August is shaping up to be the month of festivals—a last hurrah before September brings students back to classes and everyone else back to work. Before you ask yourself “where did the summer go?” make sure to check out what’s in store for August to blunt the “back to school” blues.

3  Book Launch: Wherever I Find Myself

The Launch of Caitlin Press’ new anthology “Wherever I Find Myself: Stories by Canadian Immigrant Women” shares the stories of eight Canadian immigrant women who recount their personal histories and how those pieces of their past and present have impacted their feeling of belonging in Canada. At the heart of each story is the familiar and sympathetic immigrant narrative—trying to negotiate unfamiliar landscapes while striving to be accepted by your new peers.

6  Indonesian Street Festival

The first ever Indonesian Street Festival is happening on the 6th, proudly brought to this bustling city and its summer heat by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesian and the Indonesian community of Toronto. Yonge-Dundas Square will be transformed into an exuberant hub that will celebrate the vast cultural diversity of Indonesia with a display of its artistry and collectible crafts, performances, and delicious food!

9—17  The Feminist Art Museum

Curators Xenia Benivolski and Su-Ying Lee present The Feminist Art Museum, a nation-wide pilot project exhibiting in several locations. The project uses bricks as a metaphor in order to inspire dialogue on institution building, place, space, and land. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own bricks and participate in the symbolic construction and dissemination, which will then become part of the gallery installation.

10—13  Kultura Filipino Arts Festival

With volunteers and Filipino youth at the helm, Kultura will commence a three-day festival that sees a gathering of Toronto’s Filipino community in a celebration of their history and culture with a focus on their food, fashion and contemporary arts. The festival aims to move beyond the cliches of “cultural costumes and food” by engaging Toronto’s broader communities in a more nuanced and immersive understanding of Filipino culture and the diasporic Filipino-Canadian experience.

10—31  No Hard Feelings: A Solo Exhibition by Justine Wong

Justine Wong’s time spent along the coasts of Japan inspires this solo exhibit, with work that “softly speaks in the language of the sea and comes into form with the land.” The artist’s painted landscapes will be on exhibit from the 10th to the 31th—weekdays only!

11—13  3rd Annual Scarborough Community Multicultural Festival

Prepare yourselves, this particular festival will prove to be an exciting cornucopia and blend of diverse cultural cuisines, music, and visual and performing arts. This year’s theme is celebrating cultures and diversity as planned events will display the cultural history of the Scarborough community. See you in the ‘borough, friends!

17& 24  P40 Talkerative: Reclaiming Our Food - A Collaborative Zine-Making

Come join a 2-part DIY zine-making about reclaiming our “comfort food” through a creation of one large collaborative zine! Facilitated by our very own Community Engagement Director, and a zine-maker and illustrator Mirae, this workshop aims to reimagine food as racialized diasporic subjects while looking at various food trends around the city, how food making is influenced by migration and dislocatedness, and reimagining recipes of our favourite dishes which mark our culture and community belonging.

19—20  The 17th Toronto Chinatown Festival

The Toronto Chinatown Festival has been running since 2000 and every year proves to be better than the last. The 2017 iteration will be about “Meeting across The Milky Way.” The theme is in reference to the folktale about Chinese Valentine’s day which occurs every July 7th on the lunar calendar. The celebration will have related performances, and host vendors and activities that showcase Canada’s cultural diversity. Our friends from AYCE will also be vending their food tees so make sure to check them out!

20  Zine Dream 10 Small Press Fair

Catch over 100 exhibitors of self-published books, comics, music, zines, hand made crafts, prints all in one place for one day only! Held at the Polish Combatants’ Hall on Beverley, P40 will be making a group excursion there and probably eat gelato after so come join us!

25—27  TAIWANfest 2017

Aiming to create a cultural conversation between Taiwan and Hong Kong, this Harbourfront festival is free to enter and will blend cultural programming and food from both regions—can you say bubble tea heaven?! Yes, please! The festival is dedicated to promoting Taiwanese art and culture, with programmed events that reflect contemporary Taiwan.

26—27  Tamil Fest

As the largest Tamil street festival outside of India, Tamil Fest is a huge draw with crowds exceeding 170,000 last year and expected to increase in number this time around. With attendees from around North America, Tamil Fest will host cuisine, art, and entertainment that personify traditional and modern Tamil culture.

26  P40 Meet & Mingle

We’re bringing back our fun, sometimes rowdy, wonderful socials to mark the end of summer! They’re always a great time and opportunity to meet and talk with us, and other creators in the community. You can also bring along a project you’re working on and use it as a social / work space. Mark your calendars for Saturday the 26th at Crimson Teas from 11 - 6 pm. Hope to see you there! 🙂

 

This list was compiled by Aliya Ghare.
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