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Toronto at night

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Toronto Nightlife

Toronto's nightlife is yet another aspect of urban life that defies the city's staid reputation. Drinking hours run until 0200 and nightclubs and after-hours clubs often stay open until dawn. A few self-consciously trendy nightclubs may have no-jeans, no-trainers policies at the door. Since it is illegal in the Province of Ontario to serve alcohol and not serve food, bars can often be considered places to eat as much as to drink. The legal drinking age in Toronto is 19.

The free, alternative weeklies, eye (www.eyeweekly.com) and NOW (www.nowtoronto.com), provide the latest information on club nights and gig listings, while Xtra (www.xtra.ca) covers the gay scene.

Bars in Toronto

Bar Italia

Bar Italia is a stylish and trendy cocktail bar with reasonably priced and tasty pasta, which attracts the good-looking weekend crowd.

582 College Street

Madison Avenue Pub

The Madison Avenue Pub is something like a super-pub, taking up four floors within three converted Victorian houses.

14 Madison Avenue

team Whistle Brewing Company

Most afternoons, you can take a brewery tour and get a complimentary sample at the Steam Whistle Brewing Company.

255 Bremner Boulevard

Clubs in Toronto

Muzik

Muzik is energetic, stylish and decadent.

5 Saskatchewan Road, Exhibition Place
www.muzikclubs.com

The Guvernment

The Guvernment is a massive warehouse rigged with an industrial-strength sound system that pumps out progressive house and trance Saturday nights until dawn.

132 Queen's Quay East
www.theguvernment.com

Theatre in Toronto

Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Near the waterfront, the Harbourfront Centre Theatre, at the Harbourfront Centre, was built as an ice house in the 1920s but was renovated into a modern theatre, showing musicals alongside more serious pieces, in the 1990s.

231 Queen's Quay West
Tel: (416) 973 4000.
www.harbourfront.on.ca

Royal Alexandra Theatre

Built in 1907, the Royal Alexandra Theatre is an old, spacious Victorian theatre that shows musicals along with the occasional piece of serious theatre.

260 King Street West

Music and Dance in Toronto

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Evidence of how seriously the city takes its role as a cultural capital is the C$181 million Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the magnificent new home of the Canadian Opera Company inaugurated in June 2006. Designed by Toronto architect Jack Diamond, the centre integrates the best features of the grand European opera houses with innovative technology in acoustics and sightlines. The centre is also the performance venue for The National Ballet of Canada.

145 Queen Street West
Tel: (416) 363 8231.
www.coc.ca/house/house.html

Massey Hall

Massey Hall hosts everything from jazz, classical, rock and world music to international dance troupes.

178 Victoria Street
www.masseyhall.com

Culture in Toronto

The Horseshoe Tavern

The Horseshoe Tavern is a gritty down-home and historical venue and the first on the continent to receive The Police, is a good place to hear local and international acts.

370 Queen Street West
www.horseshoetavern.com

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