By Jenn Reid
The August Civic Holiday is just what the summer needed: a long weekend between Canada Day and Labour Day with a chance to take off work and soak up the sun. While many people may be cottage-bound, they’ll be missing all the fun and excitement Toronto has to offer over the long weekend! Slap on some sunscreen and check out these fun events. [Photo credit: by Eric Parker, courtesy of Caribana]
Toronto Caribbean Carnival
It’s Caribana all weekend! The Grand Parade takes place on Saturday with all the colourful costumes and danceable tunes you could imagine, but the fun doesn’t stop there. On Sunday and Monday, check out the Carnival Night Market at David Pecaut Square for Creole, Spanish and Jamaican music and, of course, delicious food.
Toronto Food Truck Festival
What better way to spend the long weekend than stuffing your face? Woodbine Park will be full of food trucks over the long weekend, with BeaverTails, Fidel Gastro’s, Buster’s Sea Cove, FeasTO and other local favourites serving up delicious eats. There’s also live music on site all weekend, so bring a blanket or some folding chairs and enjoy a picnic in the park!
OVO Fest
Drake’s annual music festival is back this year with a solid lineup: Roy Woods, Majid Jordan, dvsn and Partnynextdoor are all scheduled to perform alongside Drake himself and, as always, a slew of surprise guests. Drake has brought out Rihanna, Kanye West, ASAP Rocky, The Weeknd, Diddy and more in past years, so there’s no way of knowing exactly who you’ll get to see on the main stage this year.
Rogers Cup
Missed Wimbledon? Well, you can check out Women’s Singles winner Garbiñe Muguruza at the Rogers Cup in Toronto! The tennis event will have the top women’s players in the world compete (the men will be playing in Montreal), including Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Eugenie Bouchard and more.
Summerworks
Summerworks is one of the most eclectic festivals in Toronto. The performing arts fest has dance, theatre, music and spoken word events to check out. The multidisciplinary event is juried and curated, so you’re seeing some of the best theatrical works from across Canada and the world this summer. There’s plenty of choice, so check out the schedule and find a performance that works for you. Bonus: tickets now include a Pay What You Can option.
Electric Island
Electric Island takes over the Toronto Island every long weekend in the summer, offering up a crazy party with electronic music. The August performance features KiNK, Nina Kraviz, Deetron, Jackmaster and more. Unfortunately, due to the weather, the island’s been off limits for most of the summer and the fun has moved to Woodbine Park. Organizers are hoping for Hanlan’s Point on the Civic Holiday Monday, but be prepared for a venue change.
Blue Whale at the ROM
If you haven’t made it to the ROM yet to check out the Blue Whale exhibit, now’s your chance. Out of Depths: The Blue Whale Story tells the story of a blue whale that washed ashore in Newfoundland and how Canadian scientists were able to take the tragedy and turn it into a research opportunity. The exhibit runs until September 4, so catch it while you can!
Blindfolded Walking Tour
There are a lot of different walking tours in the city, but none quite like this. Artist Jonathan Silver leads groups about notable downtown locations with one catch: you’re blindfolded the whole time. The point of the exercise is to use your other senses and identify how Toronto feels and smells (hopefully good), and get a tiny glimpse into what it’s like to navigate the city without sight. Don’t worry, once the blindfold is removed you will retrace your footsteps back through the walk and see what you were sensing the whole time.
Veld Festival
Veld is good option if you want to spend your weekend outside listening to EDM and hip-hop with a couple thousand of your closest friends. This year’s lineup includes Future, Tiesto, Major Lazer, Migos and Tory Lane.
WWE Raw
Wrestling fans, instead of spending your Monday night at home watching Raw, why not head down to the ACC and watch it live? Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Brey Wyatt, Samoa Joe and more will be in the ring, battling towards a belt.
Georgia O’Keefe at the AGO
The AGO is open on a Monday for once! Stop in and check out the gorgeous Georgia O’Keefe exhibit, which has more than 80 works from the iconic artist’s career. O’Keefe’s nature paintings and still life works are paired with complimentary paintings from her peers - Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz.
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