The back story
From the ROM to Roy Thomson Hall: Toronto’s arts
The Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Aga Khan Museum, the shoes of the Bata, the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet, the Toronto Symphony, Mirvish’s theatres, TIFF and Hot Docs: Toronto on stage and on screen.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Maksim Sokolov (Maxergon) · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsToronto’s two great collections are a subway stop apart: the Royal Ontario Museum, with, in its words, 18 million artworks, artifacts and specimens, and the Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street. Around them are museums of a single subject done supremely well: Islamic art and Muslim cultures at the Aga Khan Museum, ceramics at the Gardiner, footwear at the Bata. On stage, the Canadian Opera Company is, in its words, the largest producer of opera in Canada, sharing the Four Seasons Centre with the National Ballet, founded in 1951; the Toronto Symphony plays at Roy Thomson Hall, and Mirvish runs the theatres of King and Yonge. Every September the city becomes the home of film, with TIFF, and every spring of documentary, with Hot Docs.
Museums
The ROM, at Bloor and Queen’s Park, covers art, culture and nature; the Gardiner Museum, opposite, is devoted to ceramics, and the Bata Shoe Museum to footwear, its 2026 exhibition tracing 400 years of beadwork. The Aga Khan Museum, at 77 Wynford Drive, sparks, in its words, wonder and understanding of Muslim cultures.
Galleries
The Power Plant, at Harbourfront, is a contemporary gallery with free admission all year; MOCA Toronto shows Canadian and international artists in a converted factory; the Textile Museum of Canada is downtown.
On stage
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra plays at Roy Thomson Hall; Massey Hall is the old concert hall of Shuter Street; Koerner Hall belongs to the Royal Conservatory. Soulpepper and Canadian Stage are the city’s theatre companies, and Mirvish its West End.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Benson Kua from Toronto, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsOn screen
TIFF Lightbox on King Street is the year-round home of the Toronto International Film Festival; Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema shows documentaries all year, and the Revue, the Paradise and the Fox are the neighbourhood picture houses.
Book opera and ballet early; Mirvish and Soulpepper sell their own tickets.
Festivals
Luminato in June, Nuit Blanche in the autumn night, Pride Toronto, founded in 1981, and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, which celebrates its 60th year in 2027.
Our advice: the ROM and the AGO each deserve half a day; don’t try both in one.
Why it's on our list
- Museums
- Galleries
- On stage
- On screen
- Festivals
Location
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