Friday: Learn How to Train Your Dragon (photo by Lisa Tomasetti)

Friday August 10
Don’t pass up a chance to see a favourite family film brought to life in the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. On for a very limited time, this epic adventure takes viewers deep inside the magical, mythical world of Vikings and Dragons.

One of Toronto’s most innovative annual performing arts series, the SummerWorks Performance Festival, continues today with numerous indie-theatre stagings and concerts. This evening’s schedule includes the mysterious drama Willow Bunch and a lively show by neo-disco sensations The Magic.

Put on your dancing shoes for the “Le Steamée” opening night party for the 2012 Toronto Queer Arts and Culture Festival. This “Montreal-stylized French dance party in a Portuguese neighbourhood,” features some of the city’s top female DJs and makes for an exciting an inclusive kick-off to a week of LGBTQ music, film, literature and art events.

Saturday: A Tribe Called Red brings Native rhythms to Harbourfront Centre

Saturday August 11
Lake Ontario will be awash in the sounds of First Nations fusion tonight as A Tribe Called Red presents a free concert at Harbourfront Centre. The Ottawa-based Aboriginal DJ crew remixes the traditional music of the pow wow with contemporary club beats.

There’s a reason it’s called the ALL CAPS! Island Festival—you can’t overemphasize the lineup of excellent Canadian indie bands that have assembled on the Toronto Islands this weekend. Today’s schedule includes Polaris Prize long-listed Yamantaka//Sonic Titan and pop-funk belter Maylee Todd. Art installations add some additional visual flair to the proceedings, and cool, swimmable Lake Ontario beckons for a refreshing break between performances.

One of Toronto’s most appetizing weekend-long events is finally here! The Taste of the Danforth showcases the best of Hellenic food, culture and music in the heart of Toronto’s Greektown.

Sunday: The Dukes of September jam into the night

Sunday August 12
A trio of heavyweight music veterans—Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald and Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen—come together tonight at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. Under the supergroup moniker The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue, they’ll rock the hearts of fans with classic pop and R&B covers.

Looking for cold beer and salty snacks? Look no further! Roundhouse Park—the historic train depot that’s home to Steamwhistle Brewing—hosts a Craft Beer Festival this weekend, featuring samples of some of Ontario’s finest microbrews and delicious eats from top food trucks.

Head down to Harbourfront Centre for the opening weekend of the world’s largest multidisciplinary Aboriginal arts festival—Planet IndigenUS presents a swath of music, dance, art and more reflecting the contemporary experiences of native peoples from around the globe. Among today’s activities, look for Vancouver-based artist Raymond Boisjoly’s installation Captured Speech Writing Back: Toronto, browse the Aboriginal Artisan Market and hear music from Australian dance-roots-digeridoo band Oka.