Scotiabank Nuit Blanche

It was good maybe 3 – 4 years ago. However, now exhibits barely exist and it is just overcrowded with people getting high and drunk everywhere since TTC subways run all night for the event.

Nuit

This year was okay! I did see an alley of food trucks and some very cool looking exhibits I’ve seen to date. They did update the Toronto sign to incorporate some face photos and they have a booth to get your face on the poster.
I do recommend going every year to see the evolution of art in the city!
I do wish they have more sponsors and stands for hot chocolate since the night is so cold.

Each year I go to Nuit Blache I think I’ll like it. I love art and love the idea of devoting a night where our public space celebrates it. That said, every year I am vastly disappointed. There are huge drunken crowds meandering to… I have no idea where. The installments are few and far between and are disappointing. I really want to like Nuit Blache, I think the concept is amazing. I just can’t seem to find any execution of it that I don’t hate. Where is the Nuit Blanche that people like? Is it on some hidden magical street somewhere? I guess I’ll keep searching. Despite myself I’ll try again next year and do even more research before hand.

So I have done Nuit Blanche for the last two years (three if you count the one where I was working) and I have mixed feelings about the event.
On one hand it is a chance for the city to revel and see some art. Highlights this year included the giant cherry picker trees, artscape youth at 180 shaw (a really cool building) and the ability to text Syria from Trinity Bellwood’s park.
The downside is the giant crowds. I walked from yonge and dundas all the way down to Queen West and there were absolute hoards out. Especially on Queen West, this meant hat any of the smaller exhibits were just impossible to see.
So in short, its a decent night with friends but if you don’t like crowds avoid the bigger areas or stay home.

I’m a big Nuit Blanche fan and have been going every year since it started. Although a lot of people hate it on it, I rather enjoy what it brings it in our city every year.
I did a student exchange in France for a year, and although I think Toronto is the best city in the world, I think something we really lack here (and in North American in general) are events that everyone can enjoy (i.e. events that aren’t based on a certain ethnicity or sexual orientation), that are free, and bring people out of their houses and away from their TV/​computer screens to socialize with their fellow citizens. It is especially important for young people to have events like this that don’t (necessarily) involve drinking. Yes, there were people getting intoxicated, but it was also quite nice to see the streets full of young people after 2am that were doing something other than stumbling home drunk after a night of binge drinking.
Yes there are drunken idiots and people who aren’t respectful, and those people should be called out, but that’s also part of life. When you have an event that appeals to all different demographics, you’re going to get all kinds of people out.
Unfortunately, I do have to say that I was unimpressed by the quality of the exhibits this year. Other than the globe exhibit near Spadina and the maze near the Black Bull, I found most of the exhibits to be uninspiring. I’m not sure if there wasn’t enough funding this year or if the artists weren’t as good, but the lack in quality compared to previous years was noticeable.
However, when I was getting food and on my way home at 5:30am, it made me smile how full the streets still were, and how happy people seemed to be to just be out and and enjoying their city at this strange hour.
I love Nuit Blanche and am looking forward to next year already.

Went in 2011, 2013 and 2014. It has gotten worse every year with lesser and lesser displays worth seeing. 2014 was the final nail in the coffin for me when there was hardly anything in the main exhibits at nathan phillips square. It seems to me like they are trying to kill it off now.

Cool vibe as the downtown core shuts down a bunch of roads to traffic so pedestrians can explore the city and see some cool pop up art. Even if your not into the art the steets look so cool with only pedestrians and people partying.
Two problems with this are, the art tends to be so far apart and only a few really are worth seeing.

Wasn’t so pleased this year… I really liked the end of the world museum but that’s pretty much it. Way too many people drunk and high stumbling on the streets causing fights. Not that there could be anything done about the volume of people, but I really think there should be more exhibits or better line control…

It is what it is for a lot of people — a drunken crawl. And as annoying as it is stumbling across the occasional adult drunk and the numerous underaged ones, I don’t let it stop me from going to my favorite celebration of art. Think of it this way… It is a unique concept and it happens in Toronto! People elsewhere are wowed when I tell them about it and they wish their city was this cool… Okay! Maybe not. But it is fascinating for me.
Verdict? I plead every mature individual to come out to this event … More of us, less of drunks!

Brilliant!
Everything about this concept is genius! Nuit Blanche is literally an art exhibit that is displayed throughout the city that lasts from Saturday evening through the break of dawn on Sunday morning. Public transportation runs at full force, food trucks are out, music is going, the streets are packed… it’s a city wide party that lasts all night.
Maps are given out with the names and locations of each exhibit (which there were about 100 or so) so you can easily find specific pieces of work. I’ve heard that things had gotten out of control in the past, but on this particular night I didn’t witness anything like that. The vibe in the night air was awesome, I had a blast!
Oh yeah… the reason why I didn’t give it a 5… the artwork itself. Ummmmm let me say that it was «interesting»…uh…“creative”…yeah…those words will work. A couple of examples of the art was: 1. A dude behind a glass solving a Rubik’s cube. 2. A room filled with blue light with a bunch of people lying on the floor.
Other than the unusual exhibits, Nuit Blanche is a great idea. I wish that we had something like this in Dallas!

I’ve been, like, going since it like started in Toronto! Even in Montréal before it came to Toronto, OKAY! I’m cool! And every year, it’s become shittier! It’s because of those fucking teenagers who are let loose and run wild and free! Lots of b.o. and drum circles that create crowds around them for some reason. I don’t even know what the art is going on. Imagine just a world of drunken teenagers with no parents or po-​po taking charge of society. That is Nuit Blanche. The crowds! Line ups! And the sluts!
It IS kinda neat that this happens for one single night of the year though. I think the idea is to venture out after 4AM when everyone in their stupor has passed out somewhere or the people doing e are clenching their teeth and sweating in an alley.

Nuit BLAH!
Every year there is less art and more people. They used to have installations through Yorkville on Bloor and all the way down Yonge to King street, or maybe even Front. The core of downtown used to be packed with art and you didn’t have to walk very far between pieces.
This year was very sparse. The fun house was a waste of time to check out. Great to see the digital music guy at city hall was back again this year. At least the weather was nice this year compared to last.

My first time experiencing Nuit Blanche and from the get go I was really looking forward to it. There is nothing like this back in England and if there was we would get charged for it, so I think that Torontonians should count themselves lucky.
There were enough projects to appease to all tastes, so really not excuse to not check something out.
Nuit Blanche was great fun, and I managed to see some amazing projects such as:
Heretical Objects — imagine a park covered in hundreds of lit up balls
End of the World exhibition — took place in the parking lot below the City Hall and this is where things got weird (er).
PLUS many others!
Since I am not an arty farty type my main choice of projects involved the ones I could take good photographs off. Some I saw were pretty rubbish but even rubbish passes for art these days and I blame the website for not providing a better idea of what to expect.
Overall though the website for the event was good, and proved to be a great way to plan my night. The mobile website was also good although the map function did not always work well.
I found getting around the city was done best on my cycle and after originally setting out at 9pm I decided to return home and head out at 3am instead.
The streets at this time were not as busy, there were no line ups and everything was much easier to photograph.
I suppose its good to say thanks to the information volunteers walking around in white jackets but it is pretty tough when after talking with three of them every time I kind of got lost that they also seemed as lost.
I look forward to next year’s event, and to see what else they have on show for now I am going to get my calves massaged to relive the aching from all the cycling I did.

Nuit Blanche is definitely kind of a cool event to have so many streets car free so people can walk around. Just a good feeling when the pedestrian overtook the streets of Toronto.
I find the «Art» aspect of Nuit Blanche was just meh. The bigger exhibitions have such a long line up, not even worth my while to wait.
Great that they set up areas where different food trucks set up for business.
Not too many interesting things that worth seeing. But luckily the weather was nice and great night to wander around the city.
I don’t know if I will attend again next year? Maybe if I am down in the city? But definitely not going to make a special trip just for that!

That night the temperatures had dropped to close to 0C.
It was pretty darn cold out and was due time to bust out the winter gear!
Our little group started the night at the Distillery District. We all grabbed dinner at the Food Trucks event, perused the independent galleries and then warmed up at Café Uno before heading downtown central where most of the action was taking place.
We saw 2 Nuit Blanche art installations that night :
1. The Heart Machine on Bay St. by Christine Irving & Interactive Art of Toronto. The crowds were completely surrounding it. we had a good view of it across the street though. The heat that it blew off was intense I could feel it up the sky orange. We had some fun posing around it, taking some comical shots like fire blowing out of your head, or bending over. It was classic!
2. We then went to City Hall to see the Flightpath Toronto display. Extravagant I’d say. the metal scaffold towers were about 1 story high all lit with a rainbow of colours. The scene looked industrial. We had amazing view of this all atop of City Hall. Laser lights were projected around at first glance it could be a rave, with the only thing missing was the music. Pretty daring of those folks willing to strap themselves in the harness to fly across the lines.
I liked what I saw, surely there are some rowdy people that come out but it doesn’t distract from this amazing evening that happens in our lovely city once a year.

In it’s short history Nuit Blanche had become one of my favourite cultural events in the city.
Even a disastrous ‘last date’ a few years ago was redeemed by the spectacle and general weirdness of the evening. Who cares that your heart is breaking when you can see a giant reflective bunny in the middle of a shopping mall, or random four-​letter words pulsating in the City Hall courtyard. When those letters mocked me by fluorescently humming the word «LOVE», I knew I’d find someone else; I bucked up and finished the evening like a trooper, pausing to absorb each work of art that I encountered (although the port-​o-​john sensory garden was still kind of odd, and my resolve weakened in front of a giant slurpable pool of vodka in the middle of an office tower).
I don’t know whether it was this year’s exhibits, the different company, or whether I’ve just grown cranky in the years since that evening, but somehow this Saturday night seemed less special.
We traced our way from the AGO through downtown; detouring along Queen street before heading down Bay in order to grab a late-​night subway train. Things started out well enough at the AGO. A Neil Young cover band provided inspiration to a group of dueling painters; Iron Chef for the artsy set, I guess.
At first, I thought the musical selections were inspired. I was less impressed by the second Neil Young cover band leading a sing-​a-​long outside Heintzmann House. This was the theme of the evening; to my untrained eye, a lot of the work seemed repetitive; all reflective surfaces and loud music and ambient sound effects and bright lights. We felt assaulted by art, rather than engaged by it. Prime City Hall real estate was taken up by a light show, some fog machines and, to quote one member of our party «the flying idiots» who rappelled from scaffold to scaffold, clutching awkward looking ‘wings’. WWE puts on a better show; and you know who to cheer for.
Said fog and noise and lights were used to much better effect further down Bay Street, where searchlights followed us around an office courtyard like we were on the lam. For a kid who grew up on action movies, this was the best part of the evening-​a chance to play.
The Eaton Centre’s contribution was just kinda there; a series of panels designed to catch sunlight, but reduced to reflecting lightbulbs after the sun had set… perhaps a miscalculation given that this was an all night event set for October.
Roaming raves formed across the evening. I don’t know why. Ditto for the drum set in the middle of the plastinated car. The Katy Perry inukshuks were pretty awesome, though.

I have not been to Nuit Blanche since it started up a few years back. From what I remember, it was hectic with insane crowds but some interesting exhibits. Last night, I ventured out to see how much the festival has grown since it is inaugural years.
We headed out around 9pm and the streets were packed. We headed to our first exhibit and there was already a long line. We made a rule to avoid any exhibits with long line ups. From last night’s experience, the crowds were even more insane. We saw some cool exhibits. Worth the night out in the cold, not sure. I was taken back at how many young teenagers were roaming around free and drunk.
Luckily, we turned the night short and headed home around 11pm.
We might go again next year but to the zones that away from the downtown core.
If you have yet to experience Nuit Blanche, it is worth checking out at least once. Just make sure you are not claustrophobic!

What’s with all the haters?
You should be lucky that your city even thinks of something interesting and interactive like that. I lived in SF for 5 years and i can’t even think of anything even close to Nuit Blanche
My friends and I had a fabulous time exploring the awesome exhibits and installations. We took the subway everywhere with our awesome $ 10 unlimited buddy pass.
If you were caught up in the craziness of Dundas Sq, well, Newsflash, there’re plenty of other installations, exhibits ALL OVER DOWNTOWN. No one’s forcing you to hang out by Dundas Sq.
And for complainers who whine about exhibits being spread out– that’s the whole point, dummies. If you thought Dundas Sq area was bad, imagine squeezing ALL the exhibits into One area. Geezus
And for goodness sakes, do some research before going. And if you don’t enjoy contemporary art, we don’t enjoy your Ikea bought mass produced posters you hang on your walls and pretend they’re original. So there.
And if you really hate NB/crowds…just stay at home and watch a boring movie and quit taking up space on the streets and subways
My faves:
— #58: Singing in the Dark 80s Edition in TIFF Bell Lightbox. Absolutely fabulous. It was like a karaōke interactive show for 40 mins. Too much fun. We sang along so loudly that i swear we lost our voices
— Free Shop: Interesting concept and good use of a bus shelter
— $ 5 Lobster rolls @ LUMA
What an awesome concept to get everyone out in the streets at night for an amazing art experience.
Great way to enjoy the last decent weather before Winter sets in AGAIN.
Eeeeks

Blach. I’m not sure if 2-​stars is a fair rating for NB overall but it is just for my experience of it.
In the 4+ hours I walked around I didn’t see much because 1) things were spread out and not so well marked and 2) we really just walked without making too many stops. Trudging through the swarms of drunks exiting the bars really exhausted me too.
I will give it another shot next year but I really hope they organize things a little closer together and separate from the club district if holding it on a weekend night. Maybe next year I will start later if the weather is better.

This is my last time checking out this abortion. I walked from Front street to Dundas. I saw:
— a bunch of votive candles in a sand box.
— some police tape and police barriers arranged so you understood they were art and not to be confused with the police barriers to keep traffic from going north/​south.
— A doorway with some mist effect. People were lined up for that, because apparently they’ve not had enough rain the last week and want a clever simulation.
— a juggler on an 8′ unicycle.
— a lot of people.
— some guy in the College/​Yonge Second Cup raging he couldn’t use the bathroom to pee.
Trying to get back to North York via the subway around 11:30 pm was a nightmare. Two packed subways went by. I crossed over to the south bound platform, rode the subway to St. Andrews, and then caught it back North.
Just a lot of people stopping to look at anything that could possibly be art. None of it was creative, interesting, or inspirational.