Festival Timings Thursday, Sept 18: 6–9pm Friday, Sept 19: 6–9pm Saturday, Sept 20: 2–6:15pm Festival Description Common Ground Dance Festival 2025 September 18–20 in Willowdale, North York (Toronto) Common Ground Dance Festival, produced by TOES FOR DANCE, is a free, outdoor, intercultural, and participatory celebration of movement and community that includes interactive workshops for all levels, artist talks, site performances, and mainstage performances. In 2025, our 5th anniversary year, Lee Lifeson Art Park (North York) is our main festival location, with performances and workshops taking place between September 18–20. Through our festival offerings this year, you will be able to witness artists working across a wide range of dance practices including Hip Hop, Bharatanatyam, Western Contemporary, Garba, Indigenous Hoop, Flamenco, and dances of Indigenous Latinx and Afro-Caribbean influences. The festival’s mission is intercultural, with programming that gathers a diverse constellation of Toronto’s artists and community members for the purpose of creating connection. We invite you to witness the beauty and power of multiple artistic expressions moving through a shared space, and to contribute your energy and presence to the experience. It is our hope that our friendly vibe, matched with the incredible talent of the artists on stage, will move you, uplift you, challenge you, and inspire you. Whether you’re an experienced dancer or you have an unexplored curiosity for movement, let’s breathe deeply, meet each other amongst the greenery, practice curiosity, and revel in the joys of movement — together! We are looking forward to welcoming you. Registration (FREE) has been launched via Zeffy: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/common-ground-dance-festival–2025 RSVP to let us know you’re attending and receive important event information directly in your inbox, including pre-event reminders with confirmed event details, and any schedule updates/changes due to inclement weather for outdoor events. CGDF is made possible with funding from the City of Toronto, Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Canada. We gratefully acknowledge additional support from Arts in the Parks, North York Arts, Yonge North York BIA, Willowdale Central Ratepayers Association/Willowdale Arts Collective, TO Live, and the Toronto Transit Commission. More details at: https://www.toesfordance.ca/common-ground

Rain date: September 21

ROSYLAND returns this August. Every Thursday evening, Lee Lifeson Art Park in North York transforms into a creative wonderland that celebrates friendship, community, environmental sustainability, and the universal language of music. Bring your family, friends, and furry companions. Pack a picnic, find a spot, and settle in for a fun, interactive concert! Come early to get hands-on at the DIY and upcycling station. Stick around after the show to meet the musicians and check out their unique instruments up close. What to expect: 🎨 5:30 PM – Creative Pre-Concert Activities 🎶 6:30 PM – Make music and improv with us: artists + community! 🤗 7:30 PM – Meet & Greet with Musicians 🌙 8:30 PM – Event Ends 4 Rosyland events are part of Arts In The Parks Toronto and is FREE to attend. Thanks to the support of Toronto Arts Council, Toronto Arts Foundation, Music Performance Trust Fund, and Li Delun Music Foundation.

ROSYLAND returns this August. Every Thursday evening, Lee Lifeson Art Park in North York transforms into a creative wonderland that celebrates friendship, community, environmental sustainability, and the universal language of music. Bring your family, friends, and furry companions. Pack a picnic, find a spot, and settle in for a fun, interactive concert! Come early to get hands-on at the DIY and upcycling station. Stick around after the show to meet the musicians and check out their unique instruments up close. What to expect: 🎨 5:30 PM – Creative Pre-Concert Activities 🎶 6:30 PM – Live Concert of Brazilian chamber jazz ensemble with Oná Ensemble 🤗 7:30 PM – Meet & Greet with Musicians 🌙 8:30 PM – Event Ends 4 Rosyland events are part of Arts In The Parks Toronto and is FREE to attend. Thanks to the support of Toronto Arts Council, Toronto Arts Foundation, Music Performance Trust Fund, and Li Delun Music Foundation. About  Oná Ensemble Jazz with French horns? Jazz with a bassoon? Here’s something you may not have heard before. Oná Ensemble is a Canadian-Brazilian chamber jazz ensemble inspired by the music of Brazil. The ensemble’s unique instrumentation of two French horns, bassoon, reeds (flute, clarinet, saxophone), guitar and percussion provides a captivating, global, classical sound combined with the soul of jazz. Oná performs traditional Brazilian choro, samba and jazz led by band leader Olivia Esther’s French horn!

ROSYLAND returns this August. Every Thursday evening, Lee Lifeson Art Park in North York transforms into a creative wonderland that celebrates friendship, community, environmental sustainability, and the universal language of music. Bring your family, friends, and furry companions. Pack a picnic, find a spot, and settle in for a fun, interactive concert! Come early to get hands-on at the DIY and upcycling station. Stick around after the show to meet the musicians and check out their unique instruments up close. What to expect: 🎨 5:30 PM – Creative Pre-Concert Activities 🎶 6:30 PM – Live Concert of Chinese instruments with Spark ensemble 🤗 7:30 PM – Meet & Greet with Musicians 🌙 8:30 PM – Event Ends 4 Rosyland events are part of Arts In The Parks Toronto and is FREE to attend. Thanks to the support of Toronto Arts Council, Toronto Arts Foundation, Music Performance Trust Fund, and Li Delun Music Foundation. ABOUT SPARK ENSEMBLE Spark is an ensemble of Chinese instrumentalists from across the Greater Toronto Area with a mission of challenging boundaries and exploring possibilities with music for Chinese instruments. Its core group: Gavin Zhang, an erhuist trained in Beijing and Vancouver; Matthew Poon, a conductor and music professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; Mike Liu, a sheng player, tubist, and secondary school music teacher for the Toronto District School Board; and Tracy Chan, a ruan specialist trained by the Hong Kong Music Office.

ROSYLAND returns this August. Every Thursday evening, Lee Lifeson Art Park in North York transforms into a creative wonderland that celebrates friendship, community, environmental sustainability, and the universal language of music. Bring your family, friends, and furry companions. Pack a picnic, find a spot, and settle in for a fun, interactive concert! Come early to get hands-on at the DIY and upcycling station. Stick around after the show to meet the musicians and check out their unique instruments up close. What to expect: 🎨 5:30 PM – Creative Pre-Concert Activities 🎶 6:30 PM – Live Concert of medieval, renaissance, and folk melodies performed by Muffin Hat Music 🤗 7:30 PM – Meet & Greet with Musicians 🌙 8:30 PM – Event Ends 4 Rosyland events are part of Arts In The Parks Toronto and is FREE to attend. Thanks to the support of Toronto Arts Council, Toronto Arts Foundation, Music Performance Trust Fund, and Li Delun Music Foundation. ABOUT MUFFIN HAT MUSIC Lisa Hartl and Paul Carter, the dynamic duo behind Muffin Hat Music, bring medieval, renaissance, and folk melodies to the stage and the dance floor! They can often be seen tinkering with their weird and wonderful assortment of historical string, percussion and wind instruments. Muffin Hat Music explores the thin line between medieval melodies and the traditional folk dances of Western Europe that still exist today. @muffinhatmusic

Bring your whole family to the fun and engaging workshops in dance theatre, contemporary and traditional dances and stay for creative dance theatre performances from professional dancers and actors!

Rain date: August 31

Bring your whole family to the fun and engaging workshops in dance theatre, contemporary and traditional dances and stay for creative dance theatre performances from professional dancers and actors!

Rain date: August 31

Bring your whole family to the fun and engaging workshops in dance theatre, contemporary and traditional dances and stay for creative dance theatre performances from professional dancers and actors!

Rain date: August 24

Bring your whole family to the fun and engaging workshops in dance theatre, contemporary and traditional dances and stay for creative dance theatre performances from professional dancers and actors!

Rain date: August 24

At the Description-Rich Story Hour, artists will tell original stories inspired by the land and public artwork of Lee Lifeson Art Park, using descriptive and inclusive language that is accessible to a Blind and partially sighted audience. Wherever we are, we’re connecting to land that has a story. Description-rich language and ASL interpretation will make this storytelling event accessible to all. 1:15 pm – Park & Artwork Orientation Including a tactile map of the park and 3d printed representations of the artwork. Sighted guides will be available to assist as needed. RSVP to Christine.malec@gmail.com if you’d like to attend the orientation in advance of the event, or would like assistance when you arrive. 2:00 pm – Description-Rich Story Hour In a 90 minute event, the three members of Described Toronto, plus storytellers Trina Moyan, Shaq Gobert and Olivia Shortt will take us on a storytelling journey inspired by the land and public artwork of Lee Lifeson Art Park The Description-Rich Story Hour will be recorded live and released on the Described Toronto podcast [hyperlink: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368549]. Subscribe today to hear upcoming episodes released throughout the summer, including audio description of the park and artworks, as well as interviews with the storytellers and other stakeholders in the park. The series will also include audio description of the park and artworks, including the interactive piece “120 Mirrors” by artist Anna Friz. The artist describes this work as “a series of horn shaped sculptures that each play with a different aspect of human communication, specifically the acts of listening, speaking, conversing, and reflection. Through a sonic experience of space, we become more aware of our surroundings in historical, political, and contemporary social landscapes.” The Description-Rich Story Hour and podcast celebrates the land and artworks of this mid-town Toronto park by engaging the senses in a surprising and delightful exploration of this part of our city.