Renowned Canadian Artists Set to Debut Original Works this Fall

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 27, 2021) -  Luminato Festival Toronto - the city's international festival of arts and ideas - confirmed today that it is rescheduling the 2021 summer festival to October for the first time in its 15-year history.

"Luminato Festival, in collaboration with dozens of artists and a large community of funders and supporters, is committed to presenting a dynamic series of film and digital experiences from across the Greater Toronto Area," says Luminato Festival Toronto CEO Celia Smith.

Arts, Culture and Creativity will Draw Us Together Again

"The latest restrictions are a new challenge that require us to move the Festival forward to the Fall season to ensure that we can safely deliver a powerful program which shares the artists' collective vision and offers hope and inspiration," explains Smith. "Moving the Festival forward to October puts the health and safety of artists, production teams, and creators first."

Smith says Luminato Festival is excited to join the wave of arts and culture events which will return to Toronto this Fall. "After a year of lockdowns that have shuttered live performance, there is a growing hunger among audiences for cultural events as vaccinations continue to roll out. Arts, culture and creativity will help us find our way through this difficult time and draw us together again," she says.

Acclaimed Art Makers at the Heart of Luminato Festival Toronto 2021

2021 marks the 15^th anniversary of the Luminato Festival. Smith says that this year's Festival has attracted provocative and acclaimed storytellers, art makers and performers, including original, debut works by many renowned names in the industry.

Luminato Festival: Beacon of Hope for Toronto

"The Luminato Festival is an example of Toronto's tremendous resilience and is an important beacon of hope as we begin rebuilding our great city. The arts, as demonstrated by Luminato's exciting programming, will play a critical role in bringing this city back to life," says Toronto Mayor John Tory. "The City of Toronto is delighted that, despite facing so many challenges, Luminato Festival will go forward this Fall with an exciting line up of films and digital experiences. I'm proud of our partnership with Celia Smith and the Luminato team that has seen us maintain critical funding for the event, while City staff work closely with the event organizers to assist in Luminato's adaptation," he adds.

According to Smith, the Festival anticipates sharing more announcements about programming, premieres, trailers and previews in June.

Luminato Festival is working closely with the City on all its plans, and has engaged a COVID health and safety specialist to ensure all of the artists and technicians are safe throughout the creation and production process.

2021 Supporters

Founding Government Partner Province of Ontario

Major Partners Government of Canada, City of Toronto

Festival Supporters RBC, Anonymous, Gretchen and Donald Ross, O.C., TD Bank Group, Kiki and Ian Delaney, C.M., Sandra and Jim Pitblado, C.M., The Michael Young Family Foundation, Joan and Jerry Lozinski, Alice and Grant Burton, Louise MacCallum and Michael Barnstijn, The Hal Jackman Foundation, Larry and Judy Tanenbaum and Family, Bloomberg, CIBC, David W. Binet, Richard W. and Donna Ivey, Power Corporation of Canada, John and Leanna Bayliss, Mohammad and Najla Al Zaibak, Douglas Knight and Shelley Ambrose, The Bennett Family Foundation, Helen Burstyn, C.M. and Family, Tony and Lina Gagliano, Kevin and Roger Garland, C.M., Anthony and Helen Graham, O. Ont., Eva Czigler and Peter Herrndorf, C.C., Lucille and Urban Joseph, O.C., Downtown Yonge BIA, The McLean Foundation, Medcan, Michael Foulkes and Linda Brennan, Partners in Art, and many others.

Government Partners Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Canada Council for the Arts

Media Partners St. Joseph's Media, CBC, Branded Cities, Astral, OUTFRONT, Pattison, The Globe and Mail

About Luminato Festival Toronto

Luminato Festival Toronto is an international arts festival dedicated to performance, media and visual arts, and programming that cuts across traditional artform boundaries. Luminato works closely with Canadian artists to support the development and creation of distinctive new work, as well as presenting artists from around the world.

For more information visit https://luminatofestival.com/ or follow us on Twitter: @Luminato | Facebook: LuminatoFestival | Instagram: @LuminatoFestival | LinkedIn: Luminato | Youtube: LuminatoEvents

For media information, visuals and to book an interview with Celia Smith, please contact:

debquinn@sppublicrelations.com
soniaprashar@sppublicrelations.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81865