Toronto is the place to be for art enthusiasts this fall, as a number of top-tier events bring leading national and international artists to Canada’s cultural capital.

Nuit Blanche, the inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art and ArtTO, Canada’s international contemporary and modern art fair, are all on in October and all easily accessible from Hotel Victoria.

A top destination for visual and performing arts, music and film, Toronto boasts more than 125 leading galleries and museums including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as the Toronto International Film Festival held every September. Inspired by the city’s diversity and cosmopolitan character, more and more artists and creatives are choosing to make Toronto home. Support for young and emerging artists is also growing, with projects like HXOUSE at Artscape, Artscape Daniels Launchpad and the Emerging Artist’s Award of the Toronto Arts Foundation.

ArtTO, celebrating 20 years this year, is one of the most important art events in the country. Held annually at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the three-day event showcases leading Canadian and international artists and has helped cement Toronto’s reputation as a cultural hub. ArtTO 2019, from October 25 to 27, promises to be one of the best chapters in the event’s history, with representation from top galleries including Art Mûr and Galerie de Bellefeuille from Montreal and Monte Clark Gallery in Vancouver.

A benefit for the Art Gallery of Ontario, one of Canada’s pre-eminent cultural institutions, ArtTO’s opening night party brings collectors, artists and buyers together to toast the launch of the fair. Last year’s event nearly 2,500 guests and raised over half a million dollars for the gallery. ArtTO’s agenda also includes the PLATFORM series of panel discussions with leading figures in the art world, and an exclusive, invite-only VIP program. The three-day agenda allows participants to view some of the country’s leading art collections and is available only to clients of participating galleries, sponsors and partners, collectors, and museums’ and art institutions’ senior staff, curators and advisors.

Lovers of art history will also find a number of Toronto events this fall, including the much-anticipated Early Rubens exhibition at the AGO. The show, a North American debut, features some of the most ambitious works of the Flemish master including The Massacre of the Innocents and The Head of Medusa. Rubens is one of the most famous painters in Western art and a leading figure in the Baroque era. The exhibition was created in partnership with the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and is one of the most ambitious events on the AGO calendar this year. Art history talks and seminars are also held regularly at the Campbell House Museum and through the University of Toronto Art History Department and York University.

Whether your tastes lean towards the historic or the contemporary, Toronto’s thriving cultural scene and rich artistic offerings make the city a top destination.