The lights at city hall were off by sunset as Toronto prepared to join people around the in marking Earth Hour, a global movement with the goal of encouraging environmental awareness.
Toronto is one of 2,800 cities in more than 84 countries that took part in the ritual, which promotes using as little electricity as possible for the hour on Saturday between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.
Last year, both city hall and the CN Tower took part in the event, turning off their massive banks of lights. The city's power use dropped by more than 260 megawatts -- enough to power a city the size of Guelph -- during that hour.
This year, the city landmarks are in the dark once again and a massive concert was held at Nathan Phillips Square. The show started at about 7 p.m. with performances by Samba Squad, Suzie McNeil and others.
The TTC encouraged city residents to take public transit to the event and elsewhere around town during Earth Hour, and turned off all non-essential lights at TTC administrative buildings and major repair facilities.
Earth Hour originated in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Sydney was the world's first major city to ring in this year's incarnation of the event, with its municipal ferries sounding their horns as the city was plunged into darkness.
Iconic edifices such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge took part, along with thousands of homes and businesses.
Earth Hour celebrations continued every hour since, ending in Las Vegas.
