Saturday, April 24

FASHION | Elle Event
Elle Magazine hosts its third annual day of fashion at the Carlu on Saturday, and let's hope the designers on display are a little more creative than whoever came up with the event's name. The mini expo, simply dubbed the Elle Event, is a full day of runway shows, fashion seminars, and shopping guaranteed to get the city's fashionistas' mouths watering. New styles by Wayne Clark, Lida Baday, David Dixon, Sunny Fong and more will be debuted in the Canadian Designers Show at 12 p.m., and in the afternoon you can learn about everything from hot new make up colours to hairstyling tips for the spring season. Compulsive spenders beware: over 50 exhibitors, including MAC Cosmetics, GISH, and Natalie Simms Designs will be hawking their wares all day. If all that wasn't fabulous enough, you'll get to experience the elegant space of the Carlu, one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in the city.
The Carlu, 7th Floor College Park, 444 Yonge Street, $35 - $255, Shows and seminars 10 am - 5 p.m., VIP cocktails 7 pm - 9 p.m.

OPERA | The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman sounds like some kind of crazy sex move that you need a step ladder and a sturdy pair of clogs to perform. In fact it is an opera by Richard Wagner about a sailor doomed to a life at sea. Every seven years he comes ashore for one day and if he can find a woman who will promise to love him forever the curse will be broken. If sitting through two and a half hours of German love songs is your idea of a good time, then you'll be pleased to know that the Canadian Opera Company's production of the classic work opens today, with Russian baritone Evgeny Nikitin in the title role. Runs til May 20.
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, 7:30 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., $39 - $292

THEATRE | Red Machine: Under the Knife
Indie theatre and neuroscience come together in Red Machine: Under the Knife, the closing show at Harbourfront Centre's 2010 HATCH performance series. The Red Machine project is a creation of promising new experimental theatre company the Room, and uses texts written by different playwrights to explore various aspects of the human mind. Under the Knife is the fourth installment of the Red Machine and sees the Room delve into the biology of consciousness with four abstractions representing the reactions of four distinct regions of the brain to a single event. For as accurate a representation as possible, actual scientists were asked to collaborate with performers, directors and designers for the project, which is an ongoing work. Audience feedback after the performance will help to shape the final product. Runs til Sunday.
Studio Theatre, York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, $10 - $12, Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.

VINTAGE FASHION | Swap it Up: A Clothing Exchange Party
You could head down to the Elle Event or FAT this weekend to try to get your mitts on the hottest threads to hit the runway this season, but why shell out all that cash when for five bucks you can grab some great gently used clothes from a stylish stranger? Ladyfest, Toronto's annual feminist festival, is partnering with the Freedom Clothing Collective to present a clothing swap party, complete with music and tasty baked goods. Clean out your closet, bring a five dollar bill and a bag of used clothes or accessories, and leave with as much as you can carry. All unused clothes at the end of the event will go to Sistering, a Toronto non-profit that assists low-income women.
Freedom Clothing Collective, 939 Bloor Street West, $5, 2 pm - 6 pm

COMEDY | Monkey Toast: Gold Medal Edition
There are only two editions left of Toronto's favourite improvised talk show Monkey Toast before creator and host David Shore packs up and heads across the pond to pursue a career in the UK. For his next-to-last show, Shore's lined up some pretty great guests in comedian Simon Rakoff (brother of author and This American Life contributor David Rakoff) and gold medal-winning Olympian and gay rights activist Mark Tewksbury. If you've never had the pleasure of seeing Toast, it's just like a regular talk show except that in between segments, instead of commercials a talented improv crew performs skits based on the interviews.
Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor Street West, $10, 8 pm

GALLERY | Subjective
Photojournalists are a rare breed. Not everyone has the stomach to travel to the world's most dangerous places and stand unprotected behind a lens when the shit starts to go down. But the six young photographers who are part of O'Born Contemporary's Subjective show have chosen that hazardous career, and if images like this one by Kitra Cahana are any indication, they've made the right choice. Gaza, South Africa, and Haiti are just some of the locations that Cahana, Simon Hayter, Dominic Nahr, Ryan Carter, Liz Rubincam and Eamon Mac Mahon -- all of whom are under 30 -- traveled to document human drama, with the results on display at the gallery starting today. Subjective will be O'Born's featured exhibition for the 2010 Contact Festival.
O'Born Contemporary, 710 Yonge Street, Saturday 1 pm - 5 p.m., Tuesday to Friday 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Sunday, April 25:

FOOD | The Cake Show
Holy crap it's a cake show. A room full of cakes; double-deckered, triple deckered, crazy-shaped cakes. If you've ever wanted to see incredible specimens of edible art assembled in one place, the Bonnie Gordon School is going to make your day this Sunday, exhibiting the standout pieces from their most talented students and alumni. There are so many cakes on display, they've divided them into two categories: wedding cakes (classic!) and celebration cakes (exciting!). Some will be shaped like things that aren't even cake, like wine bottles and horses. Some proceeds will be donated to the the Stop Community Food Centre.
Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street, $10 adult, $25 family, 12 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

MARKET | The Bazaar of the Bizarre
Cyber industrial clothing label Plastik Wrap reconvenes the Bazaar of the Bizarre for a special spring show this Sunday. The theme for this season's market is Circus Side Show, and dozens of vendors including Vintagelove, Bitchcraft, Random Pretty Things, and Clockwork Zero will be selling clothing, crafts, zines, and all other things exotic and macabre. They'll even be a performance by Krasnogorst, a real live gypsy band.
Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement, 6 Noble Street, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

COMMUNITY | Downsview Park's Earth Day Celebration
Downsview Park's annual Earth Day party offers up a day of family friend in celebration of the big hunk of rock we call home. Festivities kick off bright and early with a 9 a.m. Green Run, followed by a tree planting competition. The kiddies will be entertained by facepainting and hands on science demonstrations, and representatives from the Muskoka Wildlife Centre and the Canadian Raptor Conservatory will provide infotainment about Canada's most interesting critters. At the Green Pavilion vendors will be selling eco-friendly food and crafts. If the weather cooperates it should make for a great, green day out.
Downsview Park, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Continuing:

FESTIVAL | FAT - Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week
FAT, Toronto's Alternative Arts and Fashion Week wraps up this weekend a full night of runway shows, art exhibitions, and musical performances in Liberty Village on Saturday. Showcasing the work of pioneering designers and artists from around the world, the theme of this year's festival is "Made With Love," and each night of the program explores a different aspect of the heart. We've already seen Longing, Lust, and Rage, which leaves us with Joy on Saturday night. The evening begins with a photo shoot called Joy is My Muse by Sai Sivanesan, followed a performance by the Danish Babu et Moi fashion label performers. Then a steady parade of models will hit the runway wearing designs by Mexico's Belinda Visag, Jamaica's Anuna, Calgary's Colleen Booth, our own Wiszin and many more. By Sunday the party will be over, but for the first time the public will have access to a designer sample sale featuring pieces from over 20 collections hot off the runway..
Liberty Village Studio City, 1 Pardee Avenue, $25 Day Pass, $70 Week Pass, 6 p.m. - 1 a.m. daily
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Photo: "Majid al Maskati" by nathan.legiehn, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.