February 19th-29th Kuumba @ Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. Toronto’s longest running Black History Month festival, Kuumba marks 25 years of celebrating the heritage, culture, and traditions of Black Canadians with a series of talks, workshops, events, and performances throughout February. 

February 20th-23rd Artist Project @ Better Living Centre, 195 Princes’ Blvd. Artist Project 

welcomes over 300 top contemporary artists from Canada and abroad for its 13th year. Guests have the opportunity to meet and buy one-of-a-kind pieces directly from artists. $12.50-16 tickets available online and at the door.

February 22nd-23rd Cat Video Fest @ Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W. Celebrate the irresistible cuteness of our feline friends with this special event screening featuring a compilation of the latest and best cat videos. A mix of clips curated from submissions as well as viral hit favourites, this joyous communal experience helps raise money for cats in need through partnerships with local charities, animal welfare organizations, and shelters across North America. $15.04 tickets available online, with 10% of sales going to Toronto Cat Rescue.

WEDNESDAY

7 pm Music Bingo @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. Music Bingo is easy + fun: Host Kaleb plays a song, and if it’s on your bingo card, you get to hit it with the dabber. First one to get a line yells BINGO. It tests your musical knowledge too – you’ve got to know what the song is to be able to cross it off the card!

7 pm Big Girl Interrupted’s Vision Board Experience @ H Bar, 859 Queen St. W. Are you ready to make 2020 the year you achieve all your goals and create new habits? It’s time you “Manifest your vision 2020” with the best tool, a vision board! Big Girl Interrupted’s vision is to inspire women to uncover what’s interrupting their lives by disrupting the current pattern they live in. $40 tickets available online.

8 pm Drake Trivia @ The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. Teams of four or less put their random knowledge to the test as hosts fire off questions ranging from sporting records and celebrity scandals to geographic discoveries and culinary lingo. $2 to participate. Email host@thedrakehotel.ca or show up early to reserve a spot.

10 pm DJ TZ LuvKraft @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. DJ TZ LuvCraft playing the best glam, classic, and straight up good rock ‘n’ roll.

THURSDAY

8 pm SHADE @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. SHADE celebrates performers who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, women, and part of the LGBTQ2S+ community! This edition features Amian Black, Selena Vyle, Fay & Fluffy’s Storytime, Hoodo Hersi, Jin Lee, and Zabrina Douglas. $22.23 in advance, $25 at the door (cash only).

10 pm Psych O Rockeros @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. A night dedicated to Afro-Latin music of the Americas not often heard including, Latin rockadelia, psychedelic Cumbia, Latin funk, and more. With DJs Firecracker, Yana Runa, and Ron Jon.

FRIDAY

7 pm Long Winter @ Workman Arts, 651 Dufferin St. Long Winter returns with a lineup curated by Venus Fest! Featuring music by Mil-Spec, KORYDOR, LAPS, Tallies, Isla Craig, Hua Li, and more + art, a live taping of the Burnout with Anupa Mistry podcast, and Long Night with Vish Khanna. All ages welcome. $12 in advance or PWYC at the door.

8 pm Neon Dreams: Assault On Precinct 13 @ The Royal Cinema, 608 College St. Neon Dreams continues its “Spectacular ’70s” series with John Carpenter’s neo-western Assault On Precinct 13, which brilliantly showcases just how much you can do on a minuscule budget. $13.19 tickets available online.

8 pm s: Silk & Lace Compilation Release @ Unit 2, 163 Sterling Rd. A queer and POC showcase of Raven’s Visions’ compilation album release, Silk & Lace, featuring the underground musicians and producers of Toronto. $5 suggested at the door.

10 pm The Dark Eighties @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. After hosting parties in Vancouver, Montreal, London, and NYC, The Dark Eighties is coming to Toronto for the first time! They’ll be playing your favourite (and some more obscure) dark ’80s anthems + related songs until 4 am, including EBM, goth, post-punk, Italo disco, industrial, dark wave, and minimal wave. $10.03 advance tickets available online.

10 pm Shadows of Motown @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. DJs Well Said, Slater, and Ty play the biggest and best Motown, doo-wop, and booty shakin’ hits.

10 pm Stereo Ferment @ Farside, 600 Gerrard St. E. DJ Oreku spins global grooves and afrobeat.

10 pm Decade: A 1995-2005 Dance Party @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Get out your butterfly clips and studded belts, and relive your best life at Decade! Anthems from 1995-2005 all night. $10.

10 pm Whas Good @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Good vibes dance party! Hip-hop, R&B, soul, reggae, and dancehall – old school to new school.

10 pm 80s Mixtape Dance Party @ Stone’s Place, 1255 Queen St. W. DJ Blush takes you on a trip back to the 1980s in a musical DeLorean of awesomeness. Overload on hairspray, break out the shoulder pads, and get ready to start your weekend off right! $5.

10 pm DJ Crunch Bandicut @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. A night of damn good rock ‘n’ roll with DJ Crunch Bandicut.

10 pm Emo Night @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. Revisit your teen angst! Spinning your favourite emo anthems all night every Friday at Sneaky Dee’s. $5 early bird tickets available online.

10 pm Wax Candy Disco @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. DJ Efsharp and Cyclist serve up platters of the sweetest soulful, refreshing, and uplifting disco in one of the best sounding rooms in the city. $10.

10:30 pm Beam Me Up Disco @ The Baby G, Dundas St. W. The Patchouli Brothers play a disco mix of gospel, funk, soul, boogie, rare groove, house, and jazz sounds surrounded by smiling faces.

10:30 pm Lavender @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A party for lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer women, non-binary folks and trans people – everyone welcome! Music by DJ Zehra. $10 in advance and at the door before midnight, $15 after (no one will be turned away for lack of funds).

11 pm Hot Coco @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. A monthly party for the culture! Experience world music in the most multicultural city in the world. Playing afrobeats, coupé-décalé, gqom, reggae, and much more. $10.

SATURDAY

12 pm Meet & Greet with Kurt Browning & Asher Hill @ The Bentway Skate Trail, 250 Fort York Blvd. Join popular figure skaters, including four-time world champion Kurt Browning and Canadian ice dancer Asher Hill, for a special Q&A, followed by a public skate. On-site skate and helmet rentals available. Until 9 pm.

9:30 pm Knockout! @ Houndstooth @ 818 College St. The best of rare soul and vintage reggae on original 45s all night long. All killer, no filler! 

10 pm Moonhop @ Lucky Shrike, 850 Dundas St. W. Selectress Sunshine, DJ Double-0-Soul, and Mr. Axe bring you merriment and cheer-and the finest ska, reggae, rocksteady, soul, revival, and two-tone all night long.

10 pm Faded @ The Rec Room, 255 Bremner Blvd. A night of your favorite hip-hop, R&B, and dancehall tunes. DJs FBomb and Ry-Fi will keep you wildin’ all night long with classics and new bangers. 

10 pm Saturday Night Jukebox Dance Party @ Stones Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Sweat it out to the sweet sounds of the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll and soul music! DJ Blush plays rock, soul, funk, pop, and disco from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. $10.

10 pm Rebel Rabble ’70s Dance Party @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. A night of ’70s rock, glam, funk, pop, punk, disco, and wave music + visuals with DJs Starboy, Vania, and Sammy.

10 pm Guilty Pleasures Dance Party @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. Dance the night away to the songs you hate to love and love to hate. The tunes you don’t want anyone to know are on your playlist (and are the most played songs you have). $5 early bird tickets available online.

10 pm Wedding Party @ The Boat, 152-A Augusta Ave. Everyone is the bride at Wedding Party! Playing the golden hits for any and all to groove to – soul, funk, new wave, and hip-hop.

10 pm Queer Nation @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. This bash is for all the freaks, femmes, stone cold butches, baby dykes, bears, cubs, otters, pups, art fags, jocko homos, genderqueers, twinks, daddys, owls, and people who love to get down to house music! DJs John Caffery and Cozmic Cat on the decks. $10.

10 pm Worst Behavior @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Saturdays are for getting loose and being on your Worst Behavior! Bangs & Blush roll out rap and hip-hop from now and then. $10.

10 pm Britannia: Britpop & Madchester Video Dance Party @ Remix Lounge, 1305 Dundas St. W. Join the common people for a special night of Britpop and Madchester video favourites with DJ Lazarus. See videos from Oasis, The Verve, Suede, Pulp, Blur, Supergrass, The Stone Roses, The Smiths, Radiohead, and more. Spotlight on Oasis. $10 before 11 pm, $15 after.

10 pm 100 MPH @ Farside, 600 Gerrard St. E. Groovy funk, soul, rock, boogie, disco, and more with DJ Brett Millius. 

10 pm Dirt Nap @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Retro and classic rock gems spun by DJ Davey D!

10 pm Bitchcraft @ Unit 2, 163 Sterling Rd. DJs Bliptor, HBK Gizzy, and Sofia Fly on the decks. BYOB. 420 friendly. (There will be strobe lights.)

11 pm Money Jane @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. DJ Money Jane is a multidisciplinary artist connecting all platforms through music. Jane started off her career in the entertainment industry through dance and eventually pursued DJing and instrumental music. 

11 pm Hey Girl Hey @ The Baby G, 1608 Dundas St. W. Queer dance party featuring DJ Orange Pekoe playing only the coolest hip-hop and chillest R&B by female and non-binary artists! + Ice Queen Champagna melting even the most frozen of hearts at the iconic 12:30 floorshow! $10.

SUNDAY

11 am Trinity Bellwoods Flea @ The Great Hall (lower level), 1087 Queen St. W. The Trinity Bellwoods Flea returns with a fresh lineup of vendors, artisans, and designers. Swing by, warm-up, and treat yourself to some local goods, delicious local eats, and sweet treats. Admission is free and four-legged friends are welcome! Until 6 pm.

3 pm Promise Party @ 6 Noble St. Raw warehouse party in Parkdale! First built as a mattress factory, 6 Noble went on to become home to a renowned ballet school. And, along the way, lots of great parties. Now stripped down to just walls and brick and ready for demolition, psyLush, Last Planet, and Promise invite you to one last chance in this iconic multi room warehouse. Featuring three rooms of house/techno, trance, and DnB. Until 11 pm. $32.77 in advance (children 12 and under welcome and free).

7 pm Brass Facts Trivia @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Test your knowledge and win prizes! Hosted by Famous Kirk Hero. Until 10 pm.

10 pm Sunday Night Karaoke @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Come sing your heart out in front of the most supportive karaoke crowd going. Rotating hosts, cheap beers, good times!

10 pm Sinful Sundays Burlesque @ Cherry Cola’s, 200 Bathurst St. Come be entertained at this weekly “temple of tease,” where you’ll find a fresh lineup of burlesque entertainers, drag, and variety acts. On stage: Aster la Fontaone, Aviva the Mirage, Nana Vana D, Nelly Clementine, and host Dainty Smith. Free entry; tipping encouraged.

~ For event submissions, email Caitlyn Holroyd at caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com