One of a Kind

Weekend events in Toronto: December 6-8, 2013

Weekend events in Toronto is our guide to events happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's what's happening in Toronto this Dec 6-8, 2013.

One Of A Kind Christmas Show & Sale
Sunday is your last chance to stop by the One of a Kind show. OOAK is like a craft fair mall experience (so, way nicer). Over 800 Canadian artisans from each and every province are showing and selling handmade gifts at the Direct Energy Centre until Dec 8. Caffeine up and power through this one, and you might just win the holidays. There will be a gift wrapping centre and, to keep this extra Canadian, daily figure skating performances. Check out our gallery of gift-worthy items here. Direct Energy Centre, (100 Princes' Blvd), Until Sunday, December 8, 10am - 9pm (Sunday 10am - 6pm). $12 adults, $7 seniors & students, kids free.

POP-UP

Popify
Popify has officially launched in Kensington Market. The space is part pop-up shop part gallery, part hands-on storefront, part party and part online store - with free shipping North America wide. We've teamed up with e-commerce website Shopify to create an IRL + URL hub for indie makers to showcase everything from designer toothpicks to skateboards, plus clothing, curiosities, and (hopefully) a few things you've never seen before. Read our review of what you'll find at the Popify storefront here. Until Sunday December 8, 11 am - 7pm, Homerun (165 Augusta Ave), free.

Nathalie-Roze Holiday Pop-Up
A yurt is a "a portable, bent dwelling structure" aka a Mongolian tent, and this weekend you can visit the very ornate, dainty, and best of all heated yurt structure in Leslieville (it looks like this) to hunt for vintage clothing and craftware including jewellery, accessories, cards & prints, honey-soap, vintage dresses, upcycled toques, and more. Promoters promise most items will be under $50 - good news for your walley .You can also grab some brews at adjacent pub Céilí Cottage. Saturday, December 7 - Sunday, December 8, Ceili Cottage - Yurt (1301 Queen St. East), 11am - 4pm.

FOOD

Lunch at The Slow Room
Craving Italian? The Slow Room will host Bestia foodtruck on Saturday, for a pop-up lunch starting at 11:30am. Bestia is Toronto's first truck with an on-board, wood burning oven. The all-black roaming Italian kitchen is beast when it comes to serving up personal sized, Naples-style pizzas along with rustic roasted meat sandwiches, salads and sweet specialties. The sandwich on special this weekend will be braised short ribs, Italian slaw and a bomba horseradish aioli. The Slow Room (874 College Street), Saturday, December 7th, 11:30-2:30pm.

For more food events, check out our Toronto Food Events post.

ART

Photorama

Photorama
This is your last chance to see Photorama 2013. Toronto's contemporary photography fans know Photorama is a can't miss exhibit of the year. Gallery TPW's annual fundraising exhibition will basically sustain them through 2014, and will feature over 80 artists including Edward Burtynsky, Sara Angelucci, Toni Hafkenscheid, Robert Burley, Diana Thorneycroft, Annie MacDonell, Carole Condé, and Karl Beveridge. You can hit up the artist run centre's opening party tonight, or stop by during the gallery hours. Gallery TPW (1256 Dundas Street West), Until - Saturday, December 7, Noon - 6 pm, free.

The Great Upheaval: Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection, 1910-1918
Selected masterpieces from the Guggenheim are now on display at the AGO. While the idea of a collection of World War One era abstract artworks may seem a dour contrast to the flamboyant David Bowie exhibit that just closed upstairs, the bold and symbolic, often psychedelic avant-garde works exploring the emotional turmoil of the age actually carry on the torch of colourful stimulation surprisingly well. See your old pals Picasso, Kandinsky, Matisse, Duchamp, Ernst, and many more all together in a room. No drama. Check out highlights from the exhibit here. Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas Street West), Until March 2, 2014, 10am - 5:30pm, $25.

MUSIC

Healing Power Bazaar
Don't let this one get lost in the huge weekend for Toronto craft shows that's coming up - The Healing Power Festival Showcase & Bazaar will be the only event to combine a full on line up of mystery performers with a daytime market. In the afternoon you can find crafts, art, music, clothes, jewelry, food, sparklies and nick-nacks in the Southern Cross and Tiki Rooms. There will be tarot readings, too. After 10pm, mystery artists affiliated with Healing Power Records will perform. Tip - wear the brightest colours you own. Check out the vendor line up on Facebook. Friday, December 6, Tranzac (292 Brunswick Ave), 1pm-8pm + 10pm-late.

Blackalicious

I'll let our rap writer Markit take this one on - "Hailing from Sacramento, California, this duo of DJ/producer Chief Xcel and rapper Gift of Gab have been pleasing underground heads for almost two decades. Their music has always been uplifting and positive and the lyrics have been complex, woven with incredible wordplay. Their new EP Sun Giver, which is supposed to drop later this year, will be their first release since 2005. Come through to hear the old and check the new. One of the most active local hip hop acts, Philly Moves, will be opening up the evening." Adelaide Hall (250 Adelaide Street ), Saturday December 7, 9pm, $25.

For more music listings, check out our This Week in Music and December Concerts posts.

THEATRE

Parfumerie / Soulpepper
It's with good reason that Soulpepper continues to trot out Parfumerie each holiday season. Miklós László's production is, by all accounts, a play built for this time of year. It profiles the hustle and bustle of the season in a community perfume shop where the product isn't the only thing that lingers in the air--love, too, wafts through the store. The ideals of forgiveness, reconciliation, and good will anchor the storyline on a beautiful set from Ken MacDonald. Young Centre (50 Tank House Ln), December 3 - 28, 7:30pm/1:30pm / $51-$8.

For more events on stage, check out our This Month in Theatre post.

COMEDY

Superstars of Comedy
Never heard of K. Trev? When Louis CK did JFL42 last year, he asked K. Trev, who was opening for him in the sold-out Sony Centre, to perform his Christmas mass joke. That's right: Louis CK remembered one of K. Trev's jokes, and asked him to do it in front of 3,000 of his most loyal fans. So yeah, K. Trev's a monster. I'd recommend also paying close attention to Ryan Horwood. The first time I saw him live, he had me laughing so hard that I couldn't even hear his follow-up punchlines! Saturday, December 7, Comedy Bar (945 Bloor W), 9:30pm, $10.

Monkey Toast
The show that's one part talk show, one part improv, is back again with a doozie of a guest. Andrew Coyne, currently writing for the National Post, has had his works published by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time freakin' Magazine. So yeah, you're pretty much guaranteed to witness a spellbinding chat between Andrew and your host, Ron Tite. Who's Ron? Well, not too long ago, he was named one of the Top 10 Creative Canadians by Marketing Magazine. To give you an idea of the format of the show, Ron will interview his guests for 7-8 minutes, and then an improv troupe consisting of some of Canada's best players will act out a scene from the conversation. It's truly something magical to see live. Saturday, December 7, Comedy Bar (945 Bloor W), 8pm/10pm, $10.

For more comedy events, check out our This Month in Comedy post.

FASHION

Annex Flea
The Annex Flea will take over The Centre for Social Innovation this Sunday for the very first time. Echoing the Junction, Parkdale, Gladstone, and Leslieville Flea, this new Annex market will see small vendors hosting carefully curated handmade wares and vintage items. Shoppers will find snacks, artwork, and hand-mades crafted with local materials from Avani Creations, Parade Vintage, Son of A Woodcutter, Foodbenders, Province Apothecary, Zazou Bisou, Sprouts Press, Eli's Body Shop, FoldIt Creations, and many more. See the full vendor list here. Sunday, December 8, The Centre for Social Innovation (720 Bathurst Street), 10am - 5pm.

18 Waits Pop-Up Store
If you're still in need of a gift for a pal of the more masculine persuasion in your life, 18 Waits has your back. From tonight until next Wednesday (December 11), shop their utilitarian menswear from past and current seasons at 134 Ossington Avenue. Otherwise, you can find them at Future of Frances Watson (1390 Queen St W), Gerhard Supply (2949 Dundas St W), and Uncle Otis (26 Bellair St) all year 'round. December 5th to December 11th, 134 Ossington Avenue.

For more fashion listings, check out our This Week in Fashion post.

CRAFTS

Bit Bazaar

Bit Bazaar Winter Market
Presented in part by TCAF, this might be the coolest holiday craft event of the season. Bit Bazaar will "celebrate the art and craft of indie games, web comics, and good food" — all of those things are pretty great, right? Exhibitors include indie game creators, arcades, comic artists, zine makers photographers, and chefs (there will be pie). It's like Christmas for nerds. Read our preview here. See you there. Bento Miso (862 Richmond St W), Friday, December 6, 7pm (RSVP), Saturday, December 7, 11am - 7pm.

Toronto Young Designers Holiday 2013
Glad to see this one is back! The 4th annual toronto young designers holiday sale will host nineteen local vendors at Brassaii on King West this year. Look for jewellery, home decor, paper goods, baby gifts, clothing, tote bags, art, furniture and beauty supplies. There will be gift wrapping on site. So, why shop till you drop when you can shop til you... brunch? Saturday December 7, 10am - 3pm, Brassaii (461 King Street West), free.

For more holiday craft and art sale events, check out our Holiday craft shows in Toronto for 2013 and 5 holiday art sales in Toronto for December 2013 posts.

SCIENCE

AstraZeneca Human Edge
The Science Centre's first new permanent exhibition in seven years opens this weekend. It features some pretty cool skeletons and a photo-aging machine that more or less works. Warning to parents of kids with body issues: for a collection that prides itself on being a lasting exhibit, it's pretty sad (and possibly traumatizing) to see an entire section that uses body shaming language and science that is already becoming dated like BMI calculations and calorie counting. Still, there's a climbing wall and a tarantula, so if your kids are already bored of the aquarium and you need to take them somewhere indoors this is an option. Ontario Science Centre (770 Don Mills Road), $13 - $22.

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

One of a Kind photo by Jesse Milnes, Photorama photo is by Joe Lepiano, Bit Bazaar photo via flickr


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