Nuit Blanche returns to Toronto tonight. Here is everything you need to know

Jeanne Holmes, manager of city cultural events programming, talks more about the 20th anniversary of Nuit Blanche and how it ties into this year’s theme.

Nuit Blanche returns again to Toronto tonight, marking 20 years the city has hosted the all-night, free arts showcase.

This year the event will feature more than 70 projects by local, national, and international artists, institutions, and community partners, under the theme Tomorrow’s Memories.

Jeanne Holmes, manager of city cultural events programming with the City of Toronto, told CP24 on Friday that the idea of the theme is that “we’re making memories that people will have in the future.”

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“The ideas, the energy, the enthusiasm of the artists that take over the city, and transforms spaces that generally you would just walk right by, into art galleries, or museum-like spaces, has really embedded itself into the city’s memory,” she said. “And in this sort of revisioning, re-centring of what public art means to a city like Toronto, Nuit Blanch this year is going to push us right through to the next decade.”

The projects will be scattered across the downtown core and the waterfront, as well as in neighbouring municipalities, like Etobicoke and North York.

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The event takes place between 7 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday.

As for where to start, Holmes said “there’s no wrong way to do it.”

“You can start in your neighbourhood. Maybe you live close to the Aga Khan, you can go and visit the installation that they have there, pick up a map, and then navigate your way through the city,” Holmes said.

“You can start here at Nathan Phillips Square and engage in all of the beautiful projects that are here, at City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square, and we’ve done a great floor-by-floor takeover of Old City Hall, which is amazing.”

Click here to learn more about Nuit Blanche projects, talks, and other details about the event.

Several road closures

The TTC Lines 1 and 2 will remain open, right through to their 8 a.m. opening hours on Sunday morning, making it easy for patrons to take in as many projects as they can.

Several road closures will be in place to accommodate the event, beginning at 12 p.m. on Oct. 3. Closures will remain in place until noon on Oct. 4. These include:

• Queen Street West between Bay Street and University Avenue
• Bay Street between Hagerman Street and Richmond Street West
• Elizabeth Street between Floster Plast and Hagerman Street
• Hagerman Street between Elizabeth Street and Bay Street
• Albert Street between James Street and Bay Street

Local traffic will be permitted to travel on the following streets:

• York Street between Richmond Street West and Queen Street West
• Bay Street between Dundas Street West and Foster Place
• all of Foster Place

Some TTC routes will be diverting as a result of the road closures, Toronto police said, and motorists should expect delays downtown.

With files from CP24.com’s Codi Wilson