What to see, do, hear and read in Toronto this August

An evening of Y2K nostalgia

1Get ready for some early-2000s nostalgia: Avril Lavigne is on tour, and she’s playing the hits. The Belleville- born pop-punk star has been touring on and off for the past two years, promoting her 2022 album, Lov Sux. This show, however, is bringing back the old catalogue: “Complicated,” “Sk8ter Boi,” “Girlfriend” and other classics are set to light up the stadium. Amping up the throwback factor, Lavigne will be joined onstage by special guests: fellow Canadian outfit Simple Plan and punk-pop duo Girlfriends. Scotiabank Arena, August 12

A rollicking east-end laugh fest

2The Danforth Strip has become a comedy hotspot, with three major stages in close proximity. Now, it’s showcasing the best of the best for five jam-packed days. Featuring a total of 17 shows, the festival offers laugh-out-loud improv, stand-up, musical comedy and more. Toronto production company Comedy Nuggets has a knack for gathering talent, with a 2023 lineup that included comics Nathan Macintosh, Kate Davis and Simone Holder. This year’s event features visiting and local performers who have appeared on Just for Laughs, CBC Comedy, Conan, Fallon and Colbert. Various venues, August 2 to 4 and 10 to 11

A celebration of street art

3Yorkville’s annual street festival is centred around murals, but it involves much more than that. Taking over the neighbourhood for its sixth straight year, the festival will feature art pieces made of giant balloons, live paintings, art talks, dance battles and pop-up shops. When the sun goes down, the block party starts, transforming the illuminated artworks into prime photo ops. Yorkville, August 24 to 25

A candid memoir about hope and healing

4Baek Se-hee’s debut memoir (which bears the same name as her second, minus the “still”) became a surprise hit when it came out in 2018. Based on recorded dialogues between Se-hee and her psychiatrist, the book proved to be an intensely relatable portrait of depression, anxiety and one woman’s love for the eponymous Korean dish of chewy rice cakes in spicy broth. In this volume, Se-hee begins a more challenging therapeutic practice and, in the process, highlights the breakthroughs that can come with hard work—even when things feel hopeless. August 6

A beloved K-pop star’s sultry second act

5South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter I.M is going global with his first world tour, promoting his latest EP, Off the Beat. As both a solo artist and a member of the boy-band phenomenon Monsta X, I.M—the 28-year-old artist also known as Im Chang-kyun—trades the bubblegum brightness of classic K-pop for a noirish, R&B-inspired sound. On his third record (following 2021’s Duality and 2023’s Overdrive), I.M’s bilingual verses get a lift from Latin-inspired beats, like on the samba-swaying lead single, “Lure.” He’s touring Europe, New York and Boston this summer before hitting the Danforth Music Hall. August 15

A tribute to an iconic rock and roll band

6Fleetwood Mac is in the midst of a renaissance. Back in 2022, an Idaho man posted a TikTok of himself lip-syncing the band’s 1977 hit “Dreams” while skateboarding down a highway. Thanks to Gen Z, Rumours was back on the charts. Now, a tribute band is performing the hit album with the blessing of Mick Fleetwood himself. It’s the closest some of us can get to seeing the legendary group live. Princess of Wales theatre, August 20 to 25

A stand-up show with serious bite

7Multi-award-winning Australian comic Hannah Gadsby is coming to town for one night of their international stand-up special Woof! Best known for their acclaimed 2018 Netflix live show, Nanette, Gadsby has gone on to release two more specials and tour the world for each. Their latest Netflix release, Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda, features seven fellow genderqueer comics including Jes Tom, Alok Vaid-Menon and Asha Ward. Stardom appears to sit uneasily with Gadsby: Woof! is billed as a meditation on how to live in a world chock full of anxieties. Thankfully, talking about your problems tends to help. Meridian Hall, August 30

A food-forward night market

8Toronto’s annual celebration of Pan-Asian flavours turns 15 this year, and it’s showing no sign of slowing down. Designed to emulate the night-time street markets of Asia, the ticketed event runs for three nights (two of them 19-plus) at Exhibition Place. It features a food festival packed with street eats, stalls selling artisanal goodies and DJ performances to keep the party going all night long. If last year is any indication, there will also be Ontario craft beer and cider on offer, plus dragon and lion dance performances. Stanley Barracks, Hotel X, August 9 to 11

A long-standing theatre festival’s glorious return

9Along with trips to the island and the Ex, the pantheon of Toronto summer activities wouldn’t be complete without Dream in High Park, the annual staging of Shakespeare classics at the woodsy west-end amphitheatre. Founded in 1983, the festival is marking its 41st anniversary this summer. We dove into the archives and unearthed the cheeky reviews, wildlife encounters and theatrical experiments that have made the event a hit for the past four decades. High Park Amphitheatre, July 21 to September 1

1983: Opening night

When founder Guy Sprung opened the festival’s first performance, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the theatre was truly hewn from the woods: poison ivy tickled theatregoers’ ankles, and the stage was a maze of rope slings and extension cords, with lighting strung from the trees.

1988: Blood Brothers

Only a few times in its 41-year history has Dream strayed from its Shakespearean mandate. The first was this 1988 staging of the musical Blood Brothers, which proved less popular than the 400-year-old repertoire. The second, a 1999 production of Rock and Roll, was even more sparsely attended.

1991: As You Like It

Dream has been a showcase for Canadian talent since its inception. In 1991, future award-winning author, playwright and actor Ann-Marie MacDonald played Rosalind in As You Like It, sharing the stage with Claire Coulter (Celia), who would go on to become a renowned stage actor in her own right.

1992: Hockey-themed Hamlet

A sports-inspired production of Hamlet featured royals and soldiers in hockey and football gear, plus a Joan of Arc decked out in white lycra. “Who exactly is she supposed to be?” wrote one Globe and Mail critic. “God’s bicycle courier?

2016: To flee or not to flee?

Dream’s first production of Hamlet had its own run-in with angry fates: a downpour drenched its most famous soliloquy and made Ophelia’s drowning all too literal. Eventually, the performance was called off.

2018: Soccer fever Set on the same weekend as the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a production of Romeo and Juilet reimagined the warring families as football hooligans sporting tracksuits and jerseys—blue for Montagues, red for Capulets. Benvolio’s opening dialogue was transformed into a call-and- response chant with the crowd, complete with live drumming and vuvuzelas.

2019: Animal interludes

The 2019 season was beset by run-ins with some of the park’s permanent inhabitants: one raccoon made such regular appearances that he earned a name, George. Checking for skunks also became a routine precaution.

2022: The stage today

In 1986, the amphitheatre got a makeover. The stage was enlarged, and the seating areas, while still grassy, were inlaid with flagstones. Add in professional set design and some nighttime lighting, and the result is this 2022 staging of As You Like It.