Weekend events in Toronto will go dark - or we hope they will. Saturday, March 28th at 8:30pm is Earth Hour, and it's about time we beat the 2009 record. (Read more about Earth hour events in the city here.) If you're hungry for bright lights, 15 Toronto bars have 4AM last call this week, and of course Shad will electrify the city this weekend.

Here are my picks for the top events happening in Toronto March 27-29, 2015.

Pabst Street Jam (March 28, Church St x Shuter St)
Ring in spring with a last hurrah to winter. This block party is centred around a snowboard rail that will witness some of Ontario's best strut their stuff amidst PBR and food trucks (yes, multiple cliches are at work here). Music will be supplied by Thugli and Rich Kidd. 19+ (PBR). DF

MUSIC

Shad (March 27, Massey Hall)
The newly anointed host of CBC's Q now has a lot of eyes on him for obvious reasons, so his upcoming show is sure to be an even larger draw than expected. It's is part of Massey Hall's live concert series, which offers cheap tickets and a filmed recording that's later broadcast online. SK

Toronto Downtown Record Show (March 29, 958 Broadview Ave)
'Tis the season to grip. On Sunday, head to the stacks set up in the east end to see the collections of over 50 vendors, or just listen to the sound of vinyl flipping, flipping, flipping.

2015 Prism Prize Awards Presentation & Top Ten Screening (March 29, TIFF)
The Prism video awards are open to the public for the first time ever. Will anyone go? I hope Odonis Odonis wins.

FOOD & DRINK

Society of Beer Drinking Ladies Bevy #0014 (March 28, TBA)
This increasingly popular ladies-only beer tasting is celebrating its 14th event this week. Only open to ticket-holding women at an as-yet-undisclosed-location, the event opens up to non-ticket holders and dudes at midnight and will feature beer brewed just for the occasion. BJ

Brewery Collectables Buy/Trade/Sell (March 28, Great Lakes Brewery)
At Great Lakes Brewery you can enter this collectible sale to buy beer memorabilia for your basement rec-room themed condo, or trade or sell your beer memorabilia for... other beer memorabilia. Or TTC fare. There will be pie and $5 GLB beer.

ART

Stephen Bulger Gallery 20th Anniversary (March 24 - April 25, Stephen Bulger)
Stephen Bulger's West Queen West gallery is turning 20, and the landscape in the neighbourhood's art scene has undergone at least a couple of fascinating waves of change in that time. The exhibit will include photographs from all 40 artists the gallery has hosted solo exhibition for, and many more.

Xiao Guo Hui - Feast (March 28 - April 29, Christopher Cutts Gallery)
Toronto painter Xiao Guo Hui impressed us at Art Toronto last year, and this show at Christopher Cutts Gallery should be a deeper look into the Chinese born artist's creepy and contemporary takes on classical painting motifs. The opening is Saturdat afternoon from 2-6pm

Fab 5 Freddy for one-day Basquiat Symposium (March 28, AGO)
The AGO's Jean-Michel Basquiat is hosting a pretty huge event on Saturday at this panel/symposium. Hip hop's Feb 5 Freddy will be there, plus The Studio Museum's Thelma Gordon, writer Jordana Moore Saggese, artist and writer Karen Miranda Augstine, writer and performer Dalton Higgins, and many more.

PARTY & DANCE

Bassweek (March 20-29, various venues)
The fifth annual Bassweek returns to Toronto for five nights of drum'n'bass madness (and a sprinkling of other bass-related genres), with events at the Hoxton, the Phoenix, and Tota. The lineup is full of veterans and superstars of the genre, including Drumsound & Bassline Smith, DJ SS, Micki Finn, Metrik, Delta Heavy, and many more. BB

FILM

The 2015 Canadian Film Fest (March 25 - 28, The Royal)
Not every Canadian filmmaker can be a Xavier Dolan or David Cronenberg and have their films easily shown in theatres. Thankfully we have the good people at CFF to make sure a wide range of Canadian filmmakers get the chance to have their films -- usually low-budget features and shorts -- get the chance to be seen, enjoyed, and loved. AH

12th Annual Reel Artists Film Festival (Until March 28, TIFF)
Canadian Art's 12th Annual Reel Artists Film Festival is screening art-centric docs now at TIFF. This year's theme is risk taking artists in the vein of Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramovic, and Chris Ofili. It's on until Saturday.

I for Iran (TIFF, until April 3)
At TIFF, the I for Iran series, curated by Iranian filmmakers, is screening a can't-miss retrospective until until April 3rd. Films this weekend include Close-up and Hamoun.
Check out the programming here.

SHOPPING & LIFESTYLE

Fashion Week Fall and Winter (March 23 - 27, David Pecaut Square)
It's easy to forget Fashion Week, and hard to imagine wanting to check out designers' fall and winter wear just as the city begins to warm up. But the perfectly coiffed are at David Pecaut Square, and we'll be there to street style them. The cycle of life goes on. See our guide to doing Fashion Week without an invite here, and don't forget to stay out late.

Post Market (March 29, Great Hall)
The Post Market is back at the Great Hall with a huge lineup of vendors selling everything from vintage clothing to perfume to baked goods - see the list of vendors here.

Green Living Show (March 27-29, Metro Toronto Convention Centre)
You could get off the grid, or you could shell out for this show where, I assume, there will be new innovations in green detergent for show and sale. Unbleach the planet one cold wash at a time.

BOOKS

Old Book and Paper Show (March 29, Wychwood Barns)
If you missed the Antique Book Show and the Postcard Show, Wychwood Barns will combine some diamonds in the rough from both worlds. Hit up one of Toronto's best markets for old tomes, vintage ephemera, and oddities.

Shelf Life (March 19-29, Ryerson Artspace at the Gladstone)
Carbon Paper is about to pull off a huge undertaking: this super cool pop up library will feature a huge collection of all-Canadian publications and magazines, with a stacked schedule of events.

For more events this weekend click on over to our Events section. Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit it for free using this form.

Contributions by Shazia Khan, Ben Boles, Derek Flack, Ben Johnson

Photo by Hannah Jor