HAPPENING Multicultural Festival is the first and only Toronto festival created by community artists, giving center-stage to the talent and skills of immigrant, newcomer, and refugee artists. HAPPENING gave space to embrace the cultural richness of our city, while creating professional development opportunities for artists. It offered a platform for organizations to connect, and form meaningful collaborations.
*HAPPENING Multicultural Festival is produced by MUSE Arts.
Join our events and workshops!
Calendar
Calendar of Events
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Poetry Night
Poetry Night
Watch this event here Facebook During our HAPPENING: Poetry Nights, we celebrate poets who, among other things, identify as newcomers, refugees, or immigrants. Poetry inhabits many geographical locations and speaks …
0 events,
2 events,
Weaving Commuity Arts-Build
Weaving Commuity Arts-Build
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity An open space for community members to share with each other while creating a giant blanket using colorful crochet mandalas. This large installation will be on …
0 events,
1 event,
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This workshop will create a friendly, familiar space for kids and caregivers to share through stories related to community-building topics. Age: Toddlers 1-3 years (supervision and …
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
1 event,
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This series of workshops and activities stimulate creative development and artistic expression in toddlers and caregivers. It aims to create a space where participants have the …
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
1 event,
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Facebook Eventbrite As part of our Memory and Wisdom program, these workshops and activities have the purpose of stimulating creative development, motor skills, and artistic expression in seniors. These workshops …
1 event,
Poetry Night
Poetry Night
Watch this event here Facebook During our HAPPENING: Poetry Nights, we celebrate poets who, among other things, identify as newcomers, refugees, or immigrants. Poetry inhabits many geographical locations and speaks …
1 event,
Artists In Conversation with Vanessa Parada: Nico Solarte
Artists In Conversation with Vanessa Parada: Nico Solarte
Facebook "Artists in Conversation" with curator Vanessa Parada is a space that invites local artists to share their insights and personal thoughts around their professional practice, as well as sharing …
Artists In Conversation with Vanessa Parada: Nico Solarte Read More »
2 events,
“Uplifting With Sustainable Decor Ideas” All-Ages Workshop
“Uplifting With Sustainable Decor Ideas” All-Ages Workshop
Facebook Eventbrite In this workshop, participants will explore creative and useful ways to recycle paper, cardboard, and other materials, and uplift the longevity of these items to bring a spark …
“Uplifting With Sustainable Decor Ideas” All-Ages Workshop Read More »
Creating in Nature with CREATO
Creating in Nature with CREATO
Facebook Eventbrite With the park as inspiration, participants will be invited to reflect through mindfulness exercises related to nature and their surroundings at Earlscourt Park. They will work together and …
0 events,
1 event,
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This workshop will create a friendly, familiar space for kids and caregivers to share through stories related to community-building topics. Age: Toddlers 1-3 years (supervision and …
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
2 events,
Seminar: Environment, Food, and Communities: The Role of the Arts in Sustainability
Facebook Eventbrite Online Activity Why is it important to talk about the environment and sustainability in community spaces? In the seminar, we will discuss the relationship between the environment, sustainability, …
Seminar: Environment, Food, and Communities: The Role of the Arts in Sustainability Read More »
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This series of workshops and activities stimulate creative development and artistic expression in toddlers and caregivers. It aims to create a space where participants have the …
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
2 events,
Seminar: Environment, Food, and Communities: The Role of the Arts in Sustainability
Facebook Eventbrite Online Activity Why is it important to talk about the environment and sustainability in community spaces? In the seminar, we will discuss the relationship between the environment, sustainability, …
Seminar: Environment, Food, and Communities: The Role of the Arts in Sustainability Read More »
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Facebook Eventbrite As part of our Memory and Wisdom program, these workshops and activities have the purpose of stimulating creative development, motor skills, and artistic expression in seniors. These workshops …
3 events,
Seminar: Environment, Food, and Communities: The Role of the Arts in Sustainability
Facebook Eventbrite Online Activity Why is it important to talk about the environment and sustainability in community spaces? In the seminar, we will discuss the relationship between the environment, sustainability, …
Seminar: Environment, Food, and Communities: The Role of the Arts in Sustainability Read More »
Poetry Night
Poetry Night
Watch This Event Here Facebook During our HAPPENING: Poetry Nights, we celebrate poets who, among other things, identify as newcomers, refugees, or immigrants. Poetry inhabits many geographical locations and speaks …
1 event,
Artists In Conversation with Vanessa Parada: H.Y.L.A
Artists In Conversation with Vanessa Parada: H.Y.L.A
Facebook "Artists in Conversation" with curator Vanessa Parada is a space that invites local artists to share their insights and personal thoughts around their professional practice, as well as sharing …
Artists In Conversation with Vanessa Parada: H.Y.L.A Read More »
2 events,
Design and Creativity with Juan Pablo Briggs
Design and Creativity with Juan Pablo Briggs
Facebook Eventbrit During this workshop, Juan Pablo will introduce participants to the concept of character design by encouraging them to imagine their own characters and what makes them unique and …
1 event,
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This series of workshops and activities stimulate creative development and artistic expression in toddlers and caregivers. It aims to create a space where participants have the …
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
1 event,
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Facebook Eventbrite As part of our Memory and Wisdom program, these workshops and activities have the purpose of stimulating creative development, motor skills, and artistic expression in seniors. These workshops …
2 events,
Networking Event for Artists and Organizations
Networking Event for Artists and Organizations
Facebook Eventbrite Date: Thursday, May 25th Time: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Location: MUSE Arts Creative Lab at Earlscourt Park (1369B St Clair Ave West) This is a space for …
1 event,
Community Gathering: Music and Poetry
Community Gathering: Music and Poetry
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity Date: Friday, May 26th Time: 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Location: MUSE Arts Creative Lab at Earlscourt Park (1369B St Clair Ave West) Join us for …
7 events,
Happening Multicultural Festival
Facebook Eventbrite Bring your friends, parents, grandparents, kids, neighbours, and dogs! An afternoon and evening full of programming for the entire community. Large-format traditional games, free workshops facilitated by artists, …
Cuerpo Tambor – Percussion Workshop
Cuerpo Tambor – Percussion Workshop
Facebook Eventbrite A space to get closer to batucada, a style of repetitive, fast-paced percussive samba. In this workshop, we will first explore the musicality of our bodies and then …
0 events,
1 event,
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This workshop will create a friendly, familiar space for kids and caregivers to share through stories related to community-building topics. Age: Toddlers 1-3 years (supervision and …
Little Community Builders: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
2 events,
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers
Facebook Eventbrite In-Person Activity This series of workshops and activities stimulate creative development and artistic expression in toddlers and caregivers. It aims to create a space where participants have the …
Exploring our World: Workshops for Toddlers and Caregivers Read More »
1 event,
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Exploring Nature: Workshops for Seniors
Facebook Eventbrite As part of our Memory and Wisdom program, these workshops and activities have the purpose of stimulating creative development, motor skills, and artistic expression in seniors. These workshops …
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Happening Through The Years
2023 - HAPPENING MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL
HAPPENING Multicultural Festival is the first and only Toronto festival created by community artists, giving center-stage to the talent and skills of immigrant, newcomer, and refugee artists. HAPPENING gave space to embrace the cultural richness of our city, while creating professional development opportunities for artists. It offered a platform for organizations to connect, and form meaningful collaborations.
2022 - HAPPENING MULTICULTURAL LIVE: PUBLIC ART AND COLLECTIVE VOICE
HAPPENING Multicultural Festival is the first and only Toronto festival created by community artists, giving center-stage to the talent and skills of immigrant, newcomer, and refugee artists. HAPPENING gave space to embrace the cultural richness of our city, while creating professional development opportunities for artists. It offered a platform for organizations to connect, and form meaningful collaborations. The 2022 year’s edition included one month of programming, 15 events for the community and around 150 artists involved in all of them.
HAPPENING Community Celebration
HAPPENING Community Celebration Indigenous knowledge Sharing We had the opportunity to learn more about indigenous
Dance and Performance Night
Dance and Performance Night Dance and movement is an integral part of the culture, entire
MUSE Arts Creative Lab Opening
MUSE Arts Creative Lab Opening The official opening of our first-ever physical space was a
Networking Event for Artists and Organizations
Networking Event for Artists and Organizations This was a space where newcomer, immigrant, refugee, and
Poetry Nights
Poetry Nights HAPPENING Multicultural Poetry Nights celebrated poets who, among other things, identify as newcomers,
2021 - HAPPENING MULTICULTURAL LIVE: PUBLIC ART AND COLLECTIVE VOICE
With 2020’s previous experience, we felt comfortable enough to host another online festival. This gave us the opportunity to broaden our guest and speaker list!
HAPPENING 2021 festival took place during the entire month of May and brought together over 80 artists and performers belonging to diverse communities.
2020 - Happening Multicultural: Power of Community
2020 was a year of profound uncertainty. Like the rest of the world, our floor was shaken by the lockdown 2 months away from what we had originally planned to be our week-long festival.
In response to the realities of those unprecedented times, and in an effort to continue staying connected, working together, and supporting our communities, 2020’s Happening Multicultural Festival adapted to an online format.
With a combination of community activations and online events, Happening lasted a whole month. Our main community activation was based around “Doves of Peace”, a project where we encouraged the community to portray what “peace” meant for them in doves made out of canvas. This way we were able to spread messages of peace throughout our audiences.
We also hosted diverse online spaces where we discussed themes such as the price of freedom of expression, music education within communities, art and mental health. As always, we sought to bring exciting programming for everyone.
2019 - Happening Community and Identity Multicultural Festival
In 2019 we took a huge leap and, as our community was growing, we decided to go for a 4-day festival! From May 29th to June 1st, we had the participation of more than 140 artists in different art branches such as visual arts, community arts, poetry, dance, music and storytelling.
That year we also incorporated a space for organizations and artists to network. As you can see, doors kept opening year after year, and Happening was gaining momentum in Toronto’s artistic scene.
Those 4 days of festival were made possible with the sponsorship from Audiovisuals, Independent Curator, 918 Bathurst, Sbabe She’s.
2018 - Happening: Multicultural Evening in Support of Community Arts & Cultural Exchange in Latin America and the Caribbean
In 2018, we were hosted by 918 Bathurst. It was a successful year as the artists were already familiarized with our event and were anticipating their participation in it. We had wonderful artists, many of whom were refugees and newcomers to Canada. We opened the space for poetry, music, performance, art exhibition and a silent auction.
2017 - Happening: A Multicultural Evening in Support of Community Arts
Fast-forward to 2017, a concept was born after seeing the benefits and happiness this encounter brought to the people. Then is when Happening: A Multicultural Evening in Support of Community Arts was made official. The concept behind this event was to collect funds to have enough resources to keep doing our work in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as to be a Multicultural space that celebrated diversity and was extremely intentional about inclusion. We gathered again on May 19th 2017, this time to support Muse Arts programming.
We made an open call for artists to participate, however, we quickly realized one night was way too short for the amount of talent that approached us.
2016 - Where It All Began...
Back in 2016, the Mexican Cultural House suffered the impact of a fire. Significant emotional distress was caused in the community, and so we made a call to convene other artists and members of the communities to uphold our fellow artists in need. There were 3 key aspects to make this possible: collaboration, unity, and generosity.