June 24th-July 3rd Pride Toronto @ various locations. This year’s theme is Dream Big! pridetoronto.com 

June 25th-26th Paws for the Cause Lemonade Stand @ 585 King St. W. (outside John Steinberg and Associates, Portland side). Three exciting varieties of lemonade with all proceeds going to Paws! Starts at noon and goes until the lemonade runs dry. Event runs Fridays and Saturdays all summer long. 

WEDNESDAY

10 pm HumbleMania @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Acoustic set by special guest Luke Lalonde, a brand new Live in Bellwoods video to share and the greatest hits from the Humble Empire vinyl collection being played.

THURSDAY

6 pm Thieves Boutique 3rd Year Anniversary Celebration @ Thieves Boutique, 1156 Queen St. W. A celebration of independent and environmentally-conscious style! Enjoy an evening of music, food and drinks, as you peruse the in-house line, Thieves by Sonja den Elzen, as well as other labels working in the realm of sustainable design. Until 10 pm.

6 pm Art + Design + Food Walk @ Paul Petro Contemporary, 980 Queen St. W. Meet at Paul Petro Contemporary at continue on down West Queen West in the name of art, design and food! Stops include BYOB, 69 Vintage, Artscape Triangle Loft Gallery, Ravi Soups and more. RSVP to the West Queen West BIA w or Betty Ann Jordan (416-820-2727). 

6 pm Beer & Chocolate Pairing Workshop @ Highway 61, 1620 Bayview Ave. Learn the basics of pairing beer with chocolate through a tasting of six beers alongside pieces of chocolate from The Chocolate Messenger. Hosted by Barley’s Angels, dedicated to helping women worldwide chart their own course in exploring great beer. $20 tickets online at http://beerandchocolate.eventbrite.com and at the door if not sold out.

7 pm Bowl Your Heart Out @ Play Time Bowl, 33 Samor Rd. An event to raise funds for The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, organized by a group of six post-graduate students from the George Brown College Sport and Event Marketing program. $20 tickets available by phone (647-927-6481) or email bowlyourheartout.fundraiser@gmail.com and includes 1 hour of bowling, food, drinks and fun! www.bowlyourheartout.webs.com 

7 pm Strangers In Paris @ Alliance Française of Toronto Pierre-Léon Gallery, 24 Spadina Rd. A fun summer evening of readings and refreshments as Tightrope Books presents the Toronto launch of their new anthology Strangers in Paris: New Writing Inspired by the City of Light. 

7 pm “Free Weiwei” Opening @ Whippersnapper Gallery, 594 Dundas St. W. “In his new exhibition Sean Martindale raises awareness about Chinese artist/dissident Ai Weiwei’s political voice and subsequent detainment. Explorations of the freedom of expression is the foundation for the sculptures of Weiwei presented during the exhibition. Made from salvaged cardboard, these works, coupled with ongoing updates on Weiwei’s detention, draw attention to censorship and create further dialogue about international repression of free speech and artistic actions for social change.” Until 11 pm.  

8 pm Cocktails x Canvas @ Paintlounge, 3603 Highway 7 E., Suite 106 (Markham). Have fun painting as you experiment with fun tools like squeegees, sponges, pool noodles and even a squirt gun on communal canvases. Limited space available and you must RSVP to attend. Dress to paint! $25 ticket includes unlimited access to the paint bar + an alcoholic drink and desserts. RSVP to info@paintlounge.ca or 416-900-2633. 

10 pm Bright Lights, Big City @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. DJ Wes Allen plays R&B, rockabilly, gospel, country, psychedelic, soul, reggae, etc. 

10 pm Lilith Friendly Karaoke @ The Henhouse, 1532 Dundas St. W. If the artist was female and could strum out 3 chords on an acoustic guitar she is fair game! Come dressed as your favourite singer or yourself. Oh yeah, and apparently a certain special guest (Fiona Apple) will be stopping by. 

FRIDAY 

7 pm Bike-in Movie Night @ Evergreen Brickworks, 550 Bayview Ave. Ride up to an evening of bike-themed movies under The Pavilions and try out Amsterdam Brewing Company’s new Big Wheel Natural Blonde beer. All proceeds support Bike Works programming. PWYC. 

10 pm Dance Armstrong @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. There’s no genre specific theme here, merely songs that make you want to dance like you’ve won. And won big. Only the most victorious of songs! $5. 

10 pm Secret Models @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Three ladies are turning The Ossington into one big living room dance party! Playing all your favourite guilty pleasures and taking requests all night long.  

10 pm Songs: A Dance Party @ Crawford, 718 College St. The ultimate dance party, with special guests Tokyo Police Club spinning and Bobby Kimberley picking the jams before and after. $5.  

10 pm No Control @ 751 (upstairs), 751 Queen St. W. Punk, post punk and new wave dance party with prizes and visual stimulation courtesy of Eyesore Cinema! NY hip-hop downstairs. 

10 pm Bot Bot Bot @ Stella, 1261 Bloor St. W. Celebrate the start of summer with some hot synth action! DJs Carlitos and RType playing stuff like Chromeo, Gary Numan, Cut Copy, YACHT, Twin Shadow, HEALTH, etc. 

10 pm Fancy Pants @ Naco Gallery, 1665 Dundas St. W. A clusterfuck of danceable music selections and a projector playing stuff.  

10 pm Motley Crew Bingo @ Augusta House, 152-A Augusta Ave. Bingo like you have never played before! A true bingo party with cool people, cool music, prizes and booze. Check out the Facebook event page for all the details. Guarantee your spot with a $5.00 early bird ticket through Dick Diamonds at deepjams@gmail.com

10 pm Impromptease @ Meta Gallery, 124 Ossington Ave. A quick ‘n dirty Impromptease is happening as part of The Red Root Collective’s Toronto production of “Something Red”! Cash bar with premium and domestic liquors, wine and beer. Midnight dance partyu with DJ CorVette playing 70’s funk, rock, disco, new wave and soul. $8 for Impromptease show only or $25 with “Something Red”. 

10 pm Summer Party @ The Cameron House, 408 Queen St. W. DJ Haircut of P.S. I Love You fame and DJ LK will be spinning records in the creepy back room, lit by candles, with cheap cans of beer for a night of serious dancing. $5 at the door or $3 if you RSVP in advance to contact.sleepingviolets@gmail.com 

10 pm C Is For @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. A red hot rager with a little bump’n’grind’n to 90’s hip-hop and R&B favourites! $5.  

10 pm Pity Party @ The Central, 603 Markham St. A new wave/post punk dance party with DJs Sean McCormack and John Semley playing stuff like Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Smiths, Joy Division, Devo, Psychedelic Furs and so much more. $5. 

10 pm Strip Spelling Bee @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St. Queer Pride Edition! The game is played a lot like strip poker, but it’s a spelling bee, and it’s played in front of a live audience of hooters, hollerers and hecklers who want to see some smart and sexy skin! Sign-up at 10 pm sharp! Bee starts at 10:30 pm. $10. 

10 pm Gay-Straight Alliance Dance Party @ The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St. W. The first Gay-Straight Alliance Dance Party! Featuring a fantastic line-up of gay and straight DJs to keep you dancing: Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene), Cozmic Cat (Cherry Bomb/First Fridays/Soul’d Out). Steve Rock (Motown Party/90s Party) and Shane MacKinnon (who does everything). Special dance performance at midnight by the spirit squad JAT. Private school uniforms encouraged. $5 before 11 pm, $10 after.  

11 pm Tyme 2 Get Ill @ The Piston (back room), 937 Bloor St. W. A musical journey through the classics of golden era hip-hop and dancehall reggae with DJ G-Spot and special guest Jo Twice. 

SATURDAY 

4 pm Doing The Same @ The Red Light, 1185 Dundas St. W. Weekly BBQ jam! All smooth West Coast sounds (electro, boogie, jheri curl funk, g-funk, rap and R&B), all free BBQ (while it lasts), all day long cheap beers and mixed drinks ($12 Mill Street pitchers) from 4-8 pm every Saturday on the patio. Music by Ghetto Gold Matt and guests, BBQ by Vladimir Kato.  

7 pm Cardboard Fort Night @ The Dovercourt House, 805 Dovercourt Rd. Come and make cardboard forts while drinking beer! Piles of brand-new cardboard, duct tape, x-acto knives and black magic markers provided; bring your own decorations to spruce up your fort and pimp up your crib! A DJ will play wonderfully inspiring fort-building music. $8 at the door to help offset the cost of supplies.  

10 pm Bang The Party @ Crawford, 718 College St. Resident DJs Andycapp and Rod Skimmins with special guest Jerrome Derradji and an opening set by Pooyan. $3 before 11 pm, $5 before midnight and $7 after. 

10 pm Bitch Craft @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. Loud rap music with DJs Blonde & Redhead. Drink specials until 11:30 pm. Free before 11 pm, $5 after. 

10 pm Shake, Rattle & Roll @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Spend the night together with the Bangs & Blush ladies! 60’s pop, soul and rock n’ roll to drink, dance and get messy to. $5.  

10 pm Taiza: Saturday Night on Saturn @ Margret, 2952 Dundas St. W. DJ duo Taiza touch down at Margret with two crates of tunes. Bump to the hottest in Latin disco rock, jheri curl funk, Bhangra bangerz, 8-bit dub, funky Cypress Hill shit and sounds of Coney Island, 1981. 

10 pm Born to Run DMC @ Holy Oak, 1241 Bloor St. W. From Springsteen to RUN DMC! PWYC with all proceeds donated to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, in memoriam of E Street band member Clarence Clemons who passed away this weekend from complications due to a recent stroke. 

10 pm Phantom Signal @ 416 Snack Bar, 181 Bathurst St. Souljazzfunkpsychedelicrockreggae. 

11 pm Shake A Tail Loves the Beach Boys @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. Shake A Tail pays tribute to the Beach Boys by breaking out their surf boards, throwing on their pendletons and mixing as much of the Beach Boys and friends as they can amongst the usual 60’s pop, ska, soul and Motown. $5.  

SUNDAY 

12 pm Spadina Museum Garden Party @ Spadina Museum, 285 Spadina Rd. Inspired by the parties held here during the Jazz Age, come explore the historic house as it was decorated in the 1920s. Do the Charleston with the Sugar Shakers. Tap your toes to the jazz rhythms of the Bezant Rosenman Duo. Create artwork, solve a murder mystery and have your fortune told! Let your inner Martha Graham emerge and dance around the Maypole. $5; refreshments, such as fresh berry pie, are extra. 

9 pm Band Practice Vol. 1: Canadian Covers – Sloan @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Local musicians arrive on the day of the show, form bands, choose their songs, rehearse and publicly compete for a cash prize! The winning band will be determined by a panel of judges, based on originality, composition and style. Sing along to the best of Sloan’s 20-year catalogue and cheer on your new favourite band. PWYC charitable donation.