Fun., with Tegan and Sara
Nobody spells fun quite like band that calls itself "fun.", the high-powered indie-pop crew from New York. Its blockbuster hit of a year ago was We Are Young, an anthemic mantra that still has a few years of applicability remaining. Sharing the bill are Tegan and Sara, the sparky Canadian identical twins who are riding high on their own hit (Closer) and who are nothing if not double the fun themselves. July 6, 4 p.m. $61.75 to $113.25. Downsview Park, 35 Carl Hall Rd., 1-855-985-5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Pretty self-explanatory, this one. Within a sea of white-topped kiosks, find works of ceramic, drawing, fibre, glass, jewellery, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood – everything except masterpieces of black-light velvet. Those would be specifically indoor pieces, and we can't have that. Organizers tell us the event generates more than $2-million in art sales, which is a sunshine state of affairs any way you look at it. July 6 (10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.) and July 7 (10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.). Free. Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen St. W., torontooutdoorart.org.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
"Never thought my heart could be so yearny… gotta take that sentimental journey." A line from an American standard written in 1944, the same year that an American warplane rolled off the assembly line and took flight to the war in the Pacific. The hulking four-engined bomber Sentimental Journey, named after the dreamy Doris Day-sung hit, is on display for two more days at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Take the trip to Mount Hope to see the fully restored relic, for old time's sake if nothing else. To July 7, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 9280 Airport Rd., $8 to $12. 905-679-4183 or warplane.com.
Toronto Fringe Festival
The city's music community was abuzz recently with the visit here by Joni Mitchell, and now she is celebrated once again. Urge For Going, one of 148 shows at this year's Fringe theatre fiesta, is a puppet play inspired by the iconic Saskatchewan singer-songwriter and Laurel Canyon lady. The multidisciplinary piece explores the idea of artists inspired by the place they often must leave to succeed, at the mercy of others who manipulate them, "like puppets on strings, hanging in the sky …" To July 14. $10 (passes available). Various venues (Urge For Going, at Tarragon Theatre). 416-966-1062 or fringetoronto.com.
Mesopotamia: Inventing Our World
They did not so much rock our world as create it. An exhibition of more than 200 artifacts, some dating as far back as 3500 BC, represent the so-called "cradle of Western civilization" within in which some of your better empires centred themselves. Mesopotamians invented domesticated animals, 60-minute hours and written communication, which pretty much makes them responsible for all the e-mailing, kitty videos and clock-watching that consume our work days. $19 to $27. Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, 416-586-8000 or rom.on.ca.
Brad Wheeler