SATURDAY, AUGUST 13TH

MUSIC | RASTAFEST 2011
Downsview park will be feeling some bass, positive vibes, and plenty of "kulcha" this afternoon as RastaFest takes over! The goal of the festival is to educate the public about Rastafarian culture, and this started back in the late '70's and 'early '80s with intermittent workshops and conferences held in TO, which has become more consistent and tightly organized since the early '90s, under the "Rastafest" moniker. This fest began on Monday on a smaller scale, at different TO locations, with art, films, and information sessions. Today, music on the big stage is the deal, and The Legendary Mighty Diamonds, Orthodox Issachar, Horace Martin, The House Of David Gang, and many more will deliver the goods.
Downsview Park (35 Carl Hall Road) 1PM Admission: "canned goods"

ART | Good Stuff & Bad Things: Dan Springer/Skulluxe solo show opening
Tonight is the opening reception for the Dan Springer/Skulluxe show at Atomic Toybot. Springer's style could be described as 'subversive cartooning', often combining and juxtaposing innocent and cute images with gore, and of course, skulls. Springer admits on his 'blog that he incorporates them into his art so often, it inspired the name for his website. Springer also uses some unusual media for his works, such as ashtrays and small pieces of wood. This edgy artist's work will be on display (and purchaseable!) at this location for two weeks, so definitely stop in before then if you are so inclined, and cannot make it tonight.
Atomic Toybot (978 Queen Street East) 7PM FREE

MARKETPLACE | Bloorcourt Arts and Crafts Street Fair Market
This afternoon, Bloor Street will be 'pedestrian only' from Shaw to Dovercourt as the Bloorcourt Arts and Crafts Street Fair Market takes place. A great variety of handmade goods will be displayed and for sale, including ceramics, jewelry, homeware, toys, ephemera, fine art and more! There will also be live music, tons of patios for chillaxing, and what would an arts and crafts fair be like without amateur wrestling? That fun begins at 10pm!
Bloorcourt (Bloor Street: Shaw to Dovercourt) 11AM FREE

CLUBS | SYNTHICIDE! (synthpop & electropop) w/ EBM Room
The Nocturne Club wil have two "zones" going full force tonight! DJ Lazarus, who has plenty of history here in TO, hailing especially from the goth and darkwave scenes, will be spinning a retro/modern blend of synth and electro-pop tunes, and is 'request friendly'. Meanwhile.... Saucy Miso and Hangedman will have a whole other trip going on in another room, dubbed "Zone 2" with Industrial, EBM, and more edgy sounds to get you moving in that sort of way. Sounds like the best of both worlds.
Nocturne Club (550 Queen Street West) 10PM $5 after 11PM

OTHER EVENTS ON OUR SATURDAY RADAR

• The Bicycle Film Festival
• TWM: High Heels Lo Fi, The Black Void, The Breaks
• Everyone's a DJ
• TranceAddict presents CONTACT @ GUVERNMENT
• Unbound, Alyeus, The Nancy Boys, Fade Chromatic
• Parkdale Bazaar - August edition

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14TH

CULTURE | The ALL CAPS! Island Festival
A very cool, more-than-just-music fest takes place at Artscape over the weekend (click event link for Saturday deets), with the bands curated by the tastemakers at Wavelength, and the 'arty' end of things, (including installations, "open studios", and more), put together by Whippersnapper Gallery. This afternoon and evening's musical offerings include performances by Rich Aucoin, DD/MM/YY, The Wooden Sky, and more.
Artscape Gilbraltar Point, Toronto Island (443 Lakeshore Avenue) $15/day $25/both days

CULTURE | Fortune Cooking Food Festival
This three-day festival celebrates Pan Asian cuisine with cooking demos, prepared foods, dance and music performances, and more. This is the second year for this event, and it takes place all weekend, beginning on Friday. Today there are several exciting things lined up for the last day of this event. There will be several cooking demonstrations, including Chef Howard Chew dishing out the deets on Malaysian cooking, plus there will be musical performances by Chai Found Music, Emm Gryner, and more. This promises to be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West) 12PM FREE

LITERATURE | Launch: We Are All Bodies of Water, Someone: Water II
This afternoon, Naco Gallery presents the launch of Astrida Neimanis' "We Are All Water". This work is the second in the someone:water series that began in 2009 at Nuit Blanche with A. F. Moritz's poem, "The Shore". Neimanis' work, has been distilled with editor Beatriz Hausner from a 500-page thesis down to excerpts and themes to fit a broadside. A very limited edition of 52 of these broadsides have been printed, and that is the occasion being celebrated a Naco this aft. The author will be in attendance this afternoon, and there will be readings, video projections, and music courtesy of DJ Echo.
NACO Gallery (1665 Dundas Street West) 4PM FREE

MUSIC | Get On Your Knees and Suck My Massive Throbbing Rock Show
How could a musical event with a name like this not catch your attention? Please don't take these imperatives literally, but if you are looking to check out an early (and all ages) multi-band bill on this fine Sunday, heading down to The Velvet Underground could be a good idea. Promised "throbbers" include: Neon Grey, Torrent, Cause and Defect and Robbie Wulfson.
The Velvet Underground (510 Queen Street West) 5PM $10

OTHER EVENTS ON OUR SUNDAY RADAR

• Church St. Fetish Fair
• Conscious Food Festival
• Ron Sparks' Celebrity Roasts: Colin Mochrie
• Sunday Scene with Carlos Granados-Ocon & Caoimhe Morgan-Feir
• Gladstone's Rummage Sale
• The HOT BOAT CRUISE w/ 10 DJS such as Ovi M, Chris Ink & MORE!!

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Photo by earth to jennifer in the blogTO Flickr pool