Artfest Toronto at the Distillery September 2-5

Artfest Toronto is celebrating 10 years of fine art & craft shows at the Distillery Historic District. The show has grown in quality and stature over this time and has become Toronto’s favourite arts event to attend on the last long weekend of the summer. Expect to see many Torontonians as well as visitors from all over at the show. We advertise and promote the show widely and draw a great mix of ‘handmade in Canada lovers’. The Distillery is the perfect setting to step back in time to when everything was handcrafted. Stroll the cobblestone lanes and enjoy award winning restaurants, craft beer and wine. www.artfesttoronto.com

Fine Art & Craft Shows typically include paintings, drawings, printmaking, and sculpture. Artfest Toronto expands these boundaries to include fine craft as well. This includes artists and designers that make their craft from raw materials such as glass, clay, wood, metals, and textiles. The result is truly original handcrafted art pieces.

Artfest is a juried show and the exhibiting artists are Canada’s top creative talent. We include and encourage new artists who demonstrate great potential. Nurturing their new careers is a key ingredient to Artfest shows.

Some exciting new artists to see at Artfest include: Morgan Jones Art, Art By Misbah, Garth Laidlaw from Art Story, David Trotter, Maria Iva, Art We Wonderful, Cheryl Miles Goldring, Garry Revesz Photography, Times Gone By Studio, Basket Case, Cuir Philamain (leather), Left Align Design Art Studio, Halina Stopyra, J. K. Ribout Photography, Krajewski Gallery, Nicole Moss Art, Sip and Paint (Jibola Fagbamiye), Dances with Ghosts, Sorian Art, The French Laundry and Verbeek Glass. Plus many of your Artfest favorites.

Gourmet food lovers will relish the foodie artisans on site who are assured to enthral your palettes. You will enjoy original recipes from Pepper Brew, Edna’s Pickles, Sprucewood Handmade Shortbreads Cookies (spicy Thai cheddar is my favourite), and Cook’s Gourmet- everything OLIVE.

This Artfest show includes a Gallery Day feature on Friday Sept 2. Toronto Galleries are invited to come and seek out new artists for their rosters. If you want a chance to spend quality time with the exhibiting artists and have the best choice of art pieces, then Friday is the best day.

Live music is presented on Trinity Square all weekend. Musicians perform and create the perfect ambience for Artfest Toronto. See Andy Griffith, Melody Fair, Tim Bovaconti, and Patrick Allcock and Matt King. Details here.

Free Artfest Kids programming is happening all weekend. Artfest’s mandate is to celebrate artists and crafters of ALL ages. In March and April each year Artfest show producer Lory MacDonald organizes the largest children’s art exhibition in Canada, the Magic of Children in the Arts, in Collingwood Ontario.  Over 1000 kids exhibited their artwork in the 2016, 22^nd annual show. This demonstrates that she clearly has a passion for encouraging youth and their creativity. Sabrina Parrish, Artfest’s children’s art programming director was one of the first child artists in that event. She now designs and teaches art lessons for all ages.See the full project details here.