Toronto is in for a sleepless Saturday night as Scotiabank's 7th annual Nuit Blanche transforms the city into a contemporary art space.

The 12-hour citywide celebration begins at 7:03 p.m. and is held to bring contemporary art to the masses while utilizing public space from sundown to sunrise.

The event, often now translated as 'Sleepless Night' around the world, is free and has more than 150 art projects — both installations and interactive — scattered within three 'zones.'

  • Zone A: mainly along King Street, west of Yonge Street and east of Spadina Avenue.
  • Zone B: Art can be found scattered northwest of the Scotiabank Information Centre, located in this zone at Yonge and Dundas Square.
  • Zone C: Mainly around King street, east of Yonge Street and west of Jarvis Street.

Food and rest

There are three designated rest stops that will feature a variety of food options. They are located on within a short distance of each other from Church Street to Queen Street to Bay Street and King Street.

Transportation

The TTC will increase service on certain bus routes and extend service all-night on the Bloor-Danforth Subway line from Keele to Woodbine and on the Yonge-University-Spadina Subway line from St. Clair West to Eglinton.

Trains will stop running from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Sunday.

First North American city involved

Nuit Blanche was created in Paris in 2002 in hopes of bringing contemporary art to the public.

In 2005 French organizers contacted the city of Toronto special events office and offered an invitation to participate in the all-night art event.

Toronto was the first North American city to adopt the event in 2006. An estimated 425,000 showed up to partake in the art festival.

Last year's Toronto Nuit Blanche an estimated turnout of one million people. Currently more than 25 cities internationally put on their own version of the 'white night.'