TORONTO—The Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity opened in Toronto this Friday for ten exciting days of art and entertainment. In its 2nd year, Luminato runs from June 6-15 and is set to present more than 100 events showcasing works of visual art, theatre, cinema, literature and musical performances from a wide range of Canadian and international artists.
Benefitting from the multicultural and creative milieu of Toronto, the festival promises something for people of different ages and tastes.
Luminato opened with lighting ceremonies and an open air jazz concert featuring the Grammy-award winning Count Basie Orchestra and 14 year old Canadian rising star Nikki Yanofsky whose work on the star-studded We All Love Ella tribute and recent debut at Carnegie Hall earned her high praises.
The Luminato Funk Festival and the Scottish Music Festival were also highlights on Saturday.
The Scottish Festival gathered a large enthusiastic audience who danced along to the strings of internationally renowned performers such as Sandy Macintyre and Ashley MacIsaac.
The festival took place at Toronto's Dundas Square, which has been specially decorated with 250-lit balloons suspended in the air by a team of Toronto architects.
The square is also a proud host to the Light on the Feet series, which offers Torontonians free dance lessons in a variety of styles ranging from swing to tango and Bollywood.
Other highlights of the Luminato Festival include photographer Maraval's Toronto's Mille Femme exhibit, offering a collage of 1000 creative local women, the all-Indian production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as the Canadian Songbook, a concert featuring tributes to some of the greatest names in Canadian music including Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.
Luminato will conclude next weekend with the Luminat'Eau Carnival H20 that will also showcase a wide variety of performances, including world music and water dances.
The Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity runs from June 6-15 at different locations throughout Toronto. For detailed schedule and information, see www.luminato.com.
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