Hush Hush Halloween Party 2015 – Toronto Public Library

It was a screamer in the stacks at Toronto Public Library’s Bloor/Gladstone branch! Librarians all turned into zombies on Halloween night for the Hush Hush Party 2015!

The annual event is a fundraiser hosted by New Collection, Toronto Public Library Foundation’s young patrons group, to benefit the Toronto Public Library Foundation.

Each year, the event transforms Toronto Public Library’s Bloor/Gladstone location into an after-hour party. Since the inaugural Hush Hush Party held in 2013, the fundraiser has become one of the annual must-attend parties for culturally connected young professionals in Toronto, possibly due to its creativity and young vibe.

In only three years, Hush Hush Party has already raised over $180,000 for the Toronto Public Library. Hush Hush 2015’s main sponsors include TD and Delaney Capital Management.

(scroll to the bottom for full gallery)

Hosted in a 102-year-old library, Halloween was the perfect theme for this year’s Hush Hush. We weren’t sure if the ghastly ghosts we saw were the guests in costumes or the actual spirits that reside in the library.
In any case, we did not want the zombie librarians to eat us alive, so we had our ghoulish makeup and scar faces painted by makeup artists from Seneca College, who were on site to save the humans.

Spirits don’t eat, humans do. After looking like a zombie, we headed to the food stations to enjoy some savoury pumpkin tart with duck breast prepared by Citizen Catering’s executive chef Chris Brown, some pumpkin gnocchi served by Fidel Gastro’s head chef and founder, Matt Basile, and some oysters shucked by world oyster shucking champion, Patrick McMurray.

savoury pumpkin tart with duck breast by Citizen

pumpkin gnocchi

world oyster shucking champion, Patrick McMurray

I guess ghosts worry about their afterlives because tons were lining up to see the fortunetellers. We believe in making our own future, so we stayed at the bar for some Vampire Kiss, Brain Hemorrhage and Smoking Skulls instead.

Proceeds from Hush Hush Party 2015 go to the Toronto Public Library’s Young Voices program, which supports and encourages Toronto’s young talents by connecting aspiring artists and writers to experts for potential career paths.

More about New Collection
Toronto Public Library Foundation’s young patron group, New Collection connects culturally curious Torontonians between the ages of 19 and 45 with prominent artists, writers, and intellectuals.

More about Toronto Public Library Foundation
Established in 1997, the Toronto Public Library Foundation is a charity organization that supports the Toronto Public Library. The Toronto Public Library Foundation raises funds to create better programs, spaces, services and collections that government funding alone cannot provide. Since inception, the Toronto Public Library Foundation has successfully raised $69 million for the Toronto Public Library.

More about the Toronto Public Library
There are 18.5 million visits and 32 million items borrowed each year at the Toronto Public Library, making it one of the busiest urban public library in the world. The Toronto Public Library has 100 branches across the city and carries over 10 million books, films and other items.

savoury pumpkin tart with duck breast by Citizen

savoury pumpkin tart with duck breast by Citizen

pumpkin gnocchi

world oyster shucking champion, Patrick McMurray

(photos by Tanya)

Hush Hush Halloween Party 2015 – Toronto Public Library Bloor/Gladstone Branch