SPOOKTACULAR HERITAGE EVENTS

WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAYS

BY: EMILY WELSH

Happy Halloween everyone! Well...almost. With the leaves changing colour, we are coming closer to one of my most beloved occasions to celebrate, Halloween. For this edition of What's Happening Wednesdays we will take a look at five Halloween themed events happening this month at heritage sites and museums around Toronto.

Let's do the time warp this Halloween by checking out events at five heritage sites and museums. Source.

1. Legends of Horror, Casa Loma

 Legends of Horror, is on now at Casa Loma. Source.

On now through Halloween, Legends of Horror at Casa Loma takes visitors through a self-guided walk from the lower grounds through the bowels of the castle. Along the path theatrical performances bring to life characters from horror stories. With Dracula as your guide, you travel at your own pace for 1.5km through an immersive tale of the search for love and immortality.

When: On now through October 31st.
Where: Casa Loma, Entrance-Davenport Rd. and Walmer Rd. 
Cost: $40 in advance, $45 at the door.
Ages: Children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Parental discretion is advised.
Learn more: https://legendsofhorror.ca/


2. Halloween Extravaganza, Bata Shoe Museum

Children making crafts last year at the Bata Shoe Museum's Halloween Extravaganza. Source.

Back again this year is the Bata Shoe Museum's Halloween Extravaganza. Drop by to decorate Halloween cookies, make crafts and play iSpy in the museum.

When: Saturday October 29th and Sunday October 30th. Activities until 4pm.
Where: Bata Shoe Museum
Cost: Included with admission. Children who come in costume get in free!
Ages: Perfect for children aged 3-12
Learn More: http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/
                     http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/event/halloween-extravaganza-at-the-bsm/


3. Halloween Hootenanny, Black Creek Pioneer Village

Black Creek Pioneer Village hosts their Halloween Hootenanny this October. Source.

Black Creek Pioneer Village's Halloween Hootenanny boasts a variety of Halloween activities at their 1800's pioneer village. Among the many events you can enjoy decorating pumpkins, stage performances, a haunted maze and trick-or-treating among the historic buildings!

Where: Black Creek Pioneer Village
When: 11am - 4:30pm; Saturday October 22nd, Sunday October 23rd, Saturday Oct. 29th, Sunday October 30th
Learn More: http://www.blackcreek.ca/v2/events/howling-hootenanny.dot


4. Spirit Walk, Mackenzie House

Mackenzie House, Toronto. Source. 

 Mackenzie House's Spirit Walk takes visitors on a guided tour to some of Toronto's reportedly haunted buildings and finishes the tour back at Mackenzie House where you can hear about ghosts associated with the building.

Where: Mackenzie House
When: Saturday October 29th, 7pm
Cost: $12.50 + tax; tickets must be purchased in advance.
Ages: Not recommended for children under 8.
Learn More: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=8ccf1d18ed7a0410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD


5. Haunted High Park, Colborne Lodge

A tour guide illuminates a tombstone during a past Haunted High Park tour. Source.

    Colborne Lodge once again hosts its Haunted High Park tour. Hear ghostly tales associated with the grounds of High Park on your nighttime tour and learn about Victorian funeral and mourning rituals while inside historic Colborne Lodge. Two versions of the event are available: the adult & teen version and the families & children version.

Where: Colborne Lodge
When: Adult & Teen: 7:30pm - 9pm, Friday October 21st, Friday October 28th and Saturday 
            October 29th
            Families and Children: 6:30pm - 7:30pm or 8pm - 9pm, Saturday October 22nd
Cost:   Pre-registration required.
           Adult & Teen: $20 + tax
           Families and Children: adults $15 + tax, children (8-12yrs) $7.50 + tax
Ages: Adult & Teen: Teens 13-16 years old must be accompanied by an adult. 
           Families and Children: Not recommended for children under 8 years old; children must be
          accompanied by an adult and adults must be accompanied by a child.
Learn More: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=cb6c2271635af310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Happy Halloween! Go Jays Go! Photo by the author.

These are just five of the many Halloween events happening at local heritage sites and museums this October. Please share other Halloween events in the comments below! Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

  

WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAY: JULY EDITION

WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAY

BY: KATE SEALLY

The view from my imaginary cottage. Source.

Welcome to the July edition of What's Happening Wednesday! I hope y'all have been enjoying summer and that some of you have had a chance to vacation, perhaps at a cottage with a view.
Enjoy the following collection of events, and luckily most of them are indoors, so you'll be safe from the humidity!

 1. Anarchist Workshop for the Maker Community

This satellite event of the Toronto Maker Festival is an interactive evening at Colborne Lodge in High Park. Colborne Lodge's original owner, John George Howard, was a 19th century Toronto architect, surveyor, city builder, early adopter and all around tinkerer.

Colborne Lodge will have all its doors open to welcome the maker (and museum) community. So come explore and decide if you think John Howard really was Toronto's original maker! Light refreshments will be served.

• Where: Colborne Lodge, High Park, Toronto
• When: Wednesday, July 13 from 6 pm to 8 pm
• Cost: $10 + HST / person. Tickets here.

The Toronto Maker Festival is on until July 17 at various locations! Source.

2. ROM Daytime: Chihuly, Art in Context 

The ROM is running several interesting events in the coming weeks, so it was difficult to choose just one! (check out the events I didn’t choose here and here).

Happening June 30th, this ROM Daytime event will put Dale Chihuly’s magical glass art into context. Diane Charbonneau, Guest Curator of the ROM's Chihuly exhibition and Curator at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, will discuss the work of this celebrated and boundary-breaking artist. Following the lecture, refreshments will be served before participants are invited to visit the exhibition.

The event is included with admission, but RSVP here.

• Where: Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario
• When: Thursday June 30, 11:00 am to 1:15 pm
• Cost: included in ROM admission (so free for OMA members!). RSVP recommended

Source.

3. AGO Curator’s Talk: Andrew Hunter on Lawren Harris and The Ward

Join Andrew Hunter, the AGO’s Curator of Canadian Art, as he explores the Toronto of Lawren Harris. Toronto, in the 1910s as today, was a city of great diversity and dense urban growth. Harris painted often in St. John’s Ward, a downtown neighbourhood full of peoples of a variety of cultures.

Like the ROM, the AGO has several other exciting events coming up. Check them out here, here, and here.

• Where: Art Gallery of Ontario, Jackman Hall
• When: Friday July 15, at 6 pm
• Cost: Members $12, Public $15, Students $10

Yoga in the Galleria Italia! Another great AGO event. Source.

4. Honourable Mentions from our MMSt Interns:

1. Downton Downtown in downtown Hamilton (via Claudia Palermo, intern at Hamilton's  Tourism and Culture Division)
2. Ottawa Storytellers at the Bytown Museum (via yours truly, intern at the Bytown Museum) 

Well that's all for this month, folks. Remember to leave me a comment with a new event happening near you, or reach out to me on Twitter! Have a wonderful week, and happy Canada Day!

WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAYS

BY: CAMERON CRAWLEY

It's that time of the year where everyone is increasingly stressed about work and compensates by loading up their already caffeinated beverages with obscene amounts of pumpkin flavouring. My advice to you is the following. First, have some self control and step away from the Pumpkin Spice Latte; they make people even more jittery and irritable than normal. Second, read this blog about what you can get up to in the city this coming week. It might not calm you down, but it will probably distract you long enough to stop you from drowning some poor unfortunate foodstuff in pumpkin flavouring. 

Now as some of you may be aware, this Friday is Halloween, one of our most beloved faux-holidays. As such, many cultural institutions are jumping on this heathen bandwagon and running Halloween themed events. One example of this is at Colborne Lodge, run by the City of Toronto and located in High Park, who are running a haunted walk. The walk takes place within the 1830's lodge itself and the surrounding grounds.

Colborne Lodge in High Park. Black and white pictures make everything look scarier.
Original source: https://tayloronhistory.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/1912.jpg 

Admission includes the requisite ghost stories as well as period-accurate refreshments. The tours are occurring on October 30th and 31st from 7-8:30, and cost $17.50. Further information can be found here.

Now if spooky stories or gorging yourself on an obscene amount of candy (the point of Halloween) isn't your style, I have you covered. This Thursday, Montgomery's Inn (a small community museum in the west end of the city) is running their monthly Thirsty Thursday event. The event is set in their original 1847 barroom, and includes live music, a cash bar, bowls of traditional Irish stew for $5, and FREE admission. 

A little known site in the city that is well worth a visit. Did I mention it's FREE! Also you cannot resist the siren song of beer and $5 stew on a cold fall evening.
Original source: https://tce-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/media/media/0e78b376-3f86-4221-ba7d-c2b9d3b066eb.jpg

The museum itself is a short walk from Islington TTC station, and further information about the event and the museum can be found here.

Now it is also worth pointing out that the ROM is also running a special Halloween Friday Night Live this week for the same price as a regular FNL event. Even more exciting is that the Museum Studies Student Association (MUSSA) is going to FNL this Friday (in costume I might add)! These are the events that Museum Studies students live for, so act quickly. You can find more details and RSVP here.

Having been to FNL on Halloween (and at other times), I can assure you it is a fantastic night out. My only warning is to make sure there is no incriminating evidence of you having too much fun...

Look upon this and despair. Also, please note this picture does not reflect my actual personality.
Original source: Meaghan Dalby 

Either way, I wish you all an enjoyable week, spooky or not. See you next time!