The Ontario Culture Days festival made its highly-anticipated return on Sept. 22 with its biggest and best celebration of arts and culture yet.
The nearly month-long festival takes place across Ontario, showcasing the art work and cultural dynamism of the country’s most populated province, until Oct. 15.
The festival is not only an excellent opportunity for locals to explore their hometowns but for different regions of Ontario to open their doors to tourists.
The 2023 Fall festival boasts 13 hubs dotted throughout Ontario, including Elora/Fergus, 1,000 Islands and Gananoque, Guelph, Halton Region, Ottawa Region, Sault Ste. Marie, Scugog, South Georgian Bay, St. Catharines & Niagara Region, Thunder Bay, Toronto (Queen West), Vaughan and Windsor.
Each hub has a dedicated event page allowing visitors to easily select what to do in that area during the festival.
The festival works hand-in-hand with local communities to ensure the full scope of Ontario’s arts and culture landscape is on display, culminating in community-based activities and exhibits centred around this year’s theme, the exploration of material culture.
“Ontario Culture Days is always the perfect time to get out there and explore the incredible cultural offerings across our wonderful province,” President and Chair of Ontario Culture Days Gary Filan said in a press release. Whether planning a Thanksgiving road-trip or exploring your own neighbourhood, this year’s Fall Festival promises to be an unparalleled celebration of creativity, diversity, and the power of artistic expression.”
The festival features talks and exhibits from talented creatives, dance classes, interactive workshops, and drop-in sessions with artists while they work.
Artists in residence include:
- Toronto & Guelph: Alisa McRonald “Fables in Yarn” exhibition and collaborative art creation
- Thunder Bay: Betty Carpick, “The Land is Dancing” artist talk, public art projection, and drop-in maker session
- Temiskaming: Chelsea Smith “Maawanji’idiwag: They Come Together” exhibition, artist talk and experiential workshop
- Ottawa: Juliane Foronda, “Notes on Play” public art installation and drop-in workshop
- Toronto: Kevin A. Ormsby & KasheDance, “Kultcha Live Yah” workshops and showcase
- Pickering: Mushtari Afroz, “Choreo-xperience Public Spaces” dancer takeover, artist talk with interactive performance
- Toronto: Myung-Sun Kim, “Rituals for Belonging” exhibition, gathering and artist talk
- Toronto: Owen Marshall, “Six and a Half Flags over Queen Street West” public art installation, artist tours, and workshop
The festival is completely free and for all the information you need check out the Ontario Culture Days website.
