FriendsWithYou’s Wish Come True Festival Recap

For those of you who were in Toronto June 10-20th, we hope you had a chance to experience the magical world of FriendsWithYou’s “Wish Come True Festival”. Commissioned by the Luminato Festival of the Arts, FriendsWithYou spread their message of “Magic, Luck, and Friendship” throughout the city. Queens Park in downtown Toronto was converted into Rainbow City, a colorful alternative dimension of gigantic totems, magical mushrooms, oversize bounce houses, and inflatable characters that came to life. Appearing in Rainbow City and around Toronto was the Rainbow King, Wish Come True Festival’s very own ambassador. Rainbow King was present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Rainbow City, opened the Canadian Stock Exchange, walked the red carpet at the Prima Donna opening night, and more. A walking piece of art, the Rainbow King thoroughly enchanted all the people of Toronto to join in the magic that was stationed in many parts of the city. The Wish Come True Festival was a complete transformation of the city into a beautiful place where dreams and magic became reality!

As part of the festivities, Narwhal Art Projects presented Day Dreamers, a solo exhibition of FriendsWithYou artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III. Rarely seen fine art and sculpture pieces were on display, portraying an intimate series of portraits and magical moments that seemed to drift in and out of the artists’ personal dream worlds. Lest fine art gallery shows not be of interest, festival-goers could also visit the Magic Pony pop-up shop to take home a piece of FriendsWithYou. New Wish Come True prints, toys, and other products were available for purchase, as long as a meet and greet and signing with the FriendsWithYou founders. Comments Arturo “Turo” Sandoval III, “From the beginning, one of our main concerns was we wanted to make art that was accessible to everyone from a price point to an intellectual level.”

For more coverage on the FriendsWithYou Wish Come True Festival, visit the links below after the pictures.

Rainbow City in Queens Park, Toronto

The Rainbow King spreads love and magic throughout the park

Park-goers interact with the installations

A large inflatable bounce house held joy for all

The Day Dreamers show at Narwhal Art Projects

Rarely seen personal work by Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III were shown

Starburst is the captured moment of an exploding star. In it’s grand scale it is kinetic even without motion. He is constantly exploding and being reborn and you are there to witness it.

Secret Garden – hidden in the financial district the Secret Garden is the story of a spirit and his adventures within a secret garden. Everything is alive and has a part in the story.