Toronto will celebrate this year the 5th time it has participated in this all night arts festival. For those of you who have never joined in the fun, this annual all-nighter started back in 1997 supposedly in Paris where revellers spent the entire night taking in various artistic endeavours. Today, the idea has found its way into a number of major cities across the globe (Montréal, Tokyo, Madrid, Brussels, Copenhagen, etc.) where people of all ages, artists and spectators alike get together to share their passion for art. Here, they take over various spots in the downtown core to enjoy a different perspective on art in Toronto.

Scotiabank, the sponsor of the event here in Toronto, has put together a collection of pictures of the various "happenings" which have been a part of this show.

http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/archives.shtml

Unfortunately, my wife and I missed the 2009 Nuit Blanche because we were out of town, but 2008 was fabulous. Living in the downtown core put us close to the action and we had a grand time wandering around.

In Grange Park, we ended up part of an audience participation event which involved some performers guiding us through the rhythmic stomping of our feet. The Ontario College and Art & Design was open with displays put on by its students; by the way, the OCAD building itself is quite the "work of art".

The two of us walked up Beverley and ran into a number of events. One involved the curious idea of removing the entire contents of a house and setting them up on the street. Apparently, in the morning, a team of people came and put everything back.

At the University of Toronto, in the middle of King's Circle, we ran into a large tent where theatre pieces were being presented. The Gardiner Museum was open and free and we watched an artist producing a wall size work of art.

My wife and I finally hit the sack around 2am but in reading the paper on Sunday, we realized we had merely scratched the surface of everything that was going on. All in all, a good time, an unusual time, something you just have to experience to understand what it's all about.

Mark it down and don't miss it: Saturday, October 2, 2010!

Click HERE to read more columns by William Belle.

References

Wikipedia: Nuit Blanche
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit_Blanche

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/home.shtml

The 2010 Event: Front to St. Clair, Don Valley to Landsdowne
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/zone.shtml