2016 Nuit Blanche

Peter and I went to Nuit Blanche this year. It's the 11th year it's been held in Toronto and the 11th time I've gone. This was Peter's first time though. Normally he's in Hong Kong by this time. But, this year, he's staying a little longer.

This is the first year that Scotiabank hasn't been a sponsor. In fact, they dropped their sponsorship of a number of events this year including the Toronto Caribbean Carnival and Buskerfest. Lean times in the banking business I guess.

The weather this year was great. Especially since they had forecast 80% chance of rain Friday through Sunday. It was pretty much dry and warm enough to walk around the whole night without a jacket if you so desired. Weather-wise, there was some fog that covered the tops of the buildings downtown, but that was about it.

I met Peter at Yonge and Eglinton and we took the subway down together. We shared a TTC Day Pass at $12. I have to say, we didn't take full advantage of it, choosing to walk almost our entire route. Besides coming and going on the subway, we only took one extra streetcar ride from Harbourfront to Union Station.

Our first stop was at City Hall. There were three exhibits there. But, one was inside and there was a long line to get in, so we skipped it. That's the thing with many of the indoor installations - there's almost always a long line to get in. With those ones I normally take a pass.

Over the past couple of years or so I used to plan my route out according to whatever I was interested in seeing. I'd go online or, in the early years, check the paper programme and map out my route that way. Now I just see where most things are clustered and work my way around the city that way.

This year there were installations around Yorkville heading west along Bloor to St. George. Also, there were some at Toronto City Hall; others up and down Bay Street; some at north and south around McCaul/John Street; and a bunch at the Harbourfront.

My original plan was to hit City Hall, then go south on Bay, hit the Harbourfront and come back up Simcoe/John/McCaul. We sort of did it backwards instead.

Over the 10+ hours we were out, we ended up walking around 25 kilometres (from 7:00 p.m. to just after 5:00 a.m.). We stopped a few times to rest, and one more time for poutine. Still, by the end, we were totally bushed.

I have to say, Nuit Blanche isn't quite as interesting and creative as it once was. Maybe the lack of funding had something to do with it. There used to be more large installations in which the audience could participate and ones with performers and such. This year there we saw quite a few video exhibitions. Not so interesting.

I still enjoy walking around the city all night looking at things. So I'll keep coming back. It's sort of a tradition for me now.