Toronto Today: Allan Gardens moonlights as a trendy concert venue
Allan Gardens may be known as an urban botanical oasis, but staff are also hoping to establish the venue as a hot spot for arts programming.
For the uninitiated, Allan Gardens is more than just a botanical greenhouse — it’s also ground zero for a budding arts scene in central Toronto.
After the venue’s historic Palm House reopened earlier this year, Friends of Allan Gardens, the volunteer organization that oversees the park, began ramping up on-site programming like concerts and art installations.
The impressive Palm House building, which features a glass and steel dome at the centre of the conservatory, was inaccessible during three years of restoration work. In September, however, the venue came alive again when Venus Fest, a not-for-profit music festival, mentorship and concert series, was hosted on the property.
The three-day festival transformed the gardens into a jungle of experimental electronic music, psychedelic visuals and textile installations, making the landmark impossible to ignore.
The excitement also drew public attention to a lesser known fact about the Allan Gardens Conservatory: it’s been the site of several concerts since 2023.
“Toronto is losing arts and cultural venues all over the city, and there's a space right under our nose that's always been there, that's ready for us to use,” said the executive director of Friends of Allan Gardens, Matt Canaran. “We just need to rethink how we're using it.”
Music, DJs and art in the park
Before the reopening of the Palm House, arts programming has historically been booked in the Children’s Conservatory, located in the north-west corner of the park. This has included orchestral performances, theatre and dance productions, DJ sets and film screenings.
With a renewed dedication to the arts, Friends of Allan Gardens is now looking to book more independent musical acts to perform in the Children’s Conservatory. This month, the Toronto band Mother Tongues will perform there, as well as an improvised, four-musician jam session, called Tapestry Jam.
The outdoor teaching garden, which was renovated last year, has also been used as a performance space. The prolific American guitarist Bill Orcutt played there in August.
With the addition of the restored Palm House, Allan Gardens now has a new, 208-person capacity venue. Though planning is still underway for the kind of shows that will be hosted in the Palm House, Friends of Allan Gardens is eager to invite the public to see the space in a new light.
A nod to the past while looking to the future
In the late 1800s, Allan Gardens served as a site for speeches, galas and musical performances, but after a fire destroyed the original conservatory in 1902, the Palm House that replaced it wasn’t large enough for such gatherings.
“There have been a few concerts peppered in the interior of the space but there hasn't been anything like what we're doing now,” said Canaran. “We’re trying to capture the spirit of what used to happen in the past.”
He said the goal is to build new venues in the park, including greenhouses and event spaces, to support more diverse arts and culture programming.
For Friends of Allan Gardens program coordinator Li Xiao, hosting concerts and artistic performances on the grounds is a form of public outreach.
“We're always interested in bringing in different kinds of events and people to Allan Gardens,” they said.
Xiao said they hope the arts programming will attract Torontonians who may lack access to community spaces to Allan Gardens, where they can socialize with others.
Xiao was originally hired by the Friends of Allan Gardens with the sole focus of launching a year-round farmers market, which takes place every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now, Xiao also runs children and family programs and works in partnership with the city to plan arts and culture activities in the park.
Plants remain the backbone of Allan Gardens
For those who have only known Allan Gardens as a botanical destination, plenty of emphasis remains on the greenery.
As Friends of Allan Gardens continues to bring arts programming to the park, Caravan wants visitors to know that plants are still core to the conservatory’s ethos.
“This botanical garden is located in the heart of the most diverse city in the world, and all of our cultures have relationships with plants,” he said. “Sometimes that comes out through general arts and music but horticulture is a key piece of the work we do. We want to make sure that we’re building on the relationship that people have with each other, as well as the relationships people have with plants.”
Friends of Allan Gardens employs a savvy business model that sees funds raised through plant sales and farmers markets used to pay for its artistic ventures in the park, like concerts and free children’s activities. Much of the effort, both in growing plants and facilitating events, is run by the over 200 volunteers engaged at Allan Gardens.
“The volunteers are such the backbone of the organization. We couldn't do what we do without them,” said Xiao