Luminato Festival Toronto’s unique art experiences will delight audiences and spark conversations

In some ways, Luminato Festival Toronto 2024 will be a return to its roots, with several events taking place in David Pecaut Square — located next to Roy Thomson Hall on King Street West — a public space that was a focal point for past festivals. Luminato in the Square will feature a variety of cultural programs, lively concerts, curated vendors, a food and beverage experience, and family-friendly programming throughout its 12-day run.

The square takes its name from civic leader David Pecaut, who cofounded Luminato Festival Toronto with Canadian businessman Tony Gagliano in 2007. It was originally created to help Toronto rebuild after the 2003 to 2004 SARS epidemic. Pecaut died in 2009 and Toronto City Council unanimously named the square in his honour in 2011.

Since it was founded, one of Luminato’s core missions has been to act as a mirror reflecting the diversity that exists in the Toronto region, and by prioritizing equity, inclusion, accessibility and sustainability in its programming.

This year’s programming will include SPACED, curated by Banded Purple which celebrates the notion that art can be found in every corner and can permeate every aspect of people’s lives. The artists behind SPACED aim to take up space and affirm their own presence in the world, and to inspire people to recognize the beauty that exists in the world even in the most unlikely of spaces.

The festival will also feature the Canadian premiere of Geoff Sobelle’s interactive theatrical work, HOME. Immensely popular where it has been performed in the past, the piece explodes the relationship between “house” and “home,” and sees a house constructed from nothing in front of an audience.

Evanescent, Atelier Sisu’s immersive ‘art-chitecture’ piece, uses iridescent bubbles and tricks of light to connect us to the moment and encourage us to take nothing beautiful for granted. The artwork can be viewed June 7 through June 16 at David Pecaut Square and Arnell Plaza, Bay Adelaide Centre and June 18 through July 30 at Arnell Plaza, Bay Adelaide Centre, Brookfield Place and First Canadian Place.

The festival will also hold events showcasing African street dance styles, an Indigenous photo series with a powerful and enduring message about colonialism, land, life and death, and boundary pushing contemporary dance performances.

Another core belief of Luminato is that art can be a starting point for conversation, helping to build stronger and more connected communities and inspiring real-world change.

Luminato’s Conversation Series will feature engaging talks and resources exploring the ideas that fuel the festival. It will include candid and meaningful discussions about the realities being faced by Torontonians and people around the world, and the futures they can envision and create, together. No idea will be off limits as these conversations dig into the issues that affect our communities, families, societal systems and daily lives.

This year, the series will feature talks with Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem Thelma Golden, Curator at the AGO Julie Crooks, Artistic Director of FADO Performance Art Shannon Cochrane, and Living Hyphen’s Justine Abigail Yu.

Rounding out festival programming for this year are physical performances on BMXs and unicycles by the b-boys from the always popular 360 ALLSTARS, immersive and interactive dance music experiences, innovative films and multimedia presentations, and immersive and interactive works of art.

To learn more about Luminato Festival Toronto 2024, see the full line-up of events and buy tickets, visit luminatofestival.com.