Electrifying A City As its name implies, Luminato is about light, and shedding the stuff on the city of Toronto. But really, its about enlightenment, about a greater understanding of our shared humanity through exposure to myriad forms of art and culture..embed-container position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; For 10 days in June, Torontos spaces theaters, parks and less conventional spots fill with theatre, music, dance and more. A hybrid of populist street fair and highbrow contemporary art, the festival seeks out creative innovators and the city welcomes them; like Bumbershoot on steroids, Luminato draws about 800,000 attendees from all over the world for free and ticketed events exemplifying the festivals three pillars: collaboration, accessibility and diversity. Entering its second decade, the 2017 festival runs June 14 to 25 at venues across the city. With programming curated by new Artistic Director Josephine Ridge, the 11th annual festival opens with Tributaries, a free, large-scale celebration of Indigenous culture in David Pecaut Square. Highlights include two Canadian-made world premieres, a packed daily schedule of performances in The Famous Spiegeltent an ornate 1920s travelling pavilion from Belgium and much more. History Luminato Festival was the brainchild of Tony Gagliano and the late David Pecaut. An American-born civic entrepreneur, Pecaut knew how to unite disparate groups into partnerships and turn ideas into actions. After the SARS virus outbreak devastated the citys tourism industry and its spirit, he and Gagliano, CEO of a communications firm, hatched a plan to bring both back via the Luminato Festival. In 2011, the city renamed its Metro Square after him.This is no mere arts and crafts fair, thats for sure. That inaugural year, 2007, also featured events such as Book of Longing, a theatrical work for which Leonard Cohens poems were set to music by composer Philip Glass. World-premiere performances of plays, operas, films, major art commissions and installations and tributes to legends occur every year; in 2015, David Byrne presented Contemporary Color, a pep rally/pop-music mashup featuring 10 high-school color-guard teams performing routines alongside St. Vincent, Lucius, Ira Glass, tUnE-yArDs and other top performers. That year also marked the Canadian debut of Unsound, the electronic and experimental music festival founded in Krakow, Poland. In 2014, Wainwright world-premiered If I Loved You: Gentlemen Prefer Broadway, a collaboration with World Pride, which took place that year in Toronto. A Brazilian guitar marathon and Neil Young tribute featuring the Cowboy Junkies, Colin Linden, Holly Cole, the Bill Frisell Trio and other renowned Canadian artists were among 2013s highlights.Balancing ActFestival marquees boast international premieres, but Toronto-based arts organizations also benefit from funding set aside to bring big bangs to the event. And festival-goers do, too; free Cirque du Soleil performances helped send its 2009 attendance over the 1 million mark. At the five-year mark, more than half of the festivals funding was government-sourced; approximately 37 percent was raised from corporate sponsors and donors, and about 10 percent from ticket sales. A large chunk of government funding is dedicated to securing first rights to artistic events and performances. As one Toronto Globe Mail story noted, the festival philosophy, as cued by Pecaut, is go big or go home. More Info below.