Toronto, here’s your weekend need to know roundup

By: Patricia D’Cunha and Amber LeBlanc

Summer may be winding down, but events in Toronto and the GTA are nowhere close to an end. They’re just changing, responding to the hint of fall in the air. The crisp and vibrant season officially arrives at 4:21 a.m. ET on Wednesday, bringing Oktoberfest festivities with it.

Keep in mind, if you are planning to take the TTC this weekend, a portion of Line 1 will be off-limits due to signal work. There are also road closures in effect.

Road closures

 

Toronto Ukrainian Festival
Bloor Street West from Jane Street to Runnymede Road will be closed from 9:30 a.m. on Friday to 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

Tour de Black Creek Bike Race for Kids
Road closures will be in effect in the Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue area from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Roncesvalles Polish Festival
Roncesvalles Avenue will be closed from Grafton Avenue to Boustead Avenue from 6 a.m. on Saturday to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

TTC vehicles will divert around the festival.

Sunnybrook Foundation – RBC Run for the Kids
Road closures will take place in the area bounded by Sheppard Avenue, Yonge Street, Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue from 4 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Events

City of Toronto splash pads
This is the last weekend for children to enjoy the city’s splash pads. And with summer making a comeback this week, they can celebrate one of summer’s last hurrahs. The splash pads, which are open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., are located in several parks and playgrounds but are unsupervised, so play safe.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Come one, come all to the city’s first, largest and longest-running outdoor art fair. The event, which is being held at Nathan Phillips Square from Friday to Sunday, features the work of over 350 artists. It runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on each day, and is expected to draw around 100,000 people.

 

Toronto Ukrainian Festival
Celebrating Ukrainian heritage in Canada, the three-day festival in Bloor West Village features music, dance, food and art. Ukrainian immigrants first arrived in Canada in 1886, and its capital Kyiv was designated Toronto’s twin city in 1995. The Toronto Ukrainian Festival was founded soon after, now viewed as North America’s largest Ukrainian street festival.

 

Toronto Oktoberfest
Inspired by the annual tradition in Munich that started 200 years, the waterfront party is dubbed Toronto’s only “authentic” Oktoberfest celebration. Revellers can dance the polka and taste the best in German and European ‘bier’ and food. The fanfare takes place in a 30,000 square-foot Festhalle-style tent in the Ontario Place parking lot on Friday and Saturday. Click here for admission rates.

Toronto Garlic Festival
This is the only place you won’t be ridiculed for your pungent garlic breath. Ontario farmers selling garlic bulbs and chefs cooking with its cloves will be at the Sunday event, being held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Artscape Wychwood Barns. Admission is $5, and yes, there is a garlic breath contest.

 

Rally for Kids
A big charity event this weekend in support of the Hospital for Sick Children is drawing a number of celebrities including Billy Baldwin, John Salley, Rick Fox and Mira Sorvino. It’s the 8th annual Rally for Kids with Cancer Scavenger Cup. The two-day event on Friday and Saturday is described as a “high-end scavenger hunt meets the Amazing Race,” and all funds raised go towards fighting children’s cancers.

Toronto Urban Roots Festival
Dozens of bands converge on Toronto for the festival taking place at the Fort York Garrison Common National Historic Site until Monday. Among the acts: UB40, Pixies, Wilco, Cake, Neko Case, Ron Sexsmith and The Sadies. Click here for ticket information.

 

Island Girl Half Marathon and 5K
Get your run on! In a fun-filled race taking place on the Toronto Island on Sunday, participants are promised a “tropical twist” on either a 5K or half-marathon. Those who complete the race will be greeted with steel drums, grass skirts and tropical fruit, on a completely traffic-free and flat course.

Tour de Mississauga
Around 4,000 cyclists will take to the streets of Mississauga on Sunday for the 8th annual Tour de Mississauga. New this year, participants will get to cycle along the vehicle-free Mississauga Transitway in distances of 15km, 30km, 60km, and 100km, leaving from and returning to Celebration Square.

Big music weekend in Toronto
Among the concerts: Ed Sheeran at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday, Riot Fest featuring Motorhead, Weezer and Wu-Tang Clan at Downsview Park on Saturday and Sunday, and Germany’s best-known hair metal band, Scorpions, rock the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre on Friday.

 

TTC closure

Line 1 service

 

Subways won’t be running between Bloor-Yonge and Lawrence stations on Line 1 (Yonge-University) on Saturday and Sunday due to signal work. Regular subway service resumes at 6 a.m. on Monday.

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