No.9 Eco-Art-Fest at Todmorden Mills

In 2014 and 2015, No.9 hosted The Eco-Art-Fest, a summer-long public art festival in Toronto’s Don Valley. It offered six outdoor public art installations, workshops for families, guided art walks, and a gathering space modeled after a traditional Beer Garden. This space offered visitors a place to relax, eat organic, locally sourced foods, have a drink, and listen to music in a natural setting just outside the downtown core.  

Toronto’s Don Valley Ravine is the largest and most underutilized green space in the city. The Eco-Art-Fest’s on-site programming was designed to raise awareness of the importance of green spaces in urban environments. Our gardens and kitchen led by example, demonstrating how people can grow their own food and shop at local venues. It can be difficult to live a completely sustainable lifestyle, but our festival demonstrated how we can live off the land, create by hand, and buy local. The Eco-Art-Fest created community space where conversations started, and where younger generations learned and were inspired.