Who's broadcasting the Raptors NBA Championship parade and how you can kick off Pride weekend early,
MONDAY
Toronto Raptors NBA Championship Parade
Watch this if: You want to share in the glory however you can. Not everyone can line downtown streets to watch the Raptors ride by with their Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy — a first for the team, the city and the country — but you can watch the festivities from wherever you are. Besides being broadcast live on several Rogers channels (with multilingual coverage on OMNI), the parade will be streamed live at Sportsnet.ca, Citytv.com and CityNews.ca. (Citytv, Sportsnet and OMNI at 10 a.m.) —Debra Yeo
Paris Is Burning
Watch this if: You always say yes to a big-screen extravaganza. A milestone in the history of LGBTQ cinema, this 1990 documentary by Jennie Livingston introduced viewers to New York’s ball culture of the late 1980s, a gender-bending world of extravagance and fierceness beyond measure. Madonna was quick to capitalize on the moment captured here, enlisting several of the dancers featured in Livingston’s film for her iconic “Vogue” video. Paris Is
Burning is as vivid as ever thanks to a new 4K restoration that kicks off a limited run at the Lightbox with a post-screening performance by the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance. (TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., 7:15 p.m.) —Jason Anderson
TUESDAY
Renzo Piano, an Architect for Santander
Watch this if: Docs about architecture and design make you feel stylish. A showcase of Italian cinema now running in Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton and four more cities nationwide, the Italian Contemporary Film Festival continues its generous 2019 slate with many more new movies this week, including several scintillating docs on architecture, art and design. From Spanish director Carlos Saura comes this portrait of Renzo Piano, one of Italy’s most celebrated and prolific architects. Saura’s doc portrays the creative process behind the creation and construction of the Centro Botin in Santander, Spain. The festival presents more screenings and events — including a talk by Green Book co-writer and co-producer Nick Vallelonga — until June 21. (TIFF Bell Lightbox, 6:30 p.m.) —JA
WEDNESDAY
The Merry Widow
Watch this if: You want to bid farewell to a prima ballerina. The National Ballet of Canada ends its 2018/2019 season on an uplifting note with this romantic comedy, adapted in 1975 by choreographer Ronald Hynd from Franz Lehar’s early 20th century operetta of the same name. But there’s another reason to celebrate this crowdpleasing story about a plan to keep a recently widowed noblewoman’s fortune within her own principality: The performances on June 19 and 22 will be the last by principal dancer Xiao Nan Yu, who will retire after playing titular widow Hanna Glawari. (Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W., 7:30 p.m., on until June 23) —Carly Maga
THURSDAY
Starry Night
Watch this if: You want to kick Pride weekend off early. The power and wonder of drag has officially hit the mainstream, and this year’s Pride programming is doing its part to promote local queens as well as those famous from RuPaul’s Drag Race — or both, in the case of Saturday night headliner Brooke Lynn Hytes. But don’t miss the outdoor fundraiser for The 519, featuring Drag Race Season 11 contestants Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Silky Nutmeg Ganache and A’keria Chanel Davenport, alongside Toronto favourites like Sofonda Cox, Farra N. Hyte, Allysin Chaynes, Tynomi Banks and the Spice Queens. (Barbara Hall Park, 519 Church St., 5 p.m.) —CM
FRIDAY
Indigenous Arts Festival
Watch this if: You want as much action around National Indigenous People’s Day as Canada Day. To mark National Indigenous People’s Day, the seventh annual Indigenous Arts Festival is coming to Fort York with a lineup of Indigenous musicians (like Inuit throat singer Beatrice Deer, the Anishinaabe-Métis and Inuit fusion group Quantum Tangle and singer/songwriter Amanda Rheaume), dancers (like the Toronto Métis Jiggers) and workshops. Plus a market will close out the weekend with crafts, art, jewelry and more. (Fort York National Historic Site, 250 Fort York Blvd., on until June 23) —CM
Faye Webster
Watch this to: Toss a slow-burning log on to the country-funk fire. After riding in here previously on the coattails of Australian headliners Julia Jacklin and Stella Donnelly, Webster finally gets the local spotlight all to herself. Out of Atlanta, where she’s been part of the city’s fertile hip-hop community as a collaborating voice and a photographer, she’s a bit of an anomaly, landing somewhere between Jay Som and Emmylou Harris with her Americana and ubiquitous pedal steel guitar. With a solid live band to add southern heat and humidity, she’s a good bet to fill this cosy spot with her sweet and self-deprecating ways. (Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W., doors 8 p.m.) —Chris Young
SUNDAY
Shad Presents
Watch this because: It’s a jazz festival, it’s a hip-hop show, it’s two shows in one. Cross-pollination is the theme here as multi-talented Shad, fresh off hosting the Peabody Award-winning Netflix series Hip-Hop Evolution, curates, hosts and will perform a set for this show under the TD Toronto Jazz Festival’s broad umbrella. Among his finds: DC rapper Oddisee, aided by the grooves of the Good Company band; T.O. producer Elaquent and Brooklyn’s Melanie Charles. Add gospel star Shirley Caesar’s 2:30 p.m. set and Downchild’s 50th anniversary shindig Saturday night and there’s a weekend for you, all free on the festival’s outdoor stage before the bigticket acts hit town next week. (TD Mainstage, Bloor St. W. between Avenue Rd. and St. Thomas St., 7:30 p.m., festival on until June 30) —CY
Highwire Live in Times Square With Nik Wallenda
Watch this if: You have a high tolerance for other people’s risk. I watched the live feed of Wallenda’s tightrope walk across Niagara Falls in 2012 and found it riveting. The stakes have been raised for this walk across Times Square, 1,300 feet across and 25 storeys high: Wallenda is walking with his sister, Lijana, who fell 30 feet in 2017 and broke every bone in her face. She and Nik will start at opposite ends of the wire, meet in the middle and finish on opposite sides. It’s a calculated risk for the Wallendas, to be sure, but still a risk. (Citytv at 8 p.m.) —DY