Toronto’s seventh annual WinterCity Festival will celebrate culture, creativity and cuisine with a series of free spectacles at Nathan Phillips Square, specially-created indoor entertainment at Toronto’s cultural venues, and a series of one-of-a-kind culinary events with some of the city’s most revered chefs and restaurants. The festival will take place from January 29 to February 11.

WinterCity is three festivals in one: the WOW! Series at Nathan Phillips Square; the Warm Up! Series at Toronto’s cultural venues; and the ever-popular restaurant promotion and culinary event series, Winterlicious.

The WOW! free outdoor performances at City Hall’s Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen St. W., will feature dramatic theatrical productions, fire art performances and installations, themed skating parties and ice carving on selected dates. Details are provided in the Event Listing that accompanies this news release.

The Warm Up! Series encourages Torontonians to stay warm indoors at several venues while experiencing WinterCity performances and activities featuring some of the city’s best loved entertainers. Details are included in the Event Listing.

Winterlicious will offer two delicious ways to experience Toronto’s culinary diversity. The popular prix-fixe restaurant promotion returns with 150 participating restaurants from January 29 to February 11.

The Winterlicious Culinary Event Series features one-of-a-kind ticketed gastronomic experiences hosted by some of Toronto’s finest restaurants and venues. Details are presented in the Event Listing that follows.

For more information about the three streams of WinterCity programming (and other events produced by Toronto Special Events), the public can visit http://www.toronto.ca/special_events or phone 311.

Event Listing

Toronto’s WinterCity Festival
Toronto’s seventh annual WinterCity Festival, from January 29 to February 11, celebrates culture, creativity and cuisine with a series of free spectacles at Nathan Phillips Square, indoor entertainment at Toronto’s cultural venues, and culinary events with some of the city’s most revered chefs and restaurants.
The WinterCity programming details follow.

WOW! free outdoor performances at Nathan Phillips Square
Compagnie Les Passagers is one of Europe’s most innovative and visually compelling theatrical and artistic troupes. The French company transforms public space through the use of scaffolding, pyramids, cables, ropes and nets to create a massive, 210-square-metre vertical fresco. High above the audience’s heads, the actors perform dance and acrobatics on the vertical stage’s landscape, which changes to reflect each of three separate and visually stunning shows.

• Time Is… is inspired by traditional and contemporary Chinese culture. Through specialized choreography and martial arts training, the performers take audiences on a journey through the seasons as time flows around them. (Friday, January 29 at 8 p.m.)
• Namastey is a theatrical and choreographic spectacle based on the famous themes from the Indian movie world; a Bollywood-inspired performance that revolves around the story of a young Indian woman travelling to London where she falls in love with a Royal Navy captain. (Friday, February 5 at 8 p.m.)
• Cosmogonia recounts the Book of Genesis in a succession of 12 scenes played and danced on a background of projections of images portraying the Elements, urban labyrinths and the mystery of life over a soundtrack of dramatic industrial music. (Saturday, January 30 at 8 p.m., Sunday, January 31 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, February 6 at 8 p.m.)

The Flaming Lotus Girls will set Nathan Phillips Square aglow with large scale interactive fire and steel installations. Angel of the Apocalypse is an elegant sculptural environment that rises from the earth in the form of an abstracted bird. As the Angel’s head and wings come alive with fire, audience members are invited to move around and between the blazing feathers and can interact with the sculpture by operating the propane flame effects of the inner wings. (January 29 to February 7, 6 to 10 p.m., choreographed performances at various times.) Visit http://www.toronto.ca/special_events for more details.

Tim Horton’s Ice Breakers Skating Parties will celebrate the music and traditions of mid-winter festivals from around the world on the iconic rink at Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen St. W. Schedule:

• Chinese Lantern Festival (Friday, January 29)
• Paris Carnival (Saturday, January 30)
• Winter Carnival (Sunday, January 31)
• Holi (Friday, February 5)
• Brazilian/Caribbean Carnaval (Saturday, February 6)
• Festival du Voyageur (Sunday, February 7)
• Nightly DJ skating parties (Monday, February 1 to Thursday, February 4, from 6 to 10 p.m.)

In Glacialis: The Ice Orchestra, artist and composer Jesse Stewart creates and plays original music on instruments designed and built out of ice. These special performances promise to be a wondrous experience for the eyes and ears, a frozen garden of delicate sonic beauty. (January 31 at 5, 6 and 7:40 p.m.)

Audiences can also enjoy Mythical Ice, as teams of ice carvers bring to life gods and goddesses that reflect winter, snow and ice. The sculptures will be inspired by figures from around the world including Yuki-onna, Ullr, Inuit Sea Goddess, Jack Frost and Snegurochka. (February 7 from 4 to 8 p.m.)

Warm Up! at Toronto’s cultural venues
Audiences can go indoors to experience special WinterCity performances and activities created by some of Toronto’s best loved entertainers.

• Tumbling Into Light, a multimedia concert produced by David Buchbinder, featuring the Flying Bulgars, Andrea Nann and Bruce McDonald, invites the audience to enter a magical sound and light world of dreams, doubt and hope, conflict and unity at The Young Centre for the Performing Arts. (Sunday, January 31, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., $20/$30 at the Young Centre Box Office 416- 866-8666.) http://www.youngcentre.ca/productions/10_season/tumbling_into_light.html

• A family favourite, BUNCH hosts a winter-themed dance party by day for kids and their parents at the massive Guvernment/Kool Haus complex. (Saturday, January 30, 2 to 5 p.m., $12/$10 adults/kids in advance. 647-430-5599) http://www.bunchfamily.ca/truenorth

• Diaspora Dialogues invites adult audiences to A Midwinter Night’s Dream, a wintry carnival complete with storytellers, performances and psychics at the Roof Salon at Park Hyatt. (Thursday February 11 and Friday February 12, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., $20 for one night, $35 for both. Purchase by contacting 416- 944-1101 or [email protected])

• The Toronto Tabla Ensemble and LAL will lead the audience on an artistic journey from ancient India to contemporary Toronto through song, dance and multimedia performances in the heart of Kensington Market. (February 5, 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.; February 6, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; February 7, 2 p.m. It’s taking place at Bread and Circus, 299 Augusta Ave. Student matinees $10, Evenings $20, Toronto Tabla - 416- 504-7082, Bread & Circus - 416- 925-8898) http://www.tablaensemble.com and  http://www.breadandcircus.ca

• The National Film Board of Canada features “hot” and “cool” films, hands-on animation workshops and on-demand viewing of more than 5,000 films from the NFB’s extensive collection for the duration of WinterCity Festival. (Programming continues at various dates and times throughout WinterCity - visit http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/mediatheque/ for more information.

Winterlicious at Toronto’s restaurants
Winterlicious offers two delicious ways to experience Toronto’s culinary diversity. The hugely popular prix-fixe restaurant promotion returns with 150 participating restaurants from January 29 to February 11.

The Winterlicious Culinary Event Series features one-of-a-kind ticketed gastronomic experiences hosted by some of Toronto’s finest restaurants and venues. Details about each dining experience/venue listed below are available at http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/wintercity/2010/culinary.htm.

Eats, Beats and Tweets @nyood
Nyood Restaurant, 1096 Queen St. W.  http://www.nyood.ca

A totally Toronto experience, featuring celebrity chef Brad Long
The Market Kitchen, St. Lawrence Market, 93 Front St. E. http://www.stlawrencemarket.com

Travel the Streets of Toronto
Rosewater, 19 Toronto St. http://www.libertygroup.com/rosewater

Ex-Communication by Chocolat
Moroco Chocolat, 99 Yorkville Ave. http://www.morocochocolat.com

Making the Grade: Rising Chef Citrus Cook-Off
SCHOOL, 70 Fraser Ave.  http://www.sbcto.com

Julialicious
The Bonnie Stern School of Cooking, 6 Erskine Ave. http://www.bonniestern.com

Guilty Pleasures VI:  Fashion + Food = Fabulous!
The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W.  http://www.thedrakehotel.ca

The Feast of the Tiger
Spice Route, 499 King St. W.  http://www.spiceroute.ca

Pilsner Urquell and beerbistro present: A Celebration of Beer - Beer Dinner
Beerbistro, 18 King St. E.  http://www.beerbistro.com

Winterlicious Getaways
Nella Cucina, 876 Bathurst St.  http://www.nellacucina.ca

For more information about the three streams of WinterCity programming and other events produced by Toronto Special Events, the public can visit http://www.toronto.ca/special_events or call 311.