Founded in 2014 as a one-time contemporary art event tied to World Pride in Toronto, the Collective produced the first NUIT ROSE Festival of Queer Art and Performance. Loosely modeled on the City’s annual Nuit Blanche event, the first Nuit Rose was a free one-night festival of contemporary queer art, organized through an open call for submissions reviewed by a jury of evaluators. Nuit Rose organized the exhibitions and performances and promoted the event to a wide audience. The selected featured artists and jurors all received payment for their participation.

Following its initial success, the event became an annual event held in two zones of downtown Toronto, the Church-Wellesley Village (Toronto’s main LGBTQ+ neighbourhood) and the West Queen West neighbourhood, as part of the City’s annual Pride Month. Numerous community organizations and venues have participated in multiple years, notably The 519 Community Centre, Pride Toronto, Artscape Youngplace, and the Gladstone Hotel, among others.

Highlights of Nuit Rose include curated themed group exhibitions, public performances, the Art Bus, and the beloved Light Parade. The festival has grown to encompass several days and created a social hub in the pop-up Art Bar. Nuit Rose also created an award for best art project in each zone. The Throbbing Rose Collective is grateful to have received financial support from the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Community One Foundation, corporate sponsors, and our partner venues.