Summer 2025 Program Announced at The Bentway
Photo by Matthew Monteith
Be the first to explore Sun/Shade
May 23 – October 5, 2025
The Bentway, Toronto
The Bentway’s summer 2025 programming is set to bring the heat – and cool – with a free public art exhibition titled Sun/Shade, a never-before-seen urban sand dune performance, a mobile forest travelling the city, roller skate parties, and more.
With rising summer temperatures, our sun-drenched streets and public spaces are becoming less and less comfortable each year. Sun/Shade explores the city’s changing relationship with these natural features, deploying natural light and shadow as creative tools, revealing how new thinking about familiar resources can improve urban life. The Gardiner offers a unique canvas – stretching over 6.5 km, the elevated highway’s canopy provides the city with its largest continuous shadow, making the area a natural haven for sun and shade seekers.
Photo by Brandon Ferguson
Sun/Shade Opening Night Party
May 23, 2025
Tickets: $20
The season kicks off with the Sun/Shade Opening Night Party on May 23. Get ready to strut your stuff at the summer’s coolest party! Join The Bentway, Fashion Art Toronto, and Canada’s Drag Race’s Jada Shada Hudson under the Gardiner for The Sunglasses at Night fashion show, celebrating the opening of Sun/Shade. Runway shy? Come dance, mingle, and enjoy the show!
Photo courtesy of Fiksdal dans stiftelse
Sand Flight
June 12 – 15, 2025
Tickets: $10 – $30
Experience the world premiere of Sand Flight, from internationally renowned choreographer Ingri Fiksdal. Eight dancers and a 50-person choir descend on a massive sand dune under the Gardiner Expressway for a powerful performance that speculates on climates-to-come, where shade-worshipping is the new normal.
Featuring an original composition and a cast of local and international performers, this bold new work of climate fiction is a call to closely consider the evolution of our local environments in the not-so-distant future, while creating new customs we’ll collectively value in a changing world. Presented in partnership with Toronto Dance Theatre.
Project render of Casting a Net, Casting a Spell by Celeste
And so much more!
On opening weekend May 24 – 25, join a free Sun/Shade Curators’ Tour or sign-up for the Casting a Net, Casting a Spell art workshop with Mexico-City creative duo Celeste.
That same weekend, a flock of 50 trees in shopping carts will start its travels throughout the city, stopping to create a refreshing shade canopy in usually-sunny spaces. Follow their eight-week journey from The Bentway, to YZD, and the Waterfront Neighbourhood and Harbourfront Centres, in Moving Forest.
This summer also sees the return of popular social and recreation programs such as Roller Skate Parties, Dino Runs, and Art Socials. There’s something for everyone!
About The Bentway
The Bentway works to ignite the urban imagination, using the city as site, subject, and canvas.
Anchored under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway and guiding its complex future, The Bentway is a growing public space, and much more. The Bentway is a new type of civic organization: a not-for-profit, powered by vital partnerships with the City of Toronto, residents, supporters, artists, city-builders, and dreamers. The Bentway is a catalyst rooted in experimentation, leading a creative movement to re-imagine the opportunities of urban spaces.
The Bentway
250 Fork York Blvd, Toronto
thebentway.ca
hello@thebentway.ca
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Accessibility:
The Bentway is fully accessible. For more information, visit here.
The Bentway’s Summer 2025 season is generously supported by:
Sun-Safety Partner: David Cornfield Melanoma Fund
Seasonal Supporters: Balsam Foundation, City of Toronto, Tand D Bank Group
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