Long Winter is back, in case you haven't heard it from like, one of the bazillion excited Toronto indie fans who basically only have the Long Winter concerts and Christmas socks to look forward to until Neutral Milk Hotel in January (after which there is nothing to live for). Long Winter was ablaze with buzz last year as the Fucked Up curated/invented/branded dealie mixed bands, art installations, food and more at The Great Hall, where temperatures are always womb-hot no matter how much ice and snow deign to cover this great metropolis. Because sweaty, carnivalesque, what-is-even-happening type shows don't come along too often in this condo-y, PR-email-y city, this thing is going to be packed. Jammed.

So what's up with Long Winter? Well it's going to be another five show, season-spanning series kind of like last year, and the line up is stacked-as-a-snowperson for November 8th between music, art, film, dance, food, and... an arcade? Submissions are still open for the other shows, so definitely get your 10 year old cousin's Shaggs-esque-by-mistake Nirvana cover band to apply — they will get in! It's that kind of party. Long live baby Shaggs-ish bands.

I generally like to keep my winters mopey and existential rather than ruckus-y and fun, but here are some admittedly great things about Long Winter: it's pay what you can, it's all ages, it's community oriented, there's lots to do, look at, hear, taste, and even touch. So put these dates on your calendar, because you might need them more than you think. You're in for a long winter.

Long Winter will run November 8; December 13; January 10; February 7; and March 7. The first Long Winter is Nov. 8 at The Great Hall and features (deep breath): King Cobb Steelie, Bidiniband, Ell V Gore, Ketamines, Doom Squad, Lido Pimienta, Esther Grey, Cellphone, Wake Island, Basil AlZeri, Andrew Stewart, Ben Kamino, Guillaume Morissette, Emily Zimmerman, and more.

Photo by Denise McMullin