26 Toronto food events worth checking out in August
August is here and while summer might be winding down, Toronto food events are just heating up.
From open-air markets and street festivals to a food truck frenzy and ribfests, these are the food events you need to have on your radar this month.
Union Summer Market
Union Station/Facebook
The open-air market, presented by TD, launched on Canada Day and is on now until August 19 on the doorstep of Union Station. Participating food vendors include Amano Pasta, Bananza, Fugo Desserts, Harry’s Charbroiled, Mean Bao, Roywoods, The Carbon Bar, The Plant YYZ, Union Chicken, and Wvrst.
When: On now until August 19
Where: 65 Front Street West, Toronto
Toronto Food Truck Festival
Canadian Food Truck Festivals/Facebook
The massive food truck rally is presented by Canadian Food Truck Festivals and is just one stop on a summer-long tour that includes events in Burlington, Pickering, Richmond Hill, and Brampton.
When: August 3, 5 pm to 10 pm; August 4, noon to 10 pm; August 5 and 6, noon to 8 pm
Where: Woodbine Park, 1695 Queen Street East, Toronto
Price: Admission is free.
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Taste of the Middle East Food Festival 2018
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Spit-roasted shawarma, grilled halloumi, sticky baklava! Toronto’s newest food fest bills itself as a chance to sample “the 1001 flavours Middle Eastern culture has to offer.” Toronto’s inaugural Taste of the Middle East Food Festival is set to take over Yonge-Dundas square for a single day this summer.
When: August 4, 11 am to 11 pm
Where: Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto
Price: Admission is free.
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Scarborough Rib Fest
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Back for its 17th year, this east Toronto food fest is all about ribs, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and more summertime essentials. Festival-goers can look forward to an all-day beer garden, daily karaoke competition, midway rides and skill testing games.
When: August 4 to 6, 2018
Where: Thomson Memorial Park, 1005 Brimley Road, Scarborough
Toronto Taste of India Food Festival
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You can tour India with your tastebuds right here in Toronto this August. The Taste of India Food Festival bills itself as a foodie utopia featuring a thorough sampling of 100+ different Indian cuisines. The annual food fest will take place at Nathan Phillips Square for a full day of eating on August 5.
When: August 5, 10 am to 10 pm
Where: Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto
JerkFest
@jerkfestCanada/Facebook
The summer food fest is a favourite for its multi-day festivities devoted all things Jerk and in addition to devouring the Caribbean classic all day, festival-goers can partake in a Hot & Spicy Jerk Chicken-eating competition, So You Think You Can Jerk competition and Jerk Chicken seasoning workshops.
When: August 9 to 12, 2018
Where: Centennial Park, 256 Centennial Park Road, Toronto
Price: General admission from $10 online
Wings Around the World
U-Feast
Massive, juicy, crispy and superbly sauced! Real Sports’ Executive Chef Matthew Sullivan teams up with Creemore Brewery to present this evening of wing-eating that draws inspiration from around the world.
When: August 9, 2018
Where: Real Sports Bar & Grill, 15 York Street, Toronto
Price: $60
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Taste of the Danforth
Taste of the Danforth/Facebook
Among the largest street festivals in Canada, this weekend event attracts more than 1.5 million attendees each year to celebrate the Danforth’s Greek heritage along with Canada’s multiculturalism.
When: August 10 to 12, 2018
Where: The Danforth, Toronto
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Waterfront Night Market
Waterfront Night Market/Facebook
Now in its ninth year, the Pan Asian food fest and lifestyle expo is popping-up in an all-new location this year. For the first time ever the night market will take over the West Island at Ontario Place.
When: August 10 to 12, 2018
Where: Ontario Place, West Island, 955 Lake Shore Blvd. W., Toronto
Woodbridge Rib Fest
@RotaryClubOfWoodbridge/Facebook
Hosted by the Rotary Club of Woodbridge this outdoor food fest not only features BBQ but also a Kids’ Barn complete with interactive activities, storytelling, and a Mad Hatter Tea Party.
When: August 10 to 12, 2018
Where: Woodbridge Fairgrounds, 100 Porter Avenue, Vaughan,
Tapas Journey
Tapas Journey
Spotlighting Spanish flavours in Ontario, the summer-time event, now in its fourth year, offers a chance to enjoy three plates of tapas and a lager for just $20 at nearly 40 participating restaurants.
Rosé Picnic
@therosepicnic/Instagram
If rosé all-day is all you want to do this summer then this event is for you. Billed as “Canada’s largest premium picnic,” Toronto’s Rosé Picnic returns for 2018 and will turn the Stanley Barracks at Hotel X into a sea of pink for a single day.
When: August 11, 2018
Where: Stanley Barracks at Hotel X, 111 Princes’ Boulevard, Toronto
Price: Tickets from $30 to $1,500 available online.
Vegandale Food and Drink Fest
Vegandale Food Drink Festival/Facebook
The Toronto Vegan Food & Drink Festival has morphed into the Vegandale Food & Drink Fest this year. From the same folks trying to transform an entire Toronto neighbourhood into a vegan utopia of the same name, the food fest in Toronto is just one stop on a tour that will also hit Houston, Chicago, and New York in summer 2018.
When: August 11 and 12, 11 am to 7 pm
Where: Fort York, Garrison Common, 250 Fort York Boulevard, Toronto
Price: Early bird tickets on sale from $10
Sweetery Toronto Dessert Festival
@SweeteryToronto/Facebook
Summer in Toronto just got even sweeter now that this annual dessert festival is back.
Toronto’s Sweetery Food Fest is set to return to David Pecaut Square in August for a weekend filled with sugary goodness.
When: August 11, noon to 10 pm; August 12, noon to 9 pm
Where: David Pecaut Square, 55 John Street, Toronto
Roundhouse Craft Beer and Food Trucks Festival
@SteamWhistle/Facebook
Spend the day outside with beer, street foods, and friends this summer. Craft beer shares the spotlight at this food festival featuring a dozen or so food trucks along with Ontario craft breweries.
When: August 11 and 12, noon to 6 pm
Where: 255 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto
Price: $25 in advance, $30 at the door
Dîner en Blanc
Dîner en Blanc
Toronto’s top secret white party is set to pop-up once again this summer. Dîner en Blanc, the wildly popular and secretive annual event returns for its seventh year in Toronto and will see white-clad diners gather for an epic and visually stunning pop-up picnic on August 16.
When: August 16, 2018
Where: TBA
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The Burger Fest
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Taking place at Interchange Park from August 17 to 19, this family-friendly festival is promising a weekend full of burgers, beers, and live entertainment.
When: August 17 to 19, 2018
Where: Interchange Park, 1 Commerce Street, Vaughan
Price: Tickets are $10 online.
Cityfest Parc Rosé
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Rosé is totally having a moment in Toronto this summer. Toronto has already been blessed with a sea of rosy summer picnics and runs in 2018, and now you can add one more to the list. Cityfest Parc Rosé is annexing licensing a park for an afternoon devoted to day-drinking rosé this August.
When: August 18, 3 pm to 11 pm
Where: Canoe Landing Park
Price: Tickets from $30.
Festival of South Asia 2018
Jo-Anne McArthur/Village of Dreams Productions Inc.
The annual street festival is a showcase of South Asian community and culture, and among the many highlights this year, festival-goers can look forward to a Bollywood parade and pop-up museum, “Culture Alley” kid zone, sidewalk sales, beer garden, and most importantly, tasting tables hawking delicious eats spanning the gamut of kebabs, curries, and chaat, to dosa, pani puri, pakoras, and more!
When: August 18 and 19, 2018
Where: Gerrard India Bazaar, 1426 Gerrard Street East, Toronto
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Toronto Cider Festival 2018
@tociderfest/Instagram
The Toronto Cider Festival returns this August. Taking over the Sherbourne Common, the waterfront festival will bring together more than 100 kinds of cider “from the best apple growing regions across Canada.”
When: August 24 and 25, 2018
Where: Sherbourne Common, 61 Dockside Drive, Toronto
Price: Tickets from $35
TAIWANfest 2018
TFest/Facebook
The annual event celebrates, shares, and exchanges culture and heritage between communities and uses visual, musical, theatrical, and culinary arts to highlight cross-cultural values.
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto
When: Friday, August 24 to Sunday, August 26, 2018
Price: Admission is free.
CNE Food Truck Frenzy
Alex Nirta/Daily Hive
The annual CNE Food Truck Frenzy wraps up summer by bringing together nearly two dozen food trucks. Conveniently, this food fest takes place at the same time as the CNE Craft Beer Fest so you can wash down your fave curbside eats with a cold one.
When: August 25 to 27, 2018
Where: Situated on Princes’ Boulevard just inside the historic Princes’ Gates
Price: Admission to the festival is included with entry to the CNE
Pan American Food and Music Festival
Magic Vision/Panamerican Food Festival
Celebrate the cuisines and cultures of the 41 countries of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, when the Pan American Food and Music Festival returns to Toronto this August.
When: August 25 and 26 2018
Where: Yonge-Dundas Square, 1 Dundas Street East, Toronto
Price: Admission is free.
Caskapalooza
CRAFTToronto/Facebook
As if you needed another excuse to raise a glass in Toronto this summer, CRAFT Beer Market is set to host its first annual Caskapalooza event this August. Entry to this beer-lovers’ event is $10, 100% of which will benefit Dixon Hall Music School. Meanwhile, cask tasters will sell for $2 per fill and feature a selection of 20 unique casks from local breweries.
When: August 29, 4 pm to 8 pm
Where: CRAFT Beer Market, 1 Adelaide Street East, Toronto
Price: $10
Buskerfest + Mac & Cheese Fest
Mac & Cheese Festival
Mac & Cheese Fest teams up with Buskerfest to take over Woodbine Park over Labour Day weekend and promises “the best and biggest street performer festivals in the universe,” plus “50 of the cheesiest creations made by top chefs.”
When: August 31 to September 3, 2018
Where: Woodbine Park, 1695 Queen Street East, Toronto
Price: Suggested donation is $5 per person or $10 per family.
Toronto Rib, Bacon and BBQ Fest
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Hogtown is going hog wild. The Toronto Rib, Bacon and BBQ Festival is taking over Downsview Park over Labour Day weekend and is promising a massive Ribfest bolstered by the addition of vendors specializing in bacon and barbecue as well.
When: August 31, 4 pm to 11 pm; September 1, 11 am to 11 pm; September 2,
11 am to 11 pm; September 3, 11 am to 9 pm.
Where: Downsview Park, 35 Carl Hall Road, North York
Price: General admission is $5. Kids under 12 are Free
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