The Eco-Art-Fest is a summer-long public art festival in Toronto’s Don Valley. This year’s festival offers six outdoor public art installations, workshops for families and all ages, guided art walks, live music performances, and a gathering space modeled after a traditional Beer Garden. This space offers visitors a place to relax, eat organic locally sourced foods, have a drink, and listen to music in a natural setting just outside the downtown. Toronto’s Don Valley Ravine is the largest and most underused green space. It is No.9’s goal to draw visitors out of their daily paths and into nature, while providing meaningful programming that brings people and communities together.
No.9 is an arts organization that promotes environmental awareness and living sustainably in cities. The Eco-Art-Fest’s on-site programming aims to raise awareness on these issues, while our gardens and kitchen aim to lead by example through a demonstration of how one can grow their own food and shop at local venues. It can be difficult to live a completely sustainable lifestyle, but our festival brings back notions of living off the land, creating by hand, and buying local. We have created a community space where conversations are started, and where younger generations can gain knowledge and become inspired.
THE VENUE
Established in 1795, Todmorden Mills produced paper for such people as William Lyon Mackenzie, for The Colonial Advocate. Throughout the 19th century, the industrial site provided lumber, flour, beer, paper and bricks to the city. Opened as a museum in 1967, the site features a popular theatre and gallery space and Wildflower Preserve. Todmorden Mills Heritage Site is one of 11 historic sites operated by the City of Toronto, Museums & Heritage Services.