Nuit Rose: Rewilding – Queer Art Unleashed Across Toronto

Nuit Rose 2026: Rewilding, The Throbbing Rose Collective

Nuit Rose: Rewilding

After a 7-year hiatus, Nuit Rose returns for Pride Month with a bold new edition, Rewilding, transforming Toronto into a vibrant landscape of queer art, performance, and night-long celebration on June 20, 2026. Centered around the Church-Wellesley Village and beyond, this year’s festival invites you to “walk on the wild side” with contemporary art exhibitions, street art, performances, talks, and a glowing Village art crawl and light parade.

Rewilding brings together 55 Canadian and international 2SLGBTQIA+ artists, curators, and performers in a multi-venue program that explores nature, transformation, desire, and queer histories. From intimate gallery shows to large-scale public works, Nuit Rose: Rewilding is a call to untame our imaginations and reclaim public space through queer creativity. Nuit Rose is organized by the Throbbing Rose Collective and all events are free.

Festival Launch & Exhibitions

The Wilding West
Opening & Festival Launch: Thursday, June 18, 2026 | 7 – 10pm
Exhibition: Runs until June 30, 2026
Youngplace Art Centre, 180 Shaw Street, Second Floor

Featuring Canadian and international queer artists selected from the Call for Submissions, alongside members of the Throbbing Rose Collective. This exhibition serves as the official festival launch, setting the tone for Rewilding.

John Simone’s Photographic Voyages
Opening: Thursday, June 18, 2026 | 7 – 10pm
Exhibition: Runs until July 5, 2026
Youngplace Art Centre, 180 Shaw Street, Third Floor

John Simone’s Photographic Voyages is a sweeping retrospective exhibition presenting 300 images from 50 countries across five continents. It traces queer presence, intimacy, and performance around the globe, inviting viewers into a richly textured visual journey.

Rewilding Unbound: We Won’t Be Tamed
Opening: Friday, June 19, 2026 | 6 – 8pm
Exhibition: June 3 – July 9, 2026
Pegasus on Church, 489B Church Street

Four artists whose works explore nature, transformation, and embodied change. Performance is a key component of this exhibition, with featured performances by Cameron Tania on June 19 at 8pm and June 20 at 8 and 9pm.

The Green Hours
Exhibition: June 4 – June 27, 2026
Akasha Art Projects, 204D Carlton Street

Going Rogue
Exhibition: June 5 – June 27, 2026
Gagné Contemporary Projects, 136 Brooklyn Avenue (rear lane)

Nuit Rose, 2019, The Light Parade, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts. Image: Eric Chengyang

Nuit Rose Festival Night

Saturday, June 20, 2026 | 5 – 11pm
Neighbourhood: Church-Wellesley Village

Festival Night is the heart of Nuit Rose: Rewilding, linking exhibitions, street art, performances, and a glowing art crawl into one continuous evening.

Rewilding Group Exhibition
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 20, 2026 | 5 – 7pm
Foy House will be active from 5pm until late.
Exhibition: Runs until June 27, 2026
Foy House, 92 Isabella Street

Features Canadian and invited international queer artists, along with members of the Throbbing Rose Collective, presenting expansive visions of queer ecologies, bodies, and futures. Foy House is the Festival Hub for Nuit Rose: Rewilding with a bar and after-party.

Queer Street Art: Rewilding Public Space
June 20 | Runs all evening
Church Street

Street art and wheat-paste murals bring queer visibility to Church Street, including work banned as “propaganda” in the United States, assembled by artist Jeremy Novy. These interventions reclaim public walls as sites of protest, memory, and pride.

Nuit Rose, 2014, The Light Parade. Joey Bruni

Village Art Crawl & Light Parade: Walk on the Wild Side
June 20 | 6:30 – 10:30pm
Location: Starts at Foy House, and subsequently various sites across the Church-Wellesley Village

An evening-long art crawl and light parade connects festival venues and public art installations throughout the neighbourhood. Visitors are encouraged to wear glowing or light-emitting attire, turning the streets into a shimmering river of queer light.

Events at The 519 Church Street Community Centre
June 20 | 7 – 11pm
519 Church Street, Toronto

The 519 hosts a screening room with short films, interactive projects, and musical performances in the Ballroom.

Glory Hole Gallery and The Wild & the Weeds
June 20 | 7 – 10pm
The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto

The Wild & the Weeds explores the queer, historic landscape of Hanlan’s Point, tracing connections between memory, place, and queer ecologies.

Glory Hole Gallery is a micro-gallery that promotes the creativity of 2SLGBTQ+
people and communities.

Rewilding After-Party
June 20 | 10pm – late
Foy House, 92 Isabella Street
18+ | Cash bar

Attendees are encouraged to dress WILDly for a celebration featuring music, dancing, and community. This 18+ after-party extends the energy of Festival Night into the early hours.

Nuit Rose, Night Shift 2016, Slow Dance by Michael Caldwell and David Kraft

Post-Festival: Foy Talks
Sunday, June 21, 2026 | 2 – 4pm
Foy House, 92 Isabella Street
Free

Curators and artists from Nuit Rose: Rewilding present short talks about their work and lead conversations with audiences. Foy Talks offers a reflective space to deepen engagement with the themes, practices, and communities that shape the festival.

Funders
Produced with the support of the City of Toronto through Toronto Arts Council; Canada Council for the Arts, Community One Foundation

Venue Partners
401 Richmond Street West, The 519 Church Street Community Centre, Pegasus on Church, Akasha Art Projects, Gagné Contemporary Project Space, Youngplace Art Centre, Foy House, The ArQuives

Community Partners
Church-Wellesley Village BIA, Pride Toronto

Foy House Sponsors
Palm Springs AIDS Memorial, Impell Gallery, SweetThings, Martin Young

About the Throbbing Rose Collective
The Throbbing Rose Collective is a Toronto-based artist collective producing exhibitions, art residencies, and cultural events that centre 2SLGBTQIA+ artists and communities. Founded in 2014, the Collective organized the first Nuit Rose festival during WorldPride Toronto and has since presented more than 300 projects across six earlier festival editions.

Find out more and explore the full Nuit Rose: Rewilding program:
www.throbbingrose.ca
Instagram @nuitroseto | @throbbingrose

Image Descriptions:
1. Poster design featuring bold text “Nuit Rose: Rewilding.” It includes stylized pink and teal antlers at the bottom and a dotted circular sun with teal clouds at top left, suggesting a rewilding event.

2. Photograph of a nighttime parade featuring performers dressed in shiny silver costumes carrying large, rainbow-striped wings. Bright pink neon arrow signs highligh its vibrant colours and dynamic movement against a blurred urban background.

3. Photograph of a person wearing a feathered hat holding illuminated lanterns during nighttime. The background features city lights, highlighting a festive or cultural event in an urban setting.

4. Photograph of a group of people standing and dancing in a room decorated with numerous colourful balloons scattered on the floor. The setting appears to be a casual celebration and soft lighting creates a festive atmosphere.