Living on a student budget can be frustrating in a big city, where there are so many shows, events, and international festivals tantalizingly nearby. Luckily, it doesn’t always take hour-long waits outside box offices or expert bargain hunting to see great performances at reasonable prices.
Stars and movie-goers alike are currently flooding the downtwon streets for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This is a great way to kick off the school year while the workload is still light. Anyone under 25 can catch a regular screening for only $18, and attend a TIFF premiere for $30. That’s even cheaper than rush tickets, and without the hassle of a line-up. Throughout the year, the TIFF Bell Lightbox continues to host screenings, so if you miss the festival, you can still catch movies there for only $10.50 all year. However, they often have exhibitions running for free.
If live performances are more your thing, the number one source for inexpensive show tickets in Toronto is HipTix. HipTix offers $5 tickets to students between 14 and 29 years of age, and encompasses a broad range of live performances. Tickets can be purchased online at their website: totix.ca. They can also be bought in person at the T.O.TIX Ticketing Outlet, which is open 12:00–6:30 pm Monday to Saturday, and located in Yonge-Dundas Square. HipTIX can be available up until 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to the start of the show, provided they don’t sell out.
It’s also a good idea to occasionally stop by the booth for other deals. Discounts are offered on various live performances, including plays, dinner theatre, music, dance, and comedy skits such as Second City. These can make for a creative date or a fun outing. Partial discounts are even available for big name musicals such as last year’s hit, Les Miserables. Upcoming HipTIX plays include William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Molière’s Tartuffe, and many more.
Many companies in Toronto also offer their own discounts year-round. The Canadian Opera Company puts on several productions throughout the year, which includes the upcoming seasons Falstaff and Madama Butterfly. They offer student tickets for between $22–$35. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra offers tickets for as little as $16 for those between the ages of 16 and 35, and the National Ballet of Canada offers rush tickets for their main season, as well as for their annual holiday hit, The Nutcracker, for $35. Standing room tickets are also available for select performances, for only $12.
Of course, you can always enjoy a stroll inside the city’s best museums, including the Textile Museum of Canada for $6, the Museum of Inuit Art for $3, and many more deals with your student I.D. The Bata Shoe museum has pay-what-you-can admission every Thursday from 5:00–8:00 pm. If that’s still out of your price range, every Tuesday, the Royal Ontario Museum is free to university students and the Art Gallery of Ontario also offers free admission every Wednesday from 6:00–8:30 pm.
