On Tuesday September 22nd, 2020, live event venues of all kinds lit up red in acknowledgement of the crisis facing the live event industry.
The Light Up Live campaign brought together "Organizations, grassroots groups, and individuals..." to illuminate live event landmarks in red in order to bring light to "the many performers, creators, technical, logistical, and management support personnel who drive a $100 billion Canadian economic engine."
There was an amazing list of organizations that participated. Click this link for a map showing venues in every area of Canada (zoom in to see details).
With close to 70 venues participating in Toronto alone, there was no chance I could get to all of them, so I planned a route that would take me to some of my favourites.
One of my first stops was the Berkeley Street Theatre, where I encountered a friendly group of Canadian Stage Company staff hanging out together in recognition of the Light Up Live camapign.
Young People's Theatre was clearly showing their support...
Meridian Hall (formerly Sony Centre, formerly Hummingbird Centre) had a great array of red lights...
The great lights there compelled me to stay and capture a few more scenes...
Meridian Hall's sign at Yonge and Front also helped to spread the campaign message...
From there I went to one of my favourite spots - the Princes' Gates at Exhibition Place, which was also lit up in red...
My final destination that night was Ontario Place, which allowed me to get more images of another favourite structure, the Cinesphere...
While the main Ontario Place sign and the Budweiser Stage were lit in red, the Cinesphere wasn't, so I made some adjustments to help it join the campaign...
On my way back to my car I captured skyline photos of Toronto, with the CN Tower lit in red for the Light Up Live campaign.
May each of these venues - all of them across Canada - be back to full steam creativity reaching thrilled audiences once again soon. To paraphrase Neil Young, "Long May They Run".
Thank you for reading this post. If you share it on social media please use #LightUpLive and/or #EclaironsLesScenes.
Please continue to support local art in whatever way that you can. Keep Live Alive!
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Best wishes. Masks and social distancing work. Stay healthy and stay well friends.