Free events in Toronto this week should help you work off the gut you put on binging on multiple Thanksgiving dinners. With the weather rapidly growing cold, outdoor venues become sparse, though you will get an opportunity to check out a quirky design festival at City Hall.

The best free offerings this week ask us to exercise our eyes and minds, with free film screenings (nice and warm), critic talks at MOCCA, and retro video game trivia. Yes, it's time to hibernate. But if you're looking to cavort in your cave of choice, there's plenty of live music to indulge in (and dance to) with the Nite Comfort release party at the top of the list.

Here's what's free in Toronto this week.

MONDAY

• Ultimuts Dog Show

TUESDAY

• Susan Fast in conversation with Carl Wilson (TYPE Books)
• The Dreamboats Live (Cameron House)
• The Sakdoos Live (PWYC, The Central)
• EW Reading Series featuring Ottawa writers (PWYC, Duffy's Tavern)

WEDNESDAY

• Whiplash advance screening (Yonge & Dundas AMC)
• The Best of Me advance screening (U of T, Innis College, room 107)
• Sukkahville design competition (Nathan Phillips Square)
• Sustainability, Mainstream (North York Central Library)
• Pivot Reading Series (PWYC, The Press Club)

THURSDAY

• Nite Comfort Compilation Release Party feat. Petra Glynt, Galaxius Mons, Chanteclair, Mekele, APN (Handlebar)
• Herta Mueller Collages: 10 Prints, 10 Poems (Goethe Institute)
• Your Brain on Speed (Brentwood Library)
• Jewish Comix Anthology release party
• Nuts and Volts: Spingal Crack (PWYC, Bassline)
• Future States with The Most Loyal & Amy Bronson (PWYC, Holy Oak)

FRIDAY

• Art. Vibes. Music: Inaugural Release Event (No cover before 11pm, Cabal)
• Biggity Boop (Free before 11pm, Parts & Labour)
• Culture Talks: Tearing Down Walls (Goethe Institute)
• Where Do We Go From Here? AIDS Organizing, Services, Bureaucracy & the State (OISE)

SATURDAY

• Tough Love Improv (Social Capital Theatre)
• Intro to Photoshop workshop (XPACE)
• Purple Squirrels premiere (Big Picture Cinema)
• Open Sesame Critic's Forum (MOCCA)
• X AVANT Music Fest: Marcus Boon in conversation with DJ/rupture
• Songwriter Circle (PWYC, Cameron House)
• Seed Of Nature and The House Of Haunt (PWYC, The Cavern)
• Smashmouth! Open Mic (PWYC, Lazy Daisy Cafe)

SUNDAY

• Retro Video Game Trivia Night (Hotel Ocho)
• Focused live (The Central)
• Sports Card & Memorabilia Show (Amsterdam Brewery)
• DX Family Day (Free for families/caregivers, Design Exchange)
• 4th Annual Toast to Autumn (Lithuanian House)
• Craveyard Halloween Party (Nestle Canada Factory)
• No Art Tours: Walls and Outlets Tour (MOCCA)
• Video Vengeance #11 - free screening of WACKO (Kitch)
• Box Autumn Salon (PWYC, The Rivoli)
• Lizzie Violet's Cabaret Noir (PWYC, The Central)

Also check out these regular free events

• Elvis Mondays at the Drake
• Foosball Battle Royale, Monday, Disgraceland
• Art Gallery of Ontario free evening, Wednesday, 6-8:30pm.
• IFOA Weekly, free for supporters, students, & youth under 26, Wednesday, Harbourfront Centre
• Skin of My Nuts Comedy Show, Thursday, Sonic Espresso Bar
• Canadian Opera Company's Free Concerts series
• While nearly all art galleries in the city are free to enter, it's worth noting The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) is always PWYC.
• The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) offers discounted tickets on Fridays ($10).

Do you want everyone to know about your kinda random free or pay-what-you-can event? Submit it to our event section. (You can also submit your for-money events here, greedy-pants.)

Photo of the Design Exchange