Light Fest TO

Did you get to it this year? The Toronto Light Fest has come and gone and it was just as glittery and brilliant this year as it was last.

The Toronto Light Festival is the invention and creation of the same group that organize the annual Distillery District Christmas Market. And although this is only the second year for this festival, it is already one of my favourites which I was really looking forward to.

It ran from January 19 - March 4 2018 starting at sundown. This year my friend and I attended midweek and missed out on a couple of the more interactive installations, but there was still plenty to see. 

Although the Toronto Light Festival is done and dusted, I still wanted to share with you some of the incredible and dazzling installations of 2018. Even the Historic Distillery District itself got in on the action with lighting up some of the fixed installations pieces on the grounds.

I think why I love this festival so much is because with something so simple (a little bit of light), the old Victorian complex is changed into an outdoor art gallery. Filling the alleys with wandering spectators and delighting them with whimsical, interesting, sometimes creepy works of art.

Symbolic Peace, Studio Rosenblatt

Entwined, Charles Gadeken

Pulse Portal, David McCarty

The Bohemian Arch, Davis McCarty

Detail of HYBYCOZO, Serge Beaulieu & Yelena Filipchuk

Gummy Bear Pyramid, Dicapria

detail of the Gummy Bear Pyramid

Not Not Art, Studio Rosenblatt

Perspective, Studio Rosenblatt 

Solar Sail, Davis McCarty

Talking Heads, Viktor Vicsek

The ZOA, Martin Taylor

Guardians of Time, Manfred Kielnhofer

HYBYCOZO, Serge Beaulieu & Yelena Filipchuk

LightPiano 2.0, Kleurbleur

The Electric Dandelions, Abram Santa Cruz

Birds Fly Around With You, Masamichi Shimada

Reaching Through, Jessica Levine

Heavy Meta, The Heavy Meta Collective

Nest, Vikas Patil & Santosh Gujar

What festivals do you most look forward to attending each year?

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Baby, it's F@#!ing Cold Outside and the Toronto Heat Fest

With record low temperatures happening the Toronto Heat Fest: A Great Canadian Comfort Food Festival, was a welcome idea. This was a first time event at the Distillery District (which also had the Toronto Christmas Market) with an assortment of food trucks and physical activities to keep one warm. 

The temperature was a devastatingly low -24 degrees, with the windchill, which made for a small turnout to the event despite it being a bank holiday, but that was all the better for me. No queueing! The good thing about the Distillery District is the many opportunities to nip inside a shop, gallery, or cafe/pub to browse until the feeling in your hands and feet return.

SugarHoops started off the day with hula hooping fun for all ages. I discovered this activity was no more difficult with a thick winter coat than without and no less fun.

There was also cold yoga and dancing. Not as many participants for these activities but great creativity in keeping people warm.

Now for the reason why I was there, why I was losing the feeling in my extremities and not tucked away at home with a warm tea, blanket, and a fire.

FOOD

First up was a Cheese Burger Pie from Marty Galin Pies. Complete with ground beef, cheese, and fries. It sounded just disgusting enough to try. It was delicious!

The Falafels from Cuisine Mavi, although cold (no way they could stay heated), were excellent.

Lastly, we had the South Asian Sweet Corn Kernels from Mr. Corn. My least favourite item from the day, I should have picked one with melted cheese. You can never, ever go wrong with melted cheese.

By the end of the day, we were completely fresh air fatigued and required a hot drink indoors on a plushy leather couch; Balzac's Coffee to the rescue. (with a butter tart and baklava)

I will brave almost any weather condition for a good snack so I hope the Heat Fest is back next Family Day with slightly warmer weather and many
more food trucks.

The Toronto Distillery District Christmas Market

This post is lovingly dedicated to my Gluhwein gang. Guys, seriously consider Toronto as next years destination.

I had great expectations for this Christmas Market and I was not disappointed. The Distillery District in Toronto is iconic on a normal day, but add in fairy lights and greenery juxtaposed to the old factory brick and its game has been up'd. This market was magical and definitely brought the spirit of the season out. The wooden huts decorated with lights and garland, a fully trimmed tree, schnitzel, and mulled wine (and no beer garden!!!) reminded me of my beloved European markets but the poutine stall, curling, Canada winter gear, and cold beer on tap, were the Canadian touches that made my heart sing. 

The plan for this particular visit was to arrive just before dusk to grab an late lunch, a warming drink (or two), and enjoy the twinkling lights after the sun set. However, it was a very cold day and we didn't quite make it to darkness. Checkout #tcm2014 on instagram to see those twinkling lights. This is not a 'best kept secret' and was crowded, even on a Sunday afternoon. (so that's my excuse for not having great photos).

Schnitzel selfie!

I don't know this girl, but she posed so nicely for the picture.

These port-a-potties that look like UK phone boxes are my favourite.

Some people came super prepared for market day and I do love a guy with fun socks.

The market runs for almost a month leading up to Christmas (unless most other markets in Ontario which usually are for a weekend or week tops) and although it's closed for the season now, it's definitely a market I have on my list to revisit next year. Maybe actually making it into the evening next time.