Emilea Semancik

Toronto has no shortage of food communities, but few have been at it as long—or as joyfully—as VegTO. Formerly known as the Toronto Vegetarian Association, the organization has spent eight decades connecting Torontonians who are living or simply curious about a plant-based lifestyle, and in 2025, they marked both their 80th anniversary and the 40th edition of VegTO Fest, Canada’s largest and longest-running free-to-attend vegan festival.

Melanie Garcia is an artist with her practice rooted in collage. She is a Filipino born and raised in Côtes-des-Neiges; she is a twin and a Taurus.

Jeremy Dobski blends silly and dark comedy with what some call strangely insightful perspectives—though he suspects that’s just a head injury talking. Influenced by everyone from Rodney Dangerfield and George Carlin to Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpson, Marshall Mathers, and all the old Jewish people in his life, Dobski traces his comedy obsession back to the animated film Rover Dangerfield, which led his mom to show him stand-up before he understood genre (watching Airplane as a literal documentary scared the hell out of him).

Hush is the latest project from prolific Montreal musicians Paige Barlow, Miles Dupire-Gagnon, and Gabriel Lambert.

Montreal is a city that moves fast—but for the more than 300,000 Canadians living with type 1 diabetes, there's no keeping up without constant, vigilant management of a disease that never lets up.

As both an artist and arts leader, Elle de Lyon brings a deeply lived understanding of the power of creative expression to her work with RISE Edutainment. A spoken word musician, author, and affirmational speaker, she also serves as Director of Projects and Strategy for the Scarborough-founded non-profit, helping to expand its reach while staying grounded in its core mission: building accessible, community-rooted spaces where artists and audiences alike can connect, grow, and thrive.

Spencer Glassman exists at the intersection of grumpy middle-aged Jewish/Italian man energy and Zillennial musical theatre girly with a high-pitched voice, resulting in comedy that transforms neurosis into what he calls “a weapon of mass seduction… and also into jokes.” Working across stand-up, sketch, musical comedy (to the audience’s chagrin), and improv, Glassman gravitates toward unself-aware, overly emotional characters—a rebellion against being socialized as a girl to fear appearing unrefined, chaotic, or needy.

Christopher Justin Doyle performs as Mysterion the Mind Reader, blending off-the-cuff, tongue-in-cheek comedy with impossible psychological feats through a style shaped by childhood influences like The Amazing Kreskin and Doug Henning’s relaxed stage presence, plus the bombastic nuances of classic wrestling characters.

Alex Ateah has been quietly building one of the more distinctive voices in Canadian comedy — deadpan, surreal, and utterly her own. With a sensibility shaped as much by art-house film and avant-garde music as by the stand-up tradition, Ateah brings something genuinely unusual to the stage.

Don Denaburg & Friends is a collective of musicians who record and perform the music of Toronto-based songwriter Don Denaburg. With elements of folk, pop, jazz, and Americana, Don’s deeply personal songs explore themes of loss, regret, and the fragile moments when everything falls apart — and how we find a path towards hope.