Nuit Blanche en Toronto

Over the past couple days we've been hearing a lot about the upcoming Nuit Blanche set to take place in Toronto this September. The free event would run from dusk to dawn, with art & culture events and open galleries, shops, libraries, etc etc (possibilities are endless) all night long.

Mayor Miller, in the announcement this week, described it as a "fitting" and "essential" addition to the "artistic explosion and creative renaissance" already happening in the city (fancy superlatives -- I hope he'll put his funding where his vocab is).

Today, Metro Morning's, Andy Barrie interviewed Christophe Girard, Deputy Mayor for culture in Paris, the founder of the original Nuit Blanche.

Girard noted that since he started the event 4 years ago, Paris' Nuit Blanche has exploded, now bringing in over a million participants from all around every year.

The one big difference already apparent, is that our event already relies heavily on corporate sponsorship... apparent in the official title, "Scotiabank Nuit Blanche." Girard seemed in favour of the sponsorship, despite the invasive naming, pointing out that in Paris, the municipal government puts a lot more money into culture than Toronto does (heck, they have a mayor for culture!), but he would still be open to more corporate involvement there.

There aren't too many more details on the make-up of the event thus far, but the Live With Culture site has been updated with some details and an invitation to those who'd like to open their doors, plan events, or participate to contact the Nuit Blanche organizers.