Supermarket

Weekend Roundup, August 20 to 22

The Canadian National Exhibition opens this weekend, but it’s hardly the only game in town. There’s plenty of entertainment for everyone!

Friday: Be touched by the timeless musical, South Pacific

Friday, August 20
Get a major dose of theatre tonight at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, which offers three highly anticipated plays on its various stages. The main event is the debut of Window on Toronto, in which artists from Soulpepper Theatre Company’s academy examine the city from the perspective of a hot-dog vendor. The evening also offers preview performances of Joe Orton’s bold and witty What the Butler Saw, as well as Sharon Pollock’s award-winning drama, Doc.

The play’s the thing at the Four Seasons Centre, too! Take your loved ones to witness a triumphant re-staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. The heart-rending musical romance has received glowing reviews from Toronto critics and audiences.

Head to the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre to see a Canadian folk-rock institution, as ebullient East Coast band Great Big Sea is in concert tonight. Get to the venue early for a real treat: emerging all-female country group Ladies of the Canyon opens the show.

Celebrate Cuba with the third annual Havana Cultura festival, which showcases that country’s music, arts and food all weekend long. Tonight, hear popular Cuban musician Julio Cuza, see a cigar-rolling demonstration, and much more.

Saturday: Enjoy the midway rides and more at The Ex (photo by Scooter Korek)

Saturday, August 21
Let’s go to The Ex! What better way to spend your afternoon than at the Canadian National Exhibition. Saturday brings many events: the warrior’s day parade; the popular veterans parade, a sculpting competition and much more! There are plenty of rides, shows, vendors, concerts and circus-style performances, too!

Catch Bieber Fever at the Air Canada Centre, as Canadian-born teen-pop king Justin Bieber performs his hits and drives the girls crazy. The mop-topped Bieber arrives with special guest Sean Kingston in tow—he shares vocals on their chart-topping hit “Eenie Meenie.”

Indulge in authentic Ontario craft beers and an exclusive seven-course meal at Beer Bistro, which hosts the annual Golden Tap Awards dinner. Craft breweries from across the province are featured along with cuisine that complements the different beers. The prize for best tasting brew will be presented at evening’s end.

Groove to the music mix at Kensington Market hot spot Supermarket during its Do Right Saturdays event. DJs Fase, John Kong and MC Abdominal are set to bust out catchy funk, soul and hip-hop tunes that will keep you dancing through the night.

Sunday: Tuck into dumpling noodle soup and more at Harbourfront Centre

Sunday, August 22
Cool off at Ontario Place today! Not only does the park’s Froster Soak City offer numerous waterslides, but the Extreme Wake Series has arrived to present daredevil stunts performed by top wakeboarders. The-dropping spectacle is fun for all ages.

Reenergize with delicious Asian-flavoured fare at Harbourfront Centre’s Fortune Cooking Food Festival. Here, numerous vendors and local restaurants offer up their best apps, mains, desserts and drinks for your gustatory pleasure. As with all of Harbourfront’s World Routes events, there are also cultural performances to keep you entertained.

Put on your dancing shoes and swing your way to Mel Lastman Square in north Toronto. The weekly Sunday Serenades Concert and Dance Series offers visitors the chance to learn some unique dance steps and hear some great live jazz.

Jazz Fest Picks—June 26 to 28

Sonny Rollins

The annual TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival officially kicks off Friday night with two major headline performances, both at 8 p.m. Die-hard jazz fans will surely pack the Four Seasons Centre to experience a collective bout of tenor madness with legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins. The venerable musician gained prominence in the 1950s through his effortless, harmonically innovative playing in a renowned group with Max Roach and Clifford Brown, and on his own recordings such as Saxophone Colossus, Way Out West and the seminal Night at the Village Vanguard. His creative output has rarely flagged since—just two weeks ago the 78 year old garnered three trophies, including musician of the year, at the annual Jazz Awards, determined by more than 450 members of the Jazz Journalists Association. Across the street at the Nathan Phillips Square mainstage (Queen and Bay streets), exciting outfit Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings re-invigorate retro soul and R&B with funky horns, hard-driving rhythms and singer Jones’s incomparable set of pipes. You’ll be dancing long after the band takes its bow! Also on Friday, Toronto- based pianist Hilario Duran and guitarist Luis Mario Ochoa bring their lauded Afro-Cuban stylings to Lula Lounge (7:30 p.m. 1585 Dundas St. W., 416-588-0307), while Canada’s jazzy jack of all trades, Don Thompson, teams up with guitarist Reg Schwager at Mezzetta Restaurant (9 p.m.)

Saturday offers a surfeit of shows, with three hip options of particular note: top-tier avant-electro-jam-jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood showcase their improvisational prowess under the stars at Nathan Phillips Square (8 p.m.); super-cool six-stringer Charlie Hunter—who has plied his trade alongside musicians as diverse as D’Angelo, Mos Def and Norah Jones—sits down for two groovy sets at The Pilot (9 & 11 p.m.); and Chicago post-rock band The Sea and Cake bring their underground sound to Supermarket (9:30 p.m.). The resto-jazz crowd is well-served tonight by local lights Dave Young and Robi Botos—the bass-and-keys duo can be found at Mezzetta (9 p.m.).

And if you’re still craving tunes as the weekend winds down, Sunday offers a full slate to satiate. Highlights on this day include a pair of performances from the festival’s “Jazz by the Lake” series at Harbourfront Centre. Here you’ll be treated to some Home Cookin’ with Jackie Richardson and Joe Sealy (7 p.m.), plus the evocative, unclassifiable sounds of the Maria Schneider Orchestra (9 p.m.), which counts among its number Ingrid Jensen, the Vancouver-born, New York-based trumpter.