Downtown Saskatoon is the canvas at Nuit Blanche contemporary art festival

Photo: Nuit Blanche Saskatoon

Nuit Blanche Saskatoon is taking art out of the gallery and bringing it to the street this weekend.

Event Board Chair Logan McManus says the contemporary art festival will feature over 50 exhibits, including projections, interactive installations, performance, lasers, workshops, poetry, and dance, to name a few. The pieces will line the streets of downtown Saskatoon, specifically around River landing, Broadway and 2nd Avenue.

McManus says the event takes place on Saturday between 7:00 p.m. and midnight. “We are a night art festival, so come out, see light up art in the streets, and in our partnering venues.”

This year’s theme is “Living in Between’, which focuses on the beauty found between cultures, languages, colours and environments.

“A lot of the submissions that we got this year were in between mediums or in between cultures. It’s been really fun to play around with the theme this year and to get the meaning out of it.”

McManus says the goal of the event is to remove barriers and make art more accessible to the public.

“The idea is by bringing art into the streets, into unexpected spaces, maybe mundane spaces that you’d see on your walk to work, we’re able to transform our city and allow people to see and celebrate art in their own way.”

She adds that the festival welcomes people of all ages and accessibility levels. For those who have a hard time walking, an accessibility shuttle will be more than willing to take attendees from Broadway to Downtown. McManus says sticking around Nassar Plaza would also be a good option.

“There are lots of pieces that are focused there. You can go into the Alt Hotel, see our laser show. You could go to the Nassar Plaza space and see where we’re turning it into a larger-than-life glowing garden.”

Last year, between 10 and 15 thousand people explored Nuit Blanche, making for several busy streets. To keep everyone safe, road closures will be in place on 2nd Avenue between 21st and 20th streets, Spadina Crescent between 2nd and 3rd avenues, 3rd Avenue between Spadina Crescent and 19th Street, on the Traffic Bridge, and on Broadway Avenue between 12th and Main streets.