The NFL is coming to Canada in full force. Witness history in the making as the Buffalo Bills bring NFL Football to Rogers Centre for eight games over the next five years. If NFL action on Canadian turf has long been your dream, be sure to catch the next Bills game in Toronto on December 3, 2009 against the New York Jets!

Location: Rogers Centre

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) unveils the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures located on Level 2 of the Weston Family Wing on December 20, 2008. Composed of the Vale Inco Limited Gallery of Minerals, the Gallery of Gems and Gold and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery, the galleries occupy a combined total of 6,900 square feet and showcase over 2,300 of the ROM’s exceptional specimens of minerals, gems, meteorites and rocks, a collection among the finest in North America. The fascinating displays are contextualized by over 40 interactive touch-screen stations, compelling video exhibits and engrossing information on Canada’s mining industry.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. West)

Opening at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) on May 16, 2009, the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity is devoted to exploring our world’s biodiversity and the numerous factors affecting its conservation and survival. This innovative and interactive gallery combines seven ecosystem experiences, approximately 2,500 specimens and the Earth Rangers Studio featuring live animal ambassadors to convey an important message about the stunning variety of life on Earth, the interconnectedness of nature’s amazing web, and the ability that each of us has to care for the environment.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Bloor and Avenue Rd.)

North America’s longest running and most popular dinner attraction is preparing to take guests to the 11th Century all over again. Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament Toronto today announced the rollout of a completely new show – the company’s first since 2002 – blending a two-hour live performance with a utensil-free meal served in a castle-inspired 1,000-seat arena. More than 30 months in the making, the new Medieval Times production includes audience favorites such as live jousting, swordplay, horsemanship, romance and falconry. Guests are taken back in time and encouraged to cheer for one of six “Knights of the Realm” named after historic regions of medieval Spain. In addition to a new script, the production includes new lighting, choreography and battle scenes, new horse dressage elements – executed by Medieval Times’ famed Andalusian stallions – and a new soundtrack composed by Daniel May and performed by the Czech Republic-based Czech Film Orchestra. A new theatrical element, Medieval Times’ first ever use of a high-output snow machine, also adds an unexpected magical element to the guest experience. Creators of the new production say non-stop action; will keep first-time visitors and returning fans on the edge of their seats. Box office: 1-888-WE-JOUST (888-935-6878).

Location: Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament -- Exhibition Place (by the Dufferin Gates)

American academic Jack Exley travels to Rwanda to interview his old friend Joseph Gasana about struggling for good against daunting odds. But when Jack arrives in Kigali, he is unable to find the Tutsi doctor - or anyone who will even admit to having known him. Befriended by both locals and diplomats with veiled motives, Jack and his family become enmeshed in the tension, terror, professional risks and personal betrayals that they ultimately realize mark the start of a genocidal war. A riveting examination of the mounting tensions in 1994 Rwanda, The Overwhelming by award-winner J.T. Rogers. Box office: 416-368-3110.

Location: Berkeley Street Theatre -- 26 Berkeley St.

Florence Foster Jenkins had a passion for singing, but her voice left audiences crying with laughter. Spinning from her bizarre recording sessions, unbelievable recitals and an ultimate triumph at New York's Carnegie Hall. This is a true, heartwarming story about a group of eccentric friends who lived their dreams.

Location: Stage West Dinner Theatre -- 5400 Dixie Rd. (Mississauga)

Ben has BIG problems. His Dad is far, far away, his former best friend Vince has stolen his precious binoculars... oh, and there’s a monster under his bed who wants to trade places with him. A hilarious new comedy about friendship and facing your fears. Recommended for Grades 3-8 | Ages 8 & up. Box office: (416) 862-2222. TICKETS: $10-$20.

Location: Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People -- 165 Front Street East

A diverse series of world-class theatre, dance, multimedia and music. Box office: 416.973.4000.

Location: Fleck Dance and Enwave Theatre (Harbourfront Centre)-- 207 & 231 Queens Quay West

Opening Saturday, September 19, 2009, the Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) presents Canadian Content: Portraits by Nigel Dickson, an exhibition of arresting, insightful and witty photographs of famous Canadians taken by one of our country’s most acclaimed photographers. The exhibition showcases 32 photos, many of which have graced magazines ranging from Saturday Night to Esquire, Fortune, Newsweek and Rolling Stone, and features such Canadian luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Jean Chrétien, Doug Gilmour, Oscar Peterson and many more. Canadian Content: Portraits by Nigel Dickson is on display in the Hilary and Galen Weston Wing, Level 2, until Sunday, March 21, 2010 and complements the concurrent ICC exhibition, Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913 - 2008, presented by the Bay, which runs in the Roloff Beny Gallery from September 26, 2009 to January 3, 2010. Together, both exhibitions illustrate the development of portrait photography, emphasizing the representation of personalities prominent in popular culture in the US and Canada.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Bloor and Avenue Rd.)

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) presents East Asian Paintings & Prints: Recent Acquisitions, on display in the Herman Herzog Levy Gallery, part of the Asian Suite of Galleries on Level 1 of the Philosophers’ Walk Wing, from October 24 to July 4, 2010. The more than 40 acquisitions, all important examples of paintings, calligraphies, and prints from Korea, China, and Japan, have been acquired in the past 12 years through carefully considered gifts and purchases. The artworks span a period from the 15th to the early 21st century and demonstrate the generosity of donors and the prudent use of acquisition funds to expand the ROM’s already impressive Far Eastern collections. The Museum’s Chinese collections in particular are ranked among the finest outside China.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue and Bloor)

Monday to Thursday Open: Noon to 6pm Tour Times: Every 30 minutes beginning at 1pm. Last tour at 5pm. Friday and Saturday Open: 11am to 6pm Tour Times: 12:00 and Every 30 minutes beginning at 1pm. Last tour at 5pm. Sunday Open: 11am to 5pm Tour Times: 12:00 and Every 30 minutes beginning at 1pm. Last tour at 4pm. Tour Size: MAXIMUM 15 people Reservations accepted Monday to Thursday, Booked first-come first-served on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For group tours, please contact our Retail Manager at 416-362-2337 ext 240 or retail@steamwhistle.ca

Location: STEAM WHISTLE BREWING, The Roundhouse - 255 Bremner Blvd.

The Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) plays host to a special temporary display of two life-size portraits of historical kings of the state of Punjab in north-western India. From Saturday, November 28, 2009 to Sunday, March 28, 2010, the oil-on-canvas paintings by established portrait artist Manu Kaur Saluja will be showcased in the “Home & the World” section of the Ondaatje Gallery, located on Level 3 of the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. West)

A pictorial view of Toronto's oldest neighbourhood. Free admission. Gallery hours: Tuesday to Friday: 10am to 4pm. Saturday: 9am to 4pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Location: The Market Gallery (South St. Lawrence Market) -- 95 Front St. East

Harbourfront Centre’s Natrel® Rink will be one of Toronto’s first outdoor rinks to open this winter. This gives savvy students the opportunity to Learn to Skate before the skating season kicks into high gear. This winter, skaters of all ages and abilities are invited to participate in one of over 100 Learn to Skate classes taught by experienced instructors. Each Learn to Skate class is designed specifically to suit each student’s skill level, from first-time skaters to those looking to improve their skating technique. Small class sizes also ensure that students learn to skate in a fun, safe and comfortable environment. New this year are special Teen and Women-Only Classes, along with Drop-In Clinics, romantic Date Skates, Private Lessons and Group Lessons. As always, Harbourfront Centre offers the popular Parent and Tot, Kinderskate, Children and Adult Lessons. Prices for classes range from $45 to $95. For those who have already perfected their double axels Harbourfront Centre offers FREE daily skating from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Skate and helmet rentals, lockers and sharpening services are also available. The Natrel® Rink is open from Nov.21, 2009 through to March Break (weather permitting) and is fully supervised by Harbourfront Centre’s rink marshal.

Location: Harbourfront Centre’s Natrel® Rink

Newly re-installed gallery features nearly 600 of the most exquisite gems and jewels from the ROM’s vaults. On December 19, 2009 the Museum proudly opens the Gallery of Gems and Gold, the final stage of the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth’s Treasures, on Level 2 of the Weston Family Wing. Nearly 600 beautiful and rare gems, gem crystals, jewellery and gold specimens will be on display representing the wide diversity and colour of precious stones, and some of the finest gems and jewellery in Canada. Highlighted in the gallery is the famed 900-carat Light of the Desert, the largest faceted cerussite gem in the world.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. West)

Often haunting, sometimes humorous, always vivdly dramatic, the songs of Belgian troubadour Jacques Brel have been recorded by countless artists throughout the world. Encompassing themes of joy and sorrow, love and loss, life and death, this compilation of Brel's finest work celebrates the diverse complexity of the human heart. Box office: 1-800-567-1600.

Location: Tom Patterson Theatre -- Stratford, Ontario

Three women reveal their hidden strengths in this play about motherhood, love and the meaning of life. Box office: 416-531-1827.

Location: Tarragon Theatre (Mainspace) -- 30 Bridgman Ave.

The story of Filipina nannies in Toronto and their labour under Canada's notorious Live-In Caregiver Program. Box office: 416-504-7529.

Location: Theatre Passe Muraille -- 16 Ryerson Ave.

A popular series of Munsch stories presented as one play. Box office: 416-368-8031.

Location: Solar Stage Children's Theatre -- 4950 Yonge St.

Can you tell the true artifact from the fake? The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) invites visitors to test their skills in Fakes & Forgeries: Yesterday and Today, a ROM-produced exhibition opening January 9, 2010 in the Centre Block, Level 3. The interactive exhibition presents 115 real and fake objects that run the gamut from historical specimens and cultural artifacts, to household items and designer name brands. Visitors of all ages are invited to guess which objects are real and which are clever fakes. There is also educational information about pirated computer software as well as a section on counterfeit currency. Visitors learn how to tell authentic pieces from sly forgeries and discover the fascinating lengths forgers will take to hoodwink the unwary. This exciting project has been made possible thanks to the exhibition’s Presenting Sponsor Microsoft Canada, Education Partner the Bank of Canada and in part through a contribution from the Museums Assistance Program, Department of Canadian Heritage. Once Fakes & Forgeries completes its ROM engagement on April 4, 2010, the exhibition will travel to museums across Canada.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Bloor and Avenue Rd.)

Every Saturday, two teams of improvisers duke it out. Box office: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

This original Canadian musical comedy became the toast of the 2009 Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival when it played in July at Bread & Circus, a new venue in a tiny Kensington Market storefront. Based on a true story, My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding tells the story of a mother and her teen-aged son. The mother feels lost in life, wrestling with her identity. A new job brings new opportunities and with it a chance to truly find herself, discovering her sexuality, rediscovering her faith and coming out as a lesbian to her son, ex-husband and homophobic Jewish mother. Some adult content. Suggested age 16+. Running time: 1:30. My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding is for every mother who has ever come out to her children as a lesbian... and a Jew. It is for every girlfriend who has met her future lesbian in-laws... at Hooters. And it's for everyone who's ever been in love. Tickets are now available at the box office, by phone at 416.872.1212 (toll-free, call 1.800.461.3333).

Location: The Panasonic Theatre -- 651 Yonge St.

George R. Gardiner Special Exhibition Gallery. From the Melting Pot into the Fire provides fresh and intensely personal perspectives on contemporary life and art in Israel. Featuring 37 works of art that were originally shown in 2007 as part of the Fourth Biennale for Israeli Ceramics at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, the exhibition features work of highly conceptual and address complex issues involving questions of identity and the uncertainty of life in contemporary Israel.

Location: Gardiner Museum -- 111 Queen's Park

Focus Gallery. This exhibition of Italian maiolica (brightly painted, tin-glazed earthenware produced in Renaissance Italy) reveals their significance in gender, family relationships, courtship, marriage and birth rituals in Renaissance Italy.

Location: Gardiner Museum -- 111 Queen's Park

Invitation-only opening night reception – February 4th. 12 – 5 pm daily (FREE). Heritage Toronto is pleased to announce the second edition of its successful photo exhibition, Building Storeys, to be held at the Gladstone Hotel. A collaborative effort by Heritage Toronto and members of Toronto's Shadow Collective and DK Photo Group, Building Storeys is a visual documentation and anecdotal exhibit of our city's historical industrial buildings and sites. Building Storeys changes the perception of industrial heritage in our city, by revealing the hidden beauty of these sites. What: 11 of Toronto’s notable industrial building and sites. Profiles of some the sites will be posted on www.heritagetoronto.org and www.buildingstoreys.com leading up to the event.

Location: The Gladstone Hotel, 3rd and 4th Floors -- 1214 Queen St. West

In celebration of Black History Month, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) proudly presents Stitching Community: African Canadian Quilts from Southern Ontario, an exhibition that uses quilts made from 1848 to 1976 to explore the role of African Canadian women in reinforcing community ties in new and unfamiliar settings. The exhibition runs from January 30 to September 6, 2010, in the Wilson Canadian Heritage Exhibition Room of the Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada, and addresses the notion of developing social and familial ties through quilts while mainly focusing on the African Canadian community in North Buxton - a community whose foundation owes much to the freed slaves who settled in Canada, 'the land of freedom.' The exhibition is comprised of artifacts loaned from the Buxton Museum and items from the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS), including quilts, photographs, tools of the trade, and a variety of black cloth dolls.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. West)

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is pleased to announce the re-opening of the famed Bat Cave on February 27, 2010! Completely renovated and updated, the new Bat Cave is larger and more interactive with animatronic technology as well as audiovisual displays guiding visitors through a multi-sensory journey inside a recreated bat habitat. From the shadowy cave mouth, home to hundreds of roosting bats, to its finale, featuring a dramatization of the nightly exodus of the bat colony taking flight, the new Bat Cave promises a fascinating immersive and educational adventure. The Bat Cave is located on Level 2, Philosophers’ Walk Wing in the ROM’s Heritage Building. First opened in 1988, the gallery realistically portrays the renowned St. Clair Cave in Jamaica. The remodeled 1.700-square-foot gallery features more than 20 bat specimens and over 800 models, some mechanized, to thrill visitors of all ages while teaching them about bat species, navigation and behaviour, as well as the ecology of the cave in which they live.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. West)

This exhibition strives to communicate new ideas and shape perceptions about contemporary craft. It is about the opportunity to take risks, experiment and investigate the potential of pushing an art practice to see it in a fresh context. To venture and to gain! Harbourfront Centre provides a unique circumstance for the artists-in-residence to work closely with the curators to develop and present their ideas within a group exhibition. Relationships are forged and there is a connected engagement with ideas between the curators, the works and the artists. Micah Adams, Alisha Marie Boyd, Norah Deacon, Niko Dimitrijevic, Julie Laschuk, Margaret Lim, Shuyu Lu, Amanda McCavour, Adriana McNeely, Rose Angeli Ringor, Johanna Schmidt and Patrycja Zwierzynska. Curated by Melanie Egan and Patrick Macaulay.

Location: York Quay Centre (Harbourfront Centre) -- 235 Queens Quay West

This exhibition will showcase fibre art created by eight artists from central and eastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) who work with time consuming and highly involved textile techniques and processes. Inlay and ikat weaving, papermaking, rug hooking, embroidery, needle lace, hand-dyeing, screen printing and bead weaving will be highlighted and draw attention to labour intensive, time-based work as an integral part of the artists' practice. Helene Brousseau, J. Penney Burton, Joanna Close, Margaret Forsey, Misha Gingerich, Rilla Marshall, Dorrie Millerson and Natasha St. Michael. Curated by J. Penney Burton.

Location: York Quay Centre (Harbourfront Centre) -- 235 Queens Quay West

The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announces a series of thought-provoking films and events in conjunction with the art installation, Dan Perjovschi: Late News, opening on February 22, 2010. Distinguished in the world of contemporary art, Dan Perjovschi will draw his brilliant and irreverent cartoons directly onto the dramatic soaring walls of the Roloff Beny Gallery, on Level 4 of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the ROM between February 15 and 22. He will spend this time in residence at the Museum creating his unique site-specific line drawings while interacting with ROM visitors. This original work will remain on display until August 15, 2010.

Location: Royal Ontario Museum -- 100 Queen's Park (Avenue Rd. and Bloor St. West)

A free shuttle bus will depart from the Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen Street W, Toronto ON) at 7 pm to the reception at the Art Gallery of Mississauga. There will be an informal talk by the artist at 8 pm. The shuttle bus will return by 9 pm. From Grandma's cupcakes to oil drum tapestries. Cal Lane remembers watching her grandmother bake cupcakes, then cover them with paper doilies and sift icing sugar on top to create a decorative lace pattern. The fragility and frivolity of the sugar patterns contrasted with the solidity and substance of the cupcakes is a striking blend of tension and harmony that Lane draws upon for her art. In Sweet Crude, Lane takes industrial objects like oil cans, and incises them with ornate patterns. The term “sweet crude” refers to the most sought-after form of petroleum, a resource that nations have fought to gain and to protect. However, the power struggles associated with crude oil are counter-balanced by the innocence and beauty suggested by the descriptor “sweet.” Lane’s art reflects the surprising harmony within this tension. Her oil cans are still recognizable as strictly functional, industrial objects, yet Lane has transformed them into intricate tapestries of mythology and landscapes. The masculinity of the oil cans is tempered by the femininity of textile-like designs, and the functionality of oil cans is contrasted with the purely aesthetic value of sculptures.

Location: Art Gallery of Mississauga -- 300 City Centre Drive, (Mississauga, Ontario)

A comic version of the classic tale. Phone: 416-486-7469.

Location: Mysteriously Yours...Mystery Dinner Theatre -- 2026 Yonge St.

Who took the D-I-Y approach to murder? Phone: 416-486-7469.

Location: Mysteriously Yours...Mystery Dinner Theatre -- 2026 Yonge St.

Based on the traditional folk stories transcribed by The Brothers Grimm. Theatre Smith-Gilmour. Phone: 416-504-9971.

Location: Factory Theatre (Studio) -- 25 Bathurst St.

Improvisers team up and tackle the most famous improvisational format ever -- the Harold. Phone: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

A festival supporting new works. Phone: 416-973-4000.

Location: York Quay Centre (Harbourfront Centre) -- 235 Queens Quay West

A steamy improvised comedic soap opera. Phone: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

Harlem embarks on a quest to a nocturnal world when his daughter's nightmares threaten to consume her. Phone: 416-531-1827.

Location: Tarragon Theatre (Extra Space) -- 30 Bridgman Ave.

A new show featuring a variety of improv styles including games, long-form and directed plays. Phone: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

The Second City's hilarious new Monday night show. Phone: 416-343-0011.

Location: The Second City -- 51 Mercer St.

Curated by Alon Razgour, Tel Aviv, Israel. “Israeli design is the world’s best-kept secret,” wrote Professor Mel Bayers in his book Improvisation. Israeli culture combines many diverse influences, which offer an often difficult, yet fruitful ground for creativity, resulting in wide ranging and high quality designs. The Israeli culture and history stimulate innovation in design while preserving traditions that embody the society. These traditions include a vivid sense of humour, a rejection of bourgeois ideas of beauty, and a cunning use of new and used materials. This is an exhibition of current Israeli industrial design, examining what makes this country unique on the world stage. The exciting, dramatic, and colourful pieces on display include furniture, lighting, and recreation equipment. Supported by the Consulate General of Israel. The DX is a registered charity with a mission to promote Canadian design.

Location: Design Exchange (Exhibition Hall) -- 234 Bay Street

Canada’s largest new music festival, spanning over 5 nights of performances, with over 700 showcasing bands at over 45 live music venues in downtown Toronto.

Location: Various Venues

A funny, complex and touching look at a friendship pulled apart by conflicting viewpoints. Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company. Phone: 416-366-7723.

Location: St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts -- 27 Front St. East

A weekly pay-what-you-can student showcase where improv up-and-comers strut their stuff. Phone: 416-866-8666.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

Two teams of improvisers duke it out. Phone: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave

A killer comedy about disorganized crime. BigTime Productions. Phone: 416-855-3306.

Location: Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant -- 1 Queens Quay West

Bad Dog Theatre students play with their most experienced improvisers. Phone: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

Toronto's first and only completely open improvisation jam session. Phone: 416-491-3115.

Location: The Bad Dog Theatre Company -- 138 Danforth Ave.

An annual festival of new works. Alumni Theatre. Phone: 416-364-4170.

Location: Alumnae Theatre -- 70 Berkeley St.

An examination of the mounting tensions in 1994 Rwanda. Studio 180 & Canadian Stage Company. Phone: 416-368-3110.

Location: Berkeley Street Theatre (Downstairs) -- 26 Berkeley St. West

Globally inspired dance from Canada's best. Harbourfront Centre. Phone: 416-973-4000.

Location: Enwave Theatre & Fleck Dance Theatre -- 231/207 Queens Quay West