Art & Design Events Toronto 2019

Up from #3
Formerly the Toronto Design Offsite Festival, this renamed 10-day event is Canada’s largest cultural celebration of design, marking its 10th anniversary in 2020. Attendance in 2019 grew to 150,000, with 100-plus events, exhibits, installations and, for the first time, a guided bus tour. Next: January 17-26, 2020

This year’s international arts festival shrank to 17 days from 19 and had a smaller budget of $6 million. Additional free programing was added in 2019, and highlights included the mesmerizing House of Mirrors and an interactive basketball play for Raptors-crazy Toronto. The province of Ontario returned as the major sponsor. Next: June 2020
See more: 10 Best Ideas of the Week: 'Fortnite's Neon Disco Ball Stage, Luminato's 'House of Mirrors,' Montblanc's Space-Theme Geodesic Dome

Downtown’s Fort York is a new site for art installations at this year’s all-night festival, attended by about one million people in 2018. Other sites include Yonge-Dundas Square and a return to Scarborough. About 300 artists are expected to participate again this year. Next: October 5, 2019

Up from #6
The world’s largest photography event focused on women artists this year, with more than 75 percent of core exhibits shot by females. Attendance grew to 1.45 million people in 2019, with some 1,000 artists showing at 175 venues, including major museums, restaurants, galleries, and artist-run centers. Scotiabank returned as the title sponsor and Samsung joined as a first-time sponsor. Next: May 1-31, 2020

Up from #8
The show moved to a bigger space in the south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in 2019 and expanded IDS Contract, its B-to-B offering for tradespeople. About 6,500 design divas attended the opening-night party and Roots drummer Questlove was among the guest speakers. Appliance maker Miele was a sponsor. January 16-19, 2020 See more: See 9 Stand-Out Trade Show Booths From This Interior Design Event

For its 20th edition, this city-wide buildings tour focused on youth and indigenous themes, and it also offered behind-the-scenes tours of 20 architects’ studios and the newly renovated Holy Blossom Temple, home of Toronto’s oldest Jewish congregation. Schlage Locks Canada was a new sponsor. Next: May 30-31, 2020

Attendance stayed level as about 23,000 collectors, gallerists, artists, and enthusiasts returned to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for Canada’s largest modern and contemporary art fair in 2018. Sales to institutions and private and corporate collectors were strong, and RBC was the presenting sponsor again. Next: October 25-27, 2019

Canada’s largest juried contemporary art fair will host about 380 artists at Nathan Phillips Square for the three-day weekend event, with about 115,000 art lovers expected to attend. This year’s theme is “Art: unwalled,” acknowledging the inclusive and welcoming environment. Henderson Brewing Co. returns with its Cascading Beer garden and gathering place. Next: July 2020