Live Performances, Concerts and Festivals to Keep You Inspired At Home

From immersive theatre to live concerts, experience Toronto’s creativity in new (virtual) ways.

While nothing beats watching plays and attending festivals in person, Toronto’s creative community delivers artful, live entertainment to your home.

If you’re like many who need a break from binge-watching, enjoy the following experiences, virtually for now. (Still streaming? Add one of these filmed-in-Toronto shows and movies to your queue.) 

Check back regularly as we add more to enjoy from afar. Also see our calendar of virtual events and live streams.

Tune into a “live” concert.

Toronto’s thriving live music scene is still sadly on pause. Luckily, many of the city’s musicians have taken to serenading audiences from home. Some of Toronto’s live music venues have even added virtual concerts to their event listings. Enjoy online shows from the Horseshoe Tavern, Danforth Music Hall, The Velvet Underground, El Mocambo and more. You can also access upcoming virtual performances, live from Toronto’s music venues, via local concert promoter Collective Concerts.

On the R&B front, Waveland Canada curated a virtual concert series: Toronto R&B Sounds. Enjoy local artists as they perform intimate, live sets for your viewing pleasure. Toronto R&B Sounds tickets are available online for concerts running throughout the holiday season. 

In the same vein, URGNT’s mission is to have the city’s incredible (now empty) venues play host to even more incredible musicians. The “ad hoc crowd-funded livestream series” streams shows out to at-home audiences: 19 concerts from 19 different venues. And although URGNT’s first season of live concerts is complete, they plan to stream more in the future. Until then, check out their Youtube channel for past shows.

A gofundme is active now so that musicians—and the other many roles that support the industry—are supported.

Score front row seats to the orchestra and ballet. 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s new TSO On Demand is yet another safe way to support and enjoy the arts, at your own leisure. Streaming from Roy Thomson Hall, fill your space with the sounds of classical, jazz, holiday tunes and more.

Watch members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and Principal Dancers at the National Ballet of Canada, perform from their individual homes in this charming look at life under quarantine.

Plug into Luminato festival’s Creative Current.

Luminato presents Creative Current. As an artistic response to the present pandemic restrictions, the festival produced a performance series that’s set to unfold through immersive entertainment in unusual places throughout Toronto.

Creative Current: Junction Triangle is the first of hopefully many more intimate performances by local artists. The three shorts were filmed without an audience in unexpected places within the  Junction Triangle—back alleys, parking lots, laneways—and can be streamed through Artery.

Glimpse into the living rooms of Toronto’s performance artists.

TO Live, a network of three iconic local theatres and a spectrum of talent, launched Living Rooms. The initiative—“a dazzling digital extension of [their] theatre stages”—features daily performances from different local artists, broadcasting from the comfort of their homes. It’s a beautiful, intimate way to celebrate talent in the city.

Sit down to some quality Canadian theatre.

The award-winning Expect Theatre in the Distillery District commits to producing cutting-edge films, live performances, podcasts and educational programs that explore contemporary Canadian life. Their podcast, PlayME from CBC Podcasts, transforms theatre scripts from top Canadian productions into audio plays.

Make happy hour, the funny hour.  

Comedy and happy hour? Sign us up! The Second City currently channels their wit into virtual happy hour meetups, of which you’re invited. Join Toronto’s funniest as they joke, sip and chat, adding a laid-back flavour to live comedy. Second City’s Happy Hour takes place every few Thursdays and features both sketch and improv. Access the schedule online to snag your seat at their virtual bar. 

Participate in immersive theatre—over the phone.

Outside the March—an immersive theatre experience group—introduces The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries, a weeklong subscription to a personalized narrative in the form of daily phone calls. Break up your daily routine with “your very own micro mystery using the investigative power of good conversation”. Intriguing.

Another immersive experience to add to your list: Convergence Theatre’s Convergence Against Corona!, made up of two parts. The first one commissions artists to create works based on anonymous “COVID Confessions.” The second part, The Corona Variations, consists of six 5-minute phone calls, or “phone plays.” Head to their website to donate or purchase tickets.

See the Calendar of Events for more virtual events and live streams.