Huge 3-week festival of the arts returns to Toronto

Toronto’s huge festival of art and ideas returns this June.

Luminato Festival is back from June 4 to 22 with “art experiences that transform the people, places and possibilities of the city,” according to organizers.

Under the leadership of CEO Celia Smith and artistic director Olivia Ansell, Luminato is a bigger and more ambitious 19th edition of the festival.

“Luminato presents once-in-a-lifetime, inclusive art experiences that showcase the best of Toronto, our country, and the world,” says Smith. “We create moments that inspire and connect us and lead to positive change in our everyday lives.”

The theme of Luminato 2025, Day:Night, explores how we inhabit the city in a 24-hour cycle. From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk, any given day can be ordinary or extraordinary.

“First breath, dawn light through to last dance and final word – the 2025 program asks us to reflect on the cycle of our collective lives and how we engage, disrupt and exist in time and space as a community,” says Ansell. “Be it the first or the last of things, we invite locals and visitors to encounter Toronto differently.”

The festival will be an around-the-clock event with a dynamic mix of music, dance, and theatre, along with immersive, family-friendly and free public art.

With the city as its canvas, Luminato brings art encounters to outdoor spaces, transit stations, theatres, galleries and neighbourhoods across the Toronto area. Over 1,000 artists from Canada and afar will participate with public art over three weeks with 12 world premieres, eight commissions and 14 exclusives from 10 countries.

The festival starts with Krystian Lada’s Dawn Chorus (Poland), which will transform Union Station into a living symphony.

Award-winning photographer Nadya Kwandibens’ (Anishinaabe/Ojibwe) Night/Shifts captures the lives of Toronto’s night workers and displays them across the TTC and beyond.

At Harbourfront, the festival hub, First Breath by UK’s Luke Jerram celebrates new life born in Toronto each day with a light installation. Terceradix Luminarium is an immersive, otherworldly structure of colour and light at Harbourfront Centre by UK artists Architects of Air.

Terceradix Luminarium is at the Harbourfront for the festival. Photo: Alan Parkinson

Also at Harbourfront is Teatro La Plaza’s (Peru) Hamlet, which reimagines Shakespeare’s most famous work with eight incredible actors with Down syndrome. A Glimpse of Quincy: Celebrating the Legendary Quincy Jones is arranged and produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Larnell Lewis.

Luminato will showcase many free public art installations and performances. THAW by Australia’s Legs on the Wall is an eight-hour performance, which makes climate change impossible to ignore with a 2.7-tonne block of ice suspended over Sankofa Square.

Rainbow Dreams by Japanese born, Australian based, Hiromi Tango creates three unique rainbow-filled environments at Brookfield Properties that invite the public to explore pathways toward well-being.

Flamboyant and defiantly joyous, Dandyism by Rwandan born, UK based Ziza Patrick celebrates the timeless swagger of African style through powerful street and contemporary dance.

Luminato at Harbourfront will also feature free experiences for all ages throughout the day. Notable hub highlights include Sangam, curated by The Tawoos Initiative, creates a confluence of rhythms from South Asia. Lulaworld celebrates Latin and Indigenous music, including Colombia’s revolutionary La Pambelé orchestra, the electrifying Afro-Colombian Kombilesa Mí, and the dynamism of Sonic Sancocho’s vinyl sets. SANTÉ by Cirque Kikasse (Quebec) brings high-flying acrobatics atop a food truck for gravity-defying feats of fun.

Tickets for most Luminato events are available as of April 2. For full event details, including dates and times, visit luminatofestival.com.

Lead photo of THAW by Legs On The Wall – Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, London 2024: Jenni Large – Abdullah Bailey Photography