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Culture in Toronto

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Exhibits

Toronto has a world-renowned museum, the Royal Ontario Museum (frequently referred to as "the ROM"), and one of North America's largest art galleries, the Art Gallery of Ontario (also known as the "AGO"). Exhibition Place is the home of the Canadian National Exhibition (the CNE or "the Ex"), an annual event that takes place in August which also hosts the Canadian International Air Show. Nearby Ontario Place is a popular amusement park on the waterfront.

It has a vibrant visual arts scene, with artist-run venues such as Mercer Union and YYZ Artists' Outlet presenting important exhibitions of contemporary art from both the local area and abroad.

Performing arts

Toronto is home to Canada's most active English language theatre scene, and is considered to be the third largest centre for English language theatre in the world, behind New York City and London. It is home to both acclaimed works by companies as Soulpepper, the Canadian Stage, and Tarragon and large Broadway style musicals. Several Broadway theatrical hits originated in Toronto, such as the 1993 revival of Show Boat and Ragtime. Venues for theatre include the Canon Theatre (formerly Pantages Theatre and Pantages Cinema), the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the Poor Alex Theatre, and the Harbourfront Centre. It is the mandate of Theatres such as The Factory Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille to produce distinctly Canadian Theatre and support local artists. Canadian artists that have started in these theatres include George F. Walker, Michael Healey and Ann Marie MacDonald.

Musical venues in Toronto include the Toronto Centre for the Arts in North York; Roy Thomson Hall, home to Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO); and Massey Hall. The National Ballet of Canada is based in Toronto and performs at the Hummingbird Centre and formerly at the Walter Carsen Centre. It and the Opera will move to the Four Seasons Centre in 2006.

As Canada's largest city and the main centre of its recording industry, Toronto is also home to many Canadian pop, rock, and hip hop artists. This includes both musicians native to Toronto and those who have moved to Toronto from other towns and cities. The live music scene in Toronto is centred primarily in the Queen Street West area, part of what is known as the Entertainment District, although not all of Toronto's music venues are in this neighbourhood. More established acts play at venues such as Lee's Palace, The Opera House, The Horseshoe Tavern, The Mod Club, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, and Kool Haus (formerly known as the Warehouse). Major concert tours by stars are usually booked into larger venues such as Air Canada Centre, Hummingbird Centre, the Rogers Centre and the Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place.

Literature

The Greater Toronto Area is the centre of English Canadian literature and many of Canada's best known writers, such as Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, write and set their books in Toronto. Other prominent Toronto-based writers include Rohinton Mistry, Morley Callaghan, and George Elliott Clarke. Canada's publishing industry is based in Toronto. It is home to both the major companies, such as McClelland and Stewart and the smaller firms like House of Anansi Press and Coach House Books.

Both of Canada's English language national newspapers (the National Post and the Globe and Mail) are based in Toronto, as is Canada's largest-circulating daily newspaper (The Toronto Star) and many other major magazines and periodicals. The city is thus home to a large number of Canada's journalists. As a nexus of multilingual activity, Toronto has 79 ethnic periodicals.

The largest book stores are near Bathurst & Bloor and Yonge & Dundas, with a number of famous specialty, alternative and science fiction bookstores along Queen west and Yonge street.

Events

Toronto plays host to a variety of different events year-round. At the end of June annually, Toronto hosts one of North America's largest Gay Pride celebrations. In July, Caribana, the largest Caribbean festival in North America, attracts more than one million celebrants for the concerts, the food, the King and Queen of the Bands competition, and the very popular Caribana parade. The Molson Indy is also held in Toronto every year in July. In September, Hollywood celebrities, actors, writers, directors, and producers from around the world descend on the city for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Sports

Current professional franchises

Logo Club League Venue Established Championships Toronto Argonauts logo Toronto Argonauts Canadian Football League Rogers Centre 1873 15 Toronto Maple Leafs Logo Toronto Maple Leafs National Hockey League Air Canada Centre 1917 13 Toronto Blue Jays Logo Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball Rogers Centre 1977 2 Toronto Raptors logo Toronto Raptors National Basketball Association Air Canada Centre 1995 0


Toronto Rock logo Toronto Rock National Lacrosse League Air Canada Centre 1999 5 Toronto Marlies logo Toronto Marlies American Hockey League Ricoh Coliseum 2005 0 Toronto Lynx logo Toronto Lynx USL First Division Centennial Park Stadium 1997 0

Current semi-professional franchises

Logo Club League Venue Established Championships St. Micheal Majors logo Toronto St. Michael's Majors Ontario Hockey League St. Michael's College School Arena 1996 4 Toronto Maple Leafs (baseball) Intercounty Baseball League Christie Pits 1969 7

Major sporting venues

Tourism

Toronto has a thriving tourism industry as it has many landmarks and attractions, the most popular of which is the CN Tower. The city has largely recovered from the 2003 SARS outbreak; however, the tourism industry had to make certain cuts, with some elements not having yet returned to the status quo.

One of Toronto's major annual attractions is the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), attendance to which is a family tradition for some. Regular sporting events, such as home games of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Marlies and Argonauts, also bring many tourists to the city every year.

The city of Toronto recently launched a tourism campaign called Toronto Unlimited. However, the new branding campaign has been criticised by many locals and outside commentators.

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