6 New Entertainment Options During Self-Isolation

Provinces and cities throughout the country are closing schools, libraries, museums, shops and gyms to encourage people to practice social distancing and self-isolation in order to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being alone at home all day is hard, though. Luckily, a number of entertainment groups are now making their programming available via streaming to keep those in self-isolation entertained (and, hopefully, calm during these incredibly anxious times).

Here are 6 new things to do while you’re in self-isolation

Watch the opera

The Metropolitan Opera in New York will be hosting “Nightly Met Opera Streams” on its official website. Every night, the Met will be streaming an encore from its Live in HD series (the streams that movie theatres show) for free. The streams will start every night at 7:30PM EDT and will remain on the site for 20 hours.

To see more information about the “Nightly Met Opera Streams” and this week’s schedule, click here.

Stream Frozen 2

Disney has made Frozen 2 available on their streaming service, Disney Plus, three months ahead of schedule. The entertainment giant announced the surprise on Friday March 13th, hoping to “provide some fun and joy during this difficult period.” The sequel to the 2013 animation hit is on Disney Plus starting March 17th in Canada.

Read along with Neil Gaiman

Author Neil Gaiman, who wrote Coraline, American Gods and Sandman has uploaded videos of him reading the entirety of two of his creepily delightful works—Coraline and The Graveyard Book. If you’re a fan of creepy, thrilling adventures, this is the perfect activity for you.

Learn a song from Arkells

Canadian favourite band Arkells are hosting “Flatten the Curve” music class on Instagram. Using the Instagram Live function, Arkells’ lead singer Max Kerman will be teaching viewers how to play their songs. Complete with sheet music and a follow-along format, this is the perfect way to pass the time and brush up on your musical skills.

Chat with your favourite author

The Quarantine Bookclub is a hub where authors are offering online chats about their work. You can join your favourite authors on Zoom, a video-chatting software, to discuss their new books. Each talk costs US$5. The line-up looks stacked, and there are more authors that’ll be added as the days go on. From Heather B. Armstrong (author of The Valedictorian of Being Dead) to YA writer Maria Ingrande Mora, there’s sure to be heated discussions and stimulating topics.

Join in a (virtual) Social Distancing Festival

Organized by Toronto-based artist Nick Green, the Social Distancing Festival is a website that hosts an up-to-date list of all the art projects that have been cancelled (and moved to an online format) due to COVID-19. The website is updated daily with different theatre, film and art events that are free to all. And, best of all, they’re streamed online, so there’s no need to go outside.