#FIRSTLOOK: LUMINATO FESTIVAL 2026 PROGRAMMING

Luminato Festival celebrates twenty years with an extraordinary and action-packed edition running June 3–28, the longest festival in its history. Known for its bold curation of Toronto’s people, places and stories, this iconic summer festival will once again transform the city’s identity through the aptly titled theme of PLAY. The festival will bring together leading Canadian and international artists across myriad art experiences in theatre, circus, dance, opera, music, magic, film, and public art.

Spanning four weeks, Luminato 2026 kicks off June 3 with over 50 free and ticketed events and more than 140 performances at over 25 locations across the city. The festival features over 1,000 artists, eight exclusive Canadian commissions and seven world premieres, lighting up Toronto with art, culture and creativity. We are proud to partner with our presenting and supporting partners, including TO Live as an official partner and co-presenter of five productions of this Festival.

“Luminato is a bright reflection of all that is great about Toronto” says Celia Smith, CEO of Luminato Festival. “After 20 years, I’m immensely proud that our friends and neighbours continue to join us in joyful celebration of this vibrant global city.”

This year’s theme asks us to consider how a festival can truly PLAY its city. Encounter experiences that evoke child’s play using imagination and whimsy; stories that spotlight justice and reconciliation by boldly addressing equal play; and explore the uncertainty of shifting dynamics, the need to win and the imbalance of power play. This year’s programme spans a broad array of conversations designed to inspire, challenge and uplift.

Olivia Ansell, Artistic Director of Luminato Festival, muses, “From playable public art that makes you smile and stare in wonder, hearing breakup stories that mirror the playback tapes of our youth through to discovering the courage of feminists who feigned their own insanity to play for truth. Play one, play all, play on.”

Luminato 2026 creates the ultimate summer playlist that you’ll want to keep on repeat. In Lovin’ You: The Minnie Riperton Story (Canadian commission, world premiere), Juno Award-winner Divine Brown, featuring DJ Starting from Scratch and guest vocalist Glenn Lewis celebrate the timeless soul sounds that have influenced the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, J Dilla, The Roots and Kaytranada. Heartbreak Hotel, a cathartic comedy of breakup ballads, is a weird and wonderful space to sit with heartbreak, share a laugh, and reconnect.

Stages and dance floors alike will entice audiences with the joy of movement. Street and club culture meet with Azzam Mohamed’s Canadian premiere of KATMA, which invites everyone to an immersive, all-ages dance experience. Theatre of Dreams by Hofesh Shechter Company pulls audiences into a manic and surreal dance production where dreams – and nightmares – come to life. A fusion of dance, exhilarating circus and ritual, Nimba celebrates the culture of Guinea (co-presented with dance Immersion in association with TO Live). Canadian commission layers of kin by Angela Vitovec, co-presented with Toronto Dance Theatre, shows the bond between humans and plant life in this invitation into a living forest of movement, sound and physical performance.

Showcasing various playful public art experiences, the Festival will present Liz West’s Anthems to Colour, inviting the public to see the city in a new way through three vibrant sculptures that transform everyday spaces with colour, reflections, and shifting walls of light. Curated by Elder Duke Redbird, The Power of the Land (Canadian commission) is a daylong celebration of water, life, and culture, featuring performances, interactive art, ceremony, and music. Cyril Lancelin’s Pyramid Fields is part architecture, artwork, and playground — a collection of grid-inspired sculptures that will create a striking contrast next to Mies van der Rohe’s TD Centre and Eberhardt Zeidler’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre. Appearing in the TTC, 20 & Extraordinary: Moments in Photos features twenty defining moments from festivals past and reflects on how art, public space, and everyday life intersect.

Luminato comes alive at its free, family-friendly hubs. The returning Luminato @ Harbourfront invites visitors to a weekend of play from June 13 – 14, featuring global rhythms, aerial feats of Camion d’Intervention Artistique (CIART), spectacular aerial duet The Air Between Us by Chloe Loftus Dance, and laughter courtesy of Mal Perdedor (Bad Loser). Musical acts will include Aysanabee, Rashmeet Kaur, Wesli, Orkestar Kriminal, Marta Elena, Boubé, GANNA, Lancelot Knight, and more! Luminato @ Sankofa Square electrifies the city’s busiest intersection with immersive performances and installations on June 12, including Ode to Joy!: Sing with the Symphony (Canadian commission co-presented with Toronto Symphony Orchestra in association with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir), which will immerse Sankofa Square in the power of Beethoven’s Ninth, inviting all to sing among hundreds of voices. Luminato @ Lower Jarvis throws the biggest tailgate party of the season with art, games, and music, co-presented by Choice Properties.

The Festival will present not-to-be-missed theatre experiences. Igniting the power play of gender wars, the award-winning satire Masterclass examines masculinity, sexism, and power in contemporary art. Canadian drag icon Pearle Harbour skewers digital distraction in new commission Pearle Harbour Walks into a Bar, an intimate cabaret bursting with satire, songs, and acid-tongued wit.

NoSax NoClar & Robinson Khoury – MŸA, co-presented with Alliance Française, is a unique blend of global sounds, agile rhythm and electronic in a double bill of France’s modern jazz innovators. In Words to be Scene by Compagnie Dérézo, participants will follow an audio-led journey to six downtown locations, featuring monologues from Canöes by award-winning French author Maylis de Kerangal, co-presented with Institut Français du Canada.

To celebrate our twenty-year milestone, we want to replay some of our favourites from festivals past. The iconic RedBall Toronto by Kurt Perschke returns, moving daily across downtown Toronto to transform public space into sites of shared discovery. Assembled by groundbreaking minimalist composer Philip Glass, The Philip Glass Ensemble performs a seminal programme of early works, excerpts from [AS3] Einstein on the Beach, Koyaanisqatsi, Akhnaten, and more. Hot off a run in 2025, The 52 Live: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto, presented by Museum of Toronto returns to animate the City Archives.

Based on true events, Tapestry Opera Production 10 Days in a Madhouse by Rene Orth & Hannah Moscovitch is a psychological opera that follows journalist Nellie Bly as she fakes madness to expose the truth inside New York’s Blackwell’s Asylum (Canadian premiere, co-presented by Canadian Opera Company in association with TO Live). The “always amazing, always entertaining” (David Letterman) legendary magician duo will deliver an unforgettable live experience of mind play in Penn & Teller: 50 Years of Magic (Canadian premiere co-presented with TO Live). Play Dead by People Watching, co-presented with TO Live invites audiences into a distorted world of striking acrobatics and movement.

Luminato Festival is deeply committed to supporting the creation and presentation of bold, original artistic projects and championing artists and new work on Canadian and world stages. In 2026, Luminato Festival is proud to present the 9th annual Industry Series which unites artists, producers, presenters, and decision-makers to engage, exchange, and discover new work across disciplines. As part of the series, Luminato will co-present the inaugural Canadian Festival of New Musicals with The Musical Stage Company and Soulpepper Theatre, showcasing the future of Canadian musical theatre with new works, book and stand readings, and behind-the-scenes conversations. The Wedge Lecture, co-presented with Wedge Curatorial Projects, explores how play has shaped resilience, joy, and freedom across the Black experience, featuring acclaimed artist, photographer, and filmmaker Tyler Mitchell and artist and curator Liz Ikiriko.

Other festival experiences that Luminato Festival is presenting in association with partners, include: Colourful Parachutes: Imagining Alternative Futures Through the Power of Play, presented by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery; King Arthur’s Night (The Film), an Opus 89 Films production presented by AMI, screening presented by Hot Docs and Luminato; Many Beats/One Community presented by Community Music Schools of Toronto.

Festival Ticketing & Access

For ticketed events at Luminato Festival, please visit luminatofestival.com. Tickets for most events go on sale March 31 at 9:00am. Take advantage of our 20% early bird discount & announcement sale until April 30th or otherwise specified (while quantities last). Luminato aims to create inclusive experiences where everyone feels welcome and we invite you to join us for our free experiences.

Festival Supporters

Luminato Festival gratefully acknowledges our partners and supporters.

Founding Government Partner: Province of Ontario

Major Partners: City of Toronto, Government of Canada

Corporate Partners: Brookfield Properties, TD Bank Group, BMO, Cadillac Fairview, Waterfront BIA, Choice Properties, Power Corporation of Canada, Toronto Port Authority, Nieuport Aviation, TO Live, Solotech, TTC, and many more.

Individual Donors and Foundations: The Larry and Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation, Donald K. Johnson, O.C. LLD, Kiki and Ian Delaney, The Michael Young Family Foundation, The Azrieli Foundation, The Sabourin Family Foundation, Joan and Jerry Lozinski, The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation, The Slaight Family Foundation, La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, The Polar Foundation, Burstyn-Pecaut Family, Linda Chu and John Donald, Lucille Joseph, The Michelle Koerner Family Foundation, Eli and Phil Taylor, McLean Smits Family Foundation, The Canavan Family Foundation, Denton Creighton and Kristine Vikmanis, Lindy Green Family Foundation, and many more.

Government Partners: Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Creative New Zealand, Culture Ireland

Major Media Partners: Branded Cities, The Toronto Star, St. Joseph Communications

Show Supporters
Thank you to our presenting and supporting partners.

Luminato at Harbourfront is supported by the Province of Ontario, TD and Waterfront BIA. Indigenous programming at Harbourfront is supported by TD

Luminato at Sankofa Square is supported by BMO, the City of Toronto’s Community Celebration Support Fund, Downtown Yonge BIA, and the Toronto Star

Luminato at Lower Jarvis is supported by Choice Properties

Anthems to Colour is supported by Brookfield Properties

Pyramid Fields is supported by Cadillac Fairview

RedBall Toronto is supported by The Toronto Star

The Power of the Land is supported by the Michael Young Family Foundation, Waterfront BIA, Toronto Port Authority, Nieuport Aviation, and The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund

Ode to Joy!: Sing with the Symphony is co-presented with Toronto Symphony Orchestra, in association with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, supported by BMO, the City of Toronto’s Community Celebration Support Fund, The William and Nona Heaslip Foundation, and Downtown Yonge BIA

The Air Between Us is supported by Creative New Zealand

Nimba is co-presented with dance Immersion in association and with assistance from TO Live and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts

Play Dead by People Watching is co-presented with assistance from TO Live

10 Days in a Madhouse is co-presented with Tapestry Opera and Canadian Opera Company, in association and with assistance from TO Live

KATMA is supported by St. Joseph Communications

Masterclass is supported by Culture Ireland

Penn & Teller: 50 Years of Magic is co-presented with TO Live and supported by The Slaight Family Foundation and La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso in Honour of Allan Slaight, with assistance from TO Live

Pearle Harbour Walks into a Bar is supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the Province of Ontario

Heartbreak Hotel is supported by Creative New Zealand

layers of kin is co-presented with Toronto Dance Theatre and supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the Province of Ontario

The Wedge Lecture is co-presented with Wedge Curatorial Projects and supported by BES Executive Search

20 & Extraordinary: Moments in Photos is supported by the TTC

Theatre of Dreams is co-presented with TO Live and supported by Kiki and Ian Delaney, and Joan and Jerry Lozinski with assistance from TO Live

Canadian Festival of New Musicals is co-presented with The Musical Stage Company and Soulpepper Theatre

NoSax NoClar & Robinson Khoury – MŸA is co-presented with Alliance Française

Words to be Scene is co-presented with Institut Français du Canada

Colourful Parachutes: Imagining Alternative Futures Through the Power of Play is organized and presented by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery on view during Luminato Festival

King Arthur’s Night (The Film) is an Opus 59 Films production, presented by AMI (Accessible Media Inc), screening co-presented by Hot Docs and Luminato Festival

Many Beats / One Community is presented by Community Music Schools of Toronto in association with Luminato Festival

The 52 Live: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto is presented by Museum of Toronto in association with Luminato Festival

Program Supporters

Luminato’s Community Engagement Program is supported by Power Corporation of Canada and Lindy Green Family Foundation
Luminato’s Accessibility Program is supported by The Azrieli Foundation
The Tanenbaum Indigenous Art Play Program is supported by The Larry and Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation

About Luminato Festival
Luminato Festival transforms the people, places, and possibilities of Toronto with extraordinary art experiences. Every June, we present bold, playful, and of-the-moment art for all to enjoy. In 2026, Luminato Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary edition. Distinctly Toronto, proudly Canadian and totally Global, we welcome the world to explore our streets, stages, and stories. Encounter our city like never before. Visit luminatofestival.com to plan your festival experience.

(Photo credit: Tom Martin)

#FIRSTLOOK: LUMINATO FESTIVAL RETURNS JUNE 4-22, 2025

Luminato Festival returns June 4-22, 2025 to ignite Toronto with bold, playful, and of the moment art experiences that transform the people, places and possibilities of the city. Under the visionary leadership of CEO Celia Smith and Artistic Director Olivia Ansell, Luminato enters a new era with a bigger and more ambitious 19th edition of the festival that invites the public to encounter the city like never before.

“Luminato presents once-in-a-lifetime, inclusive art experiences that showcase the best of Toronto, our country, and the world,” says Celia Smith, CEO of Luminato Festival and expert in urban transformation. “We create moments that inspire and connect us and lead to positive change in our everyday lives.”

The theme of Luminato 2025, DAY:NIGHT explores how we inhabit the city in a 24-hour cycle. From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk, any given day can be ordinary or extraordinary. Artistic Director Olivia Ansell says “First breath, dawn light through to last dance and final word – the 2025 program asks us to reflect on the cycle of our collective lives and how we engage, disrupt and exist in time and space as a community. Be it the first or the last of things, we invite locals and visitors to encounter Toronto differently.”

This year’s festival ignites both day and night culture engaging audiences around the clock with a dynamic mix of music, dance, and theatre, along with immersive, family-friendly, and free public art. With the city as its canvas, Luminato brings art encounters to outdoor spaces, transit stations, theatres, galleries, and neighbourhoods across the Toronto area. Over 1000 artists from Canada and afar reimagine this city with compelling public art over three blockbuster weeks with 12 world premieres, 8 commissions and 14 exclusives from 10 countries.

Day one opens with opera visionary Krystian Lada’s Dawn Chorus (Poland) as it transforms Union Station into a living symphony. Award-winning photographer Nadya Kwandibens’ (Anishinaabe/Ojibwe) Night/Shifts captures the lives of Toronto’s night workers and displays them across the TTC and beyond. At Luminato at Harbourfront, the vibrant festival hub, First Breath by UK’s Luke Jerram celebrates new life born in Toronto each day with a breathtaking light installation. Terceradix Luminarium is an immersive, otherworldly structure of colour and light at Harbourfront Centre by UK artists Architects of Air.

Also at Luminato at Harbourfront is Teatro La Plaza’s (Peru) Hamlet which reimagines Shakespeare’s most famous work with eight incredible actors with Down syndrome, giving it new relevance. A Glimpse of Quincy: Celebrating the Legendary Quincy Jones is arranged and produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Larnell Lewis.

Theatre and dance highlights include Tim Crouch’s hypnotic story of loss, An Oak Tree (UK) presented in partnership with TO Live, where each performance features a different guest artist, revealed only at curtain time, at the Jane Mallett Theatre. Artists include Amanda Cordner, Amrit Kaur, Qasim Khan, Daniel MacIvor, Karen Robinson, and Jean Yoon, with more to be announced. Red Like Fruit by Hannah Moscovitch, co-presented with Soulpepper and produced by 2B Theatre, explores themes of power and complicity in the post-#MeToo era. Queen of the Night Communion, co-produced with Tapestry Opera, is an immersive opera experience that transforms baroque tradition at Metropolitan United Church. What the Day Owes to the Night by Compagnie Hervé KOUBI (France/Algeria) and in partnership with TO Live and Fall For Dance North, blends capoeira, martial arts, and Sufi traditions in a captivating dance performance. The world premiere of HANS: My Life in Fairytales by Craig Francis and Rick Miller, uses puppetry, video, and clowning to bring Hans Christian Andersen’s extraordinary stories to life. Canadian/Columbian collaboration Nigamon/Tunai by Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina is a poetic manifesto against extractivism, land destruction, and displacement. Theo x Travis: Jazz is Dead is a high-energy fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B, featuring trumpeter Theo Croker and tap dancer Travis Knights, co-presented by dance Immersion.

Luminato will showcase a number of remarkable free public art installations and performances that connect art directly to the people. THAW by Australia’s Legs on the Wall is an epic eight-hour performance which makes climate change impossible to ignore with a 2.7-tonne block of ice suspended over Sankofa Square. Rainbow Dreams by Japanese born, Australian based, Hiromi Tango creates three unique rainbow-filled environments at Brookfield Properties that invite the public to explore pathways toward well-being. Flamboyant and defiantly joyous, Dandyism by Rwandan born, UK based Ziza Patrick celebrates the timeless swagger of African style through powerful street and contemporary dance.

Luminato at Harbourfront will also feature free experiences for all ages throughout the day. Notable hub highlights include Sangam, curated by The Tawoos Initiative, creates a confluence of rhythms from South Asia. Featuring the highly anticipated North American debut by the uncensored voice of Pakistan – legendary rap pioneer, Faris Shafi, and a return of the popularly demanded electronic music producer and composer Talal Qureshi. Miigwech Collective curates an exciting line-up of Indigenous music artists including blues and country artist Crystal Shawanda, pop and R&B singer Alicia Kayley, and electronic world beats artist Tica. Lulaworld celebrates Latin and Indigenous music, including Colombia’s revolutionary La Pambelé orchestra, the electrifying Afro-Colombian Kombilesa Mí, and the dynamism of Sonic Sancocho’s vinyl sets. SANTÉ by Cirque Kikasse (Quebec) brings high-flying acrobatics atop a food truck for gravity-defying feats of fun.

Luminato’s sound experiences include:

Immersed by Justin Gray, an innovative audio experience blending Indian classical music, jazz, and electronic soundscapes, co-presented with TD Music Hall

Dusk Soundscapes by Maria Chávez, a live DJ set co-presented with the Art Gallery of Ontario

2025 Luminato Conversation Series and community events include:

Beach Clean Up, hosted by Swim Drink Fish and artist Merle Harley, combines environmental action with creative expression.

For the 2nd year, The Wedge Lecture, co-presented by Wedge Curatorial Projects and part of Luminato’s Conversation Series, explores Black Diasporic narratives, identity and issues around representation.
Last Words: Talking in Cemeteries with Canadian Christa Couture & Guests is an intimate exploration of life, death, and legacy in a historic cemetery in Toronto, part of the Conversation Series.
You’re All in the Band, presented by Community Music Schools Toronto in association with Luminato Festival, is an immersive musical journey with hundreds of students celebrating joy and inclusion.

Luminato 2025 will also feature the following experiences presented by a number of partners:

-Sleep Temple, presented by Jumblies Theatre in association with Luminato Festival.
-The 52 Live: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto presented by Museum of Toronto in association with Luminato Festival
-Gimeno Conducts The Best of Brahms by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in association with Luminato Festival.
-To Dream of Other Places by Emmanuel Osahor, presented by The Power Plant Gallery.
-Runway Rivers Public Art Installation by John Notten, programmed and presented by YZD.

Luminato’s Industry Series returns for its 8th year, offering opportunities for Canadian artists to learn, share their work and network with global peers.

Under the leadership of Celia Smith and Olivia Ansell, Luminato’s transformative vision solidifies its role as a global cultural leader. By redefining how people experience Toronto – both those who live and visit here – the festival positions the city as a premier destination for art, culture, and community. Through Luminato’s unwavering commitment to creative transformation and a 2025 festival which highlights environmental sustainability, mental wellbeing, and the wide-ranging experiences inhabiting a 24-hour cycle, the festival contributes to a thriving, connected and inspired city. This June, Luminato again invites the world to explore Toronto’s streets, stages, and stories like never before. For full event details, including dates and times, please visit luminatofestival.com.

Festival Ticketing & Access

Tickets for most Luminato events are available as of April 2 on luminatofestival.com. Take advantage of our 20% early bird discount while quantities last and bundle savings. For some free events, advanced registration may be required. Visit luminatofestival.com today for full details and to secure your spot. Luminato aims to create inclusive experiences where everyone feels welcome to participate. Please contact our Access Concierge for assistance: email: access@luminato.com and phone: 437-776-1569.

About Luminato Festival

Luminato Festival transforms the people, places, and possibilities of Toronto with extraordinary art experiences. Every June we present bold, playful, and of the moment art for all to enjoy. Distinctly Toronto, proudly Canadian and totally Global, we welcome the world to explore our streets, stages and stories. Encounter the city like never before.

Luminato Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of our founding government partner, the Province of Ontario; our major partners, the City of Toronto and the Government of Canada. Major media partners for 2025 include the Toronto Star and St. Joseph Communications.

We are also grateful for our major partners and supporters: TD Bank Group, BMO, Brookfield Properties, Donald K. Johnson, O.C. LLD, Ian and Kiki Delaney, C.M., The Azrieli Foundation, and The Michael Young Family Foundation.

#FIRSTLOOK: LUMINATO FESTIVAL 2025 PROGRAMMING ANNOUNCEMENT

Luminato Festival returns June 4-22, 2025 to ignite Toronto with bold, playful, and of the moment art experiences that transform the people, places and possibilities of the city. Under the visionary leadership of CEO Celia Smith and Artistic Director Olivia Ansell, Luminato enters a new era with a bigger and more ambitious 19th edition of the festival that invites the public to encounter the city like never before.

“Luminato presents once-in-a-lifetime, inclusive art experiences that showcase the best of Toronto, our country, and the world,” says Celia Smith, CEO of Luminato Festival and expert in urban transformation. “We create moments that inspire and connect us and lead to positive change in our everyday lives.”

The theme of Luminato 2025, DAY:NIGHT explores how we inhabit the city in a 24-hour cycle. From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk, any given day can be ordinary or extraordinary. Artistic Director Olivia Ansell says “First breath, dawn light through to last dance and final word – the 2025 program asks us to reflect on the cycle of our collective lives and how we engage, disrupt and exist in time and space as a community. Be it the first or the last of things, we invite locals and visitors to encounter Toronto differently.”

This year’s festival ignites both day and night culture engaging audiences around the clock with a dynamic mix of music, dance, and theatre, along with immersive, family-friendly, and free public art. With the city as its canvas, Luminato brings art encounters to outdoor spaces, transit stations, theatres, galleries, and neighbourhoods across the Toronto area. Over 1000 artists from Canada and afar reimagine this city with compelling public art over three blockbuster weeks with 12 world premieres, 8 commissions and 14 exclusives from 10 countries.

Day one opens with opera visionary Krystian Lada’s Dawn Chorus (Poland) as it transforms Union Station into a living symphony. Award-winning photographer Nadya Kwandibens’ (Anishinaabe/Ojibwe) Night/Shifts captures the lives of Toronto’s night workers and displays them across the TTC and beyond. At Luminato at Harbourfront, the vibrant festival hub, First Breath by UK’s Luke Jerram celebrates new life born in Toronto each day with a breathtaking light installation. Terceradix Luminarium is an immersive, otherworldly structure of colour and light at Harbourfront Centre by UK artists Architects of Air.

Also at Luminato at Harbourfront is Teatro La Plaza’s (Peru) Hamlet which reimagines Shakespeare’s most famous work with eight incredible actors with Down syndrome, giving it new relevance. A Glimpse of Quincy: Celebrating the Legendary Quincy Jones is arranged and produced by Grammy Award-winning artist Larnell Lewis.

Theatre and dance highlights include Tim Crouch’s hypnotic story of loss, An Oak Tree (UK) presented in partnership with TO Live, where each performance features a different guest artist, revealed only at curtain time, at the Jane Mallett Theatre. Artists include Amanda Cordner, Amrit Kaur, Qasim Khan, Daniel MacIvor, Karen Robinson, and Jean Yoon, with more to be announced. Red Like Fruit by Hannah Moscovitch, co-presented with Soulpepper and produced by 2B Theatre, explores themes of power and complicity in the post-#MeToo era. Queen of the Night Communion, co-produced with Tapestry Opera, is an immersive opera experience that transforms baroque tradition at Metropolitan United Church. What the Day Owes to the Night by Compagnie Hervé KOUBI (France/Algeria) and in partnership with TO Live and Fall For Dance North, blends capoeira, martial arts, and Sufi traditions in a captivating dance performance. The world premiere of HANS: My Life in Fairytales by Craig Francis and Rick Miller, uses puppetry, video, and clowning to bring Hans Christian Andersen’s extraordinary stories to life. Canadian/Columbian collaboration Nigamon/Tunai by Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina is a poetic manifesto against extractivism, land destruction, and displacement. Theo x Travis: Jazz is Dead is a high-energy fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B, featuring trumpeter Theo Croker and tap dancer Travis Knights, co-presented by dance Immersion.

Luminato will showcase a number of remarkable free public art installations and performances that connect art directly to the people. THAW by Australia’s Legs on the Wall is an epic eight-hour performance which makes climate change impossible to ignore with a 2.7-tonne block of ice suspended over Sankofa Square. Rainbow Dreams by Japanese born, Australian based, Hiromi Tango creates three unique rainbow-filled environments at Brookfield Properties that invite the public to explore pathways toward well-being. Flamboyant and defiantly joyous, Dandyism by Rwandan born, UK based Ziza Patrick celebrates the timeless swagger of African style through powerful street and contemporary dance.

Luminato at Harbourfront will also feature free experiences for all ages throughout the day. Notable hub highlights include Sangam, curated by The Tawoos Initiative, creates a confluence of rhythms from South Asia. Featuring the highly anticipated North American debut by the uncensored voice of Pakistan – legendary rap pioneer, Faris Shafi, and a return of the popularly demanded electronic music producer and composer Talal Qureshi. Miigwech Collective curates an exciting line-up of Indigenous music artists including blues and country artist Crystal Shawanda, pop and R&B singer Alicia Kayley, and electronic world beats artist Tica. Lulaworld celebrates Latin and Indigenous music, including Colombia’s revolutionary La Pambelé orchestra, the electrifying Afro-Colombian Kombilesa Mí, and the dynamism of Sonic Sancocho’s vinyl sets. SANTÉ by Cirque Kikasse (Quebec) brings high-flying acrobatics atop a food truck for gravity-defying feats of fun.

Luminato’s sound experiences include:

Immersed by Justin Gray, an innovative audio experience blending Indian classical music, jazz, and electronic soundscapes, co-presented with TD Music Hall

Dusk Soundscapes by Maria Chávez, a live DJ set co-presented with the Art Gallery of Ontario

2025 Luminato Conversation Series and community events include:

Beach Clean Up, hosted by Swim Drink Fish and artist Merle Harley, combines environmental action with creative expression.

For the 2nd year, The Wedge Lecture, co-presented by Wedge Curatorial Projects and part of Luminato’s Conversation Series, explores Black Diasporic narratives, identity and issues around representation.
Last Words: Talking in Cemeteries with Canadian Christa Couture & Guests is an intimate exploration of life, death, and legacy in a historic cemetery in Toronto, part of the Conversation Series.
You’re All in the Band, presented by Community Music Schools Toronto in association with Luminato Festival, is an immersive musical journey with hundreds of students celebrating joy and inclusion.

Luminato 2025 will also feature the following experiences presented by a number of partners:

•Sleep Temple, presented by Jumblies Theatre in association with Luminato Festival.
•The 52 Live: Stories of Women Who Transformed Toronto presented by Museum of Toronto in association with Luminato Festival
•Gimeno Conducts The Best of Brahms by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in association with Luminato Festival.
•To Dream of Other Places by Emmanuel Osahor, presented by The Power Plant Gallery.
Runway Rivers Public Art Installation by John Notten, programmed and presented by YZD.

Luminato’s Industry Series returns for its 8th year, offering opportunities for Canadian artists to learn, share their work and network with global peers.

Under the leadership of Celia Smith and Olivia Ansell, Luminato’s transformative vision solidifies its role as a global cultural leader. By redefining how people experience Toronto – both those who live and visit here – the festival positions the city as a premier destination for art, culture, and community. Through Luminato’s unwavering commitment to creative transformation and a 2025 festival which highlights environmental sustainability, mental wellbeing, and the wide-ranging experiences inhabiting a 24-hour cycle, the festival contributes to a thriving, connected and inspired city. This June, Luminato again invites the world to explore Toronto’s streets, stages, and stories like never before. For full event details, including dates and times, please visit luminatofestival.com.

Festival Ticketing & Access

Tickets for most Luminato events are available as of April 2 on luminatofestival.com. Take advantage of our 20% early bird discount while quantities last and bundle savings. For some free events, advanced registration may be required. Visit luminatofestival.com today for full details and to secure your spot. Luminato aims to create inclusive experiences where everyone feels welcome to participate. Please contact our Access Concierge for assistance: email: access@luminato.com and phone: 437-776-1569.

About Luminato Festival
Luminato Festival transforms the people, places, and possibilities of Toronto with extraordinary art experiences. Every June we present bold, playful, and of the moment art for all to enjoy. Distinctly Toronto, proudly Canadian and totally Global, we welcome the world to explore our streets, stages and stories. Encounter the city like never before.

Luminato Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of our founding government partner, the Province of Ontario; our major partners, the City of Toronto and the Government of Canada. Major media partners for 2025 include the Toronto Star and St. Joseph Communications.