Toronto events on May 1st, 2013

FOOD | Food Truck Fever
It's food trucks galore at the Sony Centre this week for Food Truck Fever. Kicking off what will be a busy summer of food trucks near the corner of Yonge and Front, the new food truck spot will be welcoming May in style by handing out free food for the first 15 people in line each day. To get the free food all you need to do is download the new Toronto Food Trucks app on your iPhone first and show 'em that you have it. For everyone else? Hey, it's still a great spot to grab some lunch from some of Toronto's best gourmet food trucks.
The Sony Centre (1 Front St East) 11AM - 3PM

PHOTOGRAPHY | Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival begins today, with a launch event at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art this evening. The festival, founded in 1997, is one of Canada's most significant cultural events, and is the largest event of its kind in the world. This event features both Canadian and international talent, with over 1,500 individuals exhibiting their work at almost 200 venues throughout the city. The theme for this year's Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival is Field Of Vision, and the notion of photography as a "way of seeing" will be explored. The festival runs until May 31.
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (952 Queen St. W.) 7PM (launch)

ART | The Toronto Strip Show
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival celebrates its tenth year this year, and takes place May 11 and 12. To both raise awareness and funds, (and perhaps to begin celebrating a little early), the TCAF presents The Toronto Strip Show, which opens tonight at Steam Whistle's gallery. This special exhibition will showcase unique and thematically related comic strips from artists who will be featured at this year's festival, and promises to surprise you with the broad spectrum of styles that this cultural artform has to offer. Tonight's opening reception is also a fundraiser for the TCAF, and all work exhibited can be bid on in a silent auction. This exhibit will run at Steam Whistle until May 31.
Steam Whistle Brewing (255 Bremner Blvd.) 7PM

BOOKS & LIT | Little Brother Magazine No. 2 Launch Party
Little Brother is a relatively new magazine, celebrating the launch of its second issue tonight. Published twice yearly, Little Brother features fiction, essays, and photography from Canadian sources and beyond. Little Brother's second issue revolves around the theme of "jokes", and at tonight's launch, guests are encouraged to come prepared to share their favourite joke onstage. The Globe and Mail, Monocle, and Broken Pencil all have great things to say about this new venture, so consider coming out to support TO's literary scene, grab a copy, and have a cookie.
June Records (662 College St.) 7:30PM

BOOKS & LIT | AUTHORS: Mia Couto, Shyam Selvadurai, Ania Szado
Another excellent evening of literature and discussion happens tonight, courtesy of Authors At Harbourfront Centre. Well known Mozambican writer Mia Couto is the first African writer to receive the Latin Union literary prize, and he will share his latest work, The Tuner of Silences tonight. Shyam Selvadurai, whose books have been shortlisted for both the Giller Prize and the Trillium Award, will read from his new novel, The Hungry Ghosts. Commonwealth Writers' Prize nominee Ania Szado is also reading tonight, and her latest work, Studio Saint-Ex, set in a New York French expatriate community during WWII, will definitely grab your attention.
Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay W.) 7:30PM $10 (free for members/students/youth)

ALSO OF NOTE

• Os Tropies play Caetano's "Tropicalia"
• The Architecture of Empty Opening - Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
• Private as Public group show opening // Unofficial Contact opening after party.
• EARLY SUNDAY MORNING: New urban photos by David Kaufman

For more Toronto event suggestions, check out these posts:

• Toronto Food Events
• This week in fashion
• This week in Theatre
• This week in film
• This week in music
• Toronto Concerts, May 2013

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

Photo courtesy of tracer.ca via Flickr.