out corn soup and roti, West Indian bread infused with ground chick peas and curry. It’s Chin’s favorite food. She had two yesterday.

They’ve been cooking all day as they listen alternately to the stage shows and the multiple impromptu drum circles that surround Muhtadi. Holder’s native music is Calypso, but she likes what she hears today.

“You’re really busy, but you still hear the music,” she said. “It’s a lovely way to start the day.”

Taboo Toronto? Banned in the USA

Toronto does not bear much resemblance to Amsterdam or other countries where US citizens go to experience pleasures unavailable at home. There’s no Red Light district and the same mind-altering substances illegal south of the border are verboten here too.

Which is why the average visitor from the US should come to Toronto during the last weekend of Luminato: to experience two pleasures our government has spent our tax dollars banning.

Although not exactly illegal, Cuban performers are pretty much unable to get into the US and unable to get visas to perform.
Luckily,  the Luminato festival is offering Vida! A Celebration of Life by Danza Cuba. We are slated to review this superb group of 25 all-female dancers today so stay tuned.

The other pleasure is one you can’t understand until you experience it: unpasteurized cheese.  Completely illegal in the US, for a foodies, and especially a local or organic foodie, this is a pleasure beyond compare. See our Review of Cafe Nervosa for more…