Although not exactly right around the corner (October 2nd), the City has released the full 2010 Nuit Blanche program. And due to a few important tweaks/additions, there's reason to think the fifth edition will be a good one. In addition to securing a strong set of curators, organizers of this year's festival have made the night easier to navigate by concentrating the main exhibition projects along the Yonge-University subway line. The independent projects will still be scattered throughout the three zones, but this new layout should allow attendees to plan their nights more efficiently.

Also big news is the fact that Yonge will be closed to vehicular traffic between Bloor and Front streets, turning it into one big promenade for the event.

We'll offer our picks of the festival a little closer to the date, but for now here's a cut/paste from the City of Toronto press release.

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City-produced exhibition highlights

Curator Gerald McMaster's exhibition entitled "The Good Night" features 10 projects in and around Yorkville, from Yonge Street to St. George. Highlights include the Lower Bay Station, which will become an interactive landscape of light in Daan Roosegaarde's installation "Interactive Landscape Dune", while the Village of Yorkville Park will feature a billion-year-old chunk of the Canadian Shield transformed into the pulsing heart of Mother Earth by Kent Monkman's alter-ego Miss Chief Eagle Testikle in "Iskootāo".

Anthony Kiendl will curate seven projects along the west side of Yonge Street from Dundas Street to Queen Street West in "Sound and Vision." Nathan Phillips Square will be transformed into a sensory oasis as Daniel Lanois prepares, produces and performs the soundtrack to a multi-channel, multi-screen media experience in "Later That Night at the Drive-In". Atop the new Podium Green Roof at City Hall, Dan Graham's "Performance CafĂŠ with Perforated Sides" will feature one of the artist's world-renowned reflective pavilions, beckoning as a space for human interaction on a grand or intimate scale.

Sarah Robayo Sheridan's exhibition entitled "The Night of Future Past" will be located on the east side of Yonge from Carlton Street south to Queen Street. She will curate eight projects, including Ryan Gander's "Just Because You Can Feel It, Doesn't Mean It's There", which will set Yonge-Dundas Square ablaze in a social sculpture of ambiguous designation but of unmistakable scale and presence. In "Reunion" on the Ryerson Theatre Stage, the historic artistic convergence of the same name that occurred in 1968 will be celebrated and remounted by local and international performers influenced by the twin legacies of Marcel Duchamp and John Cage.

Christof Migone will curate 15 projects in the Financial District, straddling Yonge Street from Queen Street to Front Street. "Should I Stay or Should I Go" will feature Max Streicher's "Endgame (Coulrophobia)", which will either delight or frighten audiences who discover the giant inflatable clown heads wedged between two buildings in a back alley.

At Commerce Court, Davide Balula's performance entitled "The Endless Pace" will feature 60 dancers mimicking the passage of time in a clock formed from human movement. Kim Adams' "Auto Lamp" will become a beacon of light for night owls; a sculptural lighthouse on land at the corner of Yonge and Queen. At Brookfield Place, Martin Arnold and Micah Lexier have collaborated to present "Erik Satie's Vexations" - two pianos playing a score simultaneously 840 times over 12 hours - the first time this difficult score has been played in such a way and in such short a time.

Community-produced independent exhibition highlights

The community-produced portion of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche will feature new or existing installations created by cultural and educational institutions, neighbourhoods and individual artists that extend the boundaries of the event city-wide and showcase the diversity of Toronto's arts community. Casa Loma, CN Tower, the Bata Shoe Museum, Ryerson University, TIFF and many more organizations are hosting important projects in their unique venues. Entire neighbourhoods like Parkdale, Liberty Village, Queen West, the Distillery District and the area in and around Trinity Bellwoods Park will feature multiple installations by local artists.

For more information about the festival, check out the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche website and their Facebook page.