The second annual festival features the latest creative endeavors from the worlds of dance, music, film, literature, visual arts and theatre from June 6-15, 2008.

Following a sold-out New York run, the critically acclaimed war drama from the National Theatre of Scotland, Black Watch, will make its Canadian premiere during the ten-day festival. Also set is director Tim Supple's multi-language production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that incorporates a cast of South Asian dancers, acrobats, musicians, martial arts experts and actors.

Award-winning performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson will present the Canadian premiere of Homeland, which "questions the current fears of Americans, their obsession with security and their increasing loneliness and loss of freedom."

Musician and painter Joni Mitchell has teamed with the Alberta Ballet to create The Fiddle and the Drum, a new dance piece incorporating her paintings and music with ballet to explore themes from the environment to world conflict.

A 40th anniversary reading of George Ryga's drama The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, one of the first Canadian plays to address issues relating to Aboriginal people, is also slated for presentation. World premieres including David S. Craig's puppetry piece Rocket and the Queen of Dreams; Kevin Loring's Where the Blood Mixes; Marjorie Chan and Abigail Richardson opera-dance work Sanctuary Song; and a trilogy of new multimedia opera works from Mikel Rouse, including Failing Kansas, Dennis Cleveland and End of Cinematics, are slated for production. The Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet will present Nunavut, collaborating with Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Hurdy-Gurdy for its world premiere.

For a complete schedule and ticket information for the Luminato Festival, visit www.luminato.com.