Toronto is great for those students looking to whet their artistic palette without breaking the bank. I’ve been checking out some places that offer free admission for students who present their valid Student ID and with the hot weather coming, it’s a free alternative to cool down and learn something at the same time.

The ROM or Royal Ontario Museum is free every Wednesday from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Some specially ticketed exhibitions might require additional admission so check their website for details.

I’m personally not the biggest fan of the Crystal appendage attached to the more classic architecture and most people I know have voiced similar disdain, but I have to say the inside is nicely organized and pretty accessible. It flows well, which is what I found the earlier incarnation of the museum did not do. You should check out the Darwin Exhibit, which pretty much shows the justification for the theory of humans having evolved and Darwin’s research that led him to many of his theories. The man’s life was quite interesting as are all the cool skeletons and samples of a variety of insects, mammals and reptiles.

If you’re like me and like to read a good book the Harbourfront Centre has Weekly Readings where if you’re a student, you can get in for free to listen to a published author read and talk about his/her book. They have a schedule up so you can see if one of your favourite authors is going to show up, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly domestic talent that is there. However, there is the Festival of Authors in October, which is a pretty international event. I’ve been there a few years ago to see William T. Volkmann read from his book at the time and there’s nothing like having a Q&A with an author you enjoy reading.

There’s also a whole myriad of live poetry, dub and plays that offer free admission over the city, but I’ll have to keep you posted on those shortly because I have to run and start work on the next video. If you have any links to fun, creative and free (or cheap) activities in your city, post away!