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We’ve always known Toronto is one of the best cities in the world for having a good time.
But it wasn’t until we completed this list that we realized, damn, there truly is nowhere else on the planet we’d rather be spending the next 12 months.
From celebrations of food to music, art, theatre, history, culture, nature, and everything in between, here are 101 events in Toronto you have to check out in 2017.
January
Winterlicious
What: Toronto’s winter culinary celebration offers the perfect opportunity to discover delicious cuisine at more than 220 restaurants and experience unique culinary events.
When: January 27 to February 9
Where: Restaurants throughout the city.
Toronto Offsite Design Festival
What: The Toronto Design Offsite Festival (TO DO) is Canada’s largest cultural celebration of design with over 100 exhibitions and events forming Toronto’s design week.
When: January 16 to 27
Where: 1214 Queen Street West
Chinese New Year
What: Celebrate the biggest day of the Chinese calendar.
When: January 28
Where: Wherever the best dim sum is.
Toronto Light Fest
What: Discover lighting creations of every size and type. View installations appearing to float in the sky. Experience magical light sculptures, breath taking light canopies, neon artworks & futuristic laser formations.
When: January 27 to March 19
Where: Distillery District
February
Kuumba (Black History Month celebration)
What: For over 20 years, Harbourfront Centre’s Kuumba has sparked discourse and conversation around current and historical debates within the African-Canadian community.
When: February 3 to 11
Where: 235 Queens Quay West
Wavelength Music Festival
What: A live curated mixtape of the best NEW independent music coming out of Canada
When: February 12 to 14
Where: The Garrison, 1197 Dundas Street West
Contact Photography Festival
What: From enduring practices to new forms of expression, the Festival showcases a diverse range of photo-based works by Canadian and international artists.
When: February 9
Where: 80 Spadina Avenue
Bloor-Yorkville Icefest
What: Professional ice carvers face off in the 17th Annual Sassafraz Ice Carving Competition.
When: February 25 and 26
Where: Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood
Roundhouse Winter Craft Beer Fest
What: Steam Whistle will have a simulated curling rink, fire pits, local food trucks, ice carving, their legendary après ski dance party and surprises around every snow bank.
When: February 11
Where: 255 Bremner Blvd
Canadian International Auto Show
What: Experience the Total Automotive Experience with over 600,000 square feet of dazzling displays, big prize giveaways and engaging exhibits.
When: February 17 to 26
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre
March
Toronto’s Birthday
What: Toronto turns 183 years old.
When: March 5 and 6
Where: Events throughout the city
Georgia O’Keeffe at AGO
What: A major retrospective of pioneering American painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), featuring over 100 works of art by one the 20th century’s most successful and influential modernists.
When: April 22 to July 30
Where: 317 Dundas Street West
Toronto Women’s Fashion Week
What: Not even a year after being cancelled, fashion week is back in Toronto.
When: March 9 to 14
Where: TBA
Toronto Men’s Fashion Week
What: A celebration of the best in menswear design showcasing established and pioneering Canadian menswear designers and brands.
When: March 3 to 8
Where: Maple Leaf Gardens
Food and Drink Market
What: Eat, drink, learn & shop for three delicious days.
When: March 31 to April 2
Where: 650 Dixon Road
Toronto FC Home Opener
What: Just a few months after a heartbreaking loss at home in the MLS Cup final, Toronto FC kicks off their 2017 season.
When: March 31
Where: BMO Field
Yayoi Kusama at the AGO
What: #InfiniteKusama marks the first North American tour in 20 years for the celebrated Japanese artist.
When: March 3 to May 27
Where: 317 Dundas Street West
One of a Kind Show
What: A juried marketplace to bring together makers and buyers who share a commitment to handmade excellence.
When: March 29 to April 2
Where: Exhibition Place
ComiCon
What: One of the world’s biggest showcases of everything comics and fantasy.
When: March 17 to 19
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre
April
International Pillow Fight Day
What: Join hundreds of fellow compatriots in the world’s largest celebration of pillow fighting.
When: April 1
Where: Details to come January 15th.
Hot Docs film festival
What: Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, offers an outstanding selection of over 200 films from Canada and around the world to Toronto audiences of more than 200,000.
When: April 27 to May 7
Where: Various locations
National Canada Film Day
What: National Canadian Film Day is REEL CANADA’s annual day-long celebration of Canadian film, through screenings, events, panel discussions, and conversations (both on and offline) across the country.
When: April 19
Where: Anywhere. Participate by watching a great Canadian film.
Images Festival
What: Images Festival is the largest festival in North America for experimental and independent moving image culture, showcasing the innovative edge of international contemporary media art both on and off the screen.
When: Early April
Where: Various locations across Toronto
Free entry to Canada’s National Parks and Historic Sites
What: Parks Canada is giving Canadians the gift of FREE admission to its National Parks, National Marine Conservation Areas and National Historic Sites all year long. We’ve done the math so you can see how far they are from Toronto.
When: All year
Where: Nationwide
Canadian Music Week
What: One of the premier entertainment events in North America. The festival spans 10 nights of performances, with 1000 showcasing artists.
When: April 18 to 22
Where: Various venues
Toronto Raptors Playoffs
What: Canada’s lone NBA franchise will once again set their sights on the NBA finals.
When: Start mid-April
Where: Air Canada Centre
Toronto Blue Jays Home Opener
What: The Toronto Blue Jays play their first home game of the 2017 season against the Milwaukee Brewers.
When: April 12th
Where: Rogers Centre
May
High Park Cherry Blossoms
What: Take in one of Toronto’s most spectacular natural wonders.
When: End of April and into May
Where: 1873 Bloor St West
Electric Island
What: A summer series that celebrates the underground sound by bringing house and techno talent to Canada.
When: May to September
Where: Toronto Island
Cinco de Mayo
What: Celebrate one of the biggest days in Mexico’s calendar.
When: May 5
Where: Events throughout the city
My City My Six
What: Each year, Cultural Hotspot shines spotlight on Toronto’s culturally diverse neighbourhoods through Signature and SPARK projects by partnering and collaborating with arts organizations and emerging artists from diverse communities.
When: May through October
Where: Throughout the city
OCAD Graduate Exhibit
What: The university will throw open its doors, inviting the community to see works by the creative minds of OCAD U’s graduating class.
When: After the school year
Where: 100 McCaul Street
Vintage Crawl
What: Vintage Crawl Toronto happens twice a year, each spring and fall, and helps connect shoppers to the stores and small business.
When: April and October (usually)
Where: Vintages stores throughout Toronto
Free Comic Book Day
What: Visit your local comic book shop on this day for FREE COMICS.
When: May 6
Where: Comic book shops around the city
Toronto Kpop Con
What: A place to meet new friends and join one of the most exciting communities of music lovers anywhere.
When: May 12 to 14
Where: 255 Front Street West
Doors Open
What: Free and rare access to more than 130 architecturally, historically, culturally and socially significant buildings across the city.
When: May 27 and 28
Where: Venues throughout the city
Anime North
What: Anime convention that celebrates anime, manga, music, games and all other forms of Japanese culture.
When: May 26 to 28
Where: 655 Dixon Road
Inside Out
What: For more than two decades, Inside Out has brought Toronto’s LGBT community together in celebration of the best queer film from Canada and around the world.
When: May/June
Where: TBA
Woofstock
What: North America’s largest festival for dogs
When: TBA
Where: Woodbine Park, 1695 Queen Street East
June
Bestival
What: A two-day wonderland of music & arts.
When: Dates TBA
Where: Woodbine Park, 1695 Queen Street East
Taste of Toronto
What: Taste of Toronto showcases the true flavours of the local food scene. Enjoy signature dishes from the city’s finest restaurants, learn tricks of the trade from world-class chefs, and sample gourmet food and drinks, all in one place.
When: June 15 to 18
Where: 100 Garrison Road
The Stop Night Market
What: A feast for the eyes, belly, and heart. This annual fundraising event brings together creatives from Toronto’s culinary, design, performance, and graphic arts sectors, celebrating diversity, community, and the power of food.
When: Date TBA
Where: 158 Sterling Road
Gatsby Garden Party
What: Step back in time at Spadina Museum’s Gatsby Garden Party. Enjoy live music, learn how to dance 1920s-style and try a game of croquet.
When: Date TBA
Where: 285 Spadina Road
Free Outdoor Movies
What: Grab your blankets, snacks, and bikes (& boats), and get ready for outdoor movie season.
When: June through September
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay West
World Naked Bike Ride
What: Take your clothes off and ride a bike – easy.
When: Date TBA
Where: Throughout the city
Luminato Festival
What: Luminato is one of the preeminent arts festivals in North America, having commissioned close to 100 new works of art, with more than 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists from over 40 countries.
When: Date TBA
Where: Throughout the city
Field Trip Music Festival
What: Field Trip is about so much more than just a great, world-class music. Food, art, comedy, family, fashion and technology are among the many inspirations and each year’s edition.
When: Date TBA
Where: 100 Garrison Road
Mac and Cheese Festival
What: Toronto’s hottest chefs, savvy cooks and food entrepreneurs, competing to win your heart with the city’s best mac and cheese.
When: Sometime in June
Where: Ontario Place
Boobyball
What: Rethink Breast Cancer’s annual fundraising event – a must-attend.
When: TBA
Where: TBA
PRIDE
What: One of the world’s biggest celebrations of the diversity of the LGBT community.
When: Late June/Early July
Where: Church-Wellesley Village
NXNE
What: The festival’s main draw is live music, but it also includes a film festival, a comedy festival, art components, video game activities, and a digital interactive media conference.
When: June 16 to 25
Where: Throughout the city
Jazz Fest
What: The TD Toronto Jazz Festival delivers the sounds of the world’s greatest jazz musicians from the quaint and most intimate of venues to the large concert halls.
When: June 23 to July 2
Where: Various venues
Sake Festival
What: The largest sake event in Canada, Kampai Toronto will showcase over 150 sakes from Japan & North America this year paired with a myriad of appetizers from top Toronto restaurants.
When: TBA
Where: Distillery District
See also
- 16 music festivals every Torontonian should go to in 2017
- Everything you need to know about Toronto's free 45-day light festival
- This massive (and free) winter festival is a must-visit next month
July
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
What: The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is Canada’s largest, longest running juried contemporary outdoor art fair.
When: July 14 to 16
Where: 401 Richmond Street West
Fringe Festival
What: The Toronto Fringe is part of the “Fringe movement” – a worldwide network of indie theatre festivals. As the name suggests, the movement is about celebrating under-represented voices and those on the margins of the performing arts world.
When: July 5 to 16
Where: More than 30 venues throughout the city
Digital Dreams
What: Set on the shoreline of Toronto with one of North America’s most iconic skylines in the background, Bud Light Digital Dreams Music Festival and the Flats at Ontario Place offer party goers a sophisticated festival experience, unlike any other in the Canadian music landscape.
When: TBA
Where: Ontario Place
Canada turns 150
What: You only turn 150 once. Make it count.
When: All year long
Where: Everywhere
Junction Night Market
What: An evening of fabulous local food, craft beer, cider and wine in the Junction.
When: TBA
Where: Pacific Avenue, just north Dundas Street West
Salsa in Toronto
What: One of the largest Latino-themed cultural celebrations in Canada, the TD Salsa in Toronto Festival spans a three-week period and culminates in Salsa on St. Clair, a two-day street fest.
When: July 3 to 23
Where: St. Clair Avenue
Festival of Beer
What: Toronto’s Festival of Beer celebrates Canada’s rich brewing history by featuring more than 120 brands around the world and many Ontario craft brewers.
When: July 28 to July 30
Where: Exhibition Place
Honda Indy
What: A week-long festival-like atmosphere that includes the world’s fastest racing series, celebrity athletes, live entertainment and interactive activities.
When: July 14 to 16
Where: Exhibition Place
August
Crazy Food at the CNE
What: Last year was insane – and you know they’ll up their game again.
When: August 18 to September 7
Where: 210 Princes’ Boulevard
Sail-in Cinema
What: The world’s first two-sided floating movie experience of its kind.
When: Date TBA
Where: Sugar Beach, 25 Dockside Drive, Corus Quay Drive
Summerworks Performance Festival
What: SummerWorks is Canada’s largest curated performance festival of theatre, dance, music, and live art.
When: August 3 to 13
Where: Various venues
TIFF
What: One of the world’s premier festivals of film and always a top draw for international celebrities.
When: September 7 to 17
Where: Various venues
ShakesBeer
What: Productions so interactive and visceral that Mercutio will jump on a patron’s table, take a swig of his beer, and convince Romeo to join the party; moments so intimate that an uproarious audience holds its breath to hear Hamlet whisper a soliloquy.
When: Date TBA
Where: Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street
Taste of the Danforth
What: Canada’s largest street Festival, welcoming approximately 1.65 million attendees annually.
When: TBA
Where: All along Danforth Avenue
Rogers Cup
What: Canada’s premier annual tournament, featuring some of the biggest names in the game.
When: August 5 to 13
Where: 1 Shoreham Drive
Veld Music Festival
What: Canada’s largest electronic music festival returns for it’s 6th year.
When: August 5 and 6
Where: 35 Carl Hall Road
Caribana
What: An exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, and revelry.
When: August 3 to August 7
Where: Harbourfront
OVO Fest
What: Drake’s OVO Fest is the biggest event during Caribana weekend.
When: TBA
Where: TBA
Fan Expo
What: The largest Comics, Sci-fi, Horror, Anime, and Gaming event in Canada and the 3rd largest Pop Culture event in North America.
When: August 31 to September 3
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre
September
Hot & Spicy Food Fest
What: The fest explores diverse hot food experiences, with cuisine from around the world. International and local chefs, farmers and artists reflect on how they fit into the global scene.
When: September 1 to 4
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
Vegetarian Food Fest
What: Inspiring people to choose a healthier, greener, more compassionate lifestyle through plant-based eating.
When: September 8 to 10
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
Nuit Blanche
What: For one sleepless night, from sunset to sunrise, the familiar is discarded and Toronto is transformed into an artistic playground for a series of exhilarating contemporary art experiences in unexpected public spaces.
When: September 30
Where: Throughout the city
Oktoberfest
What: Join 5,000 others dressed in dirndls and lederhosen at Toronto’s largest Oktoberfest, celebrating Bavarian heritage with food, beer, music, and a fun fair modelled after the original Munich event.
When: End of September
Where: 955 Lake Shore Boulevard West
Expo for Design, Innovation and Technology
What: Guest-curated by contemporary cultural leaders, these exhibitions will provide an “edit” of the most inspiring design, innovation and technology solutions to real-world problems: adequate housing, nutrition, healthcare, and education for all.
When: September 28 to October 8
Where: 21 Don Roadway
Invictus Games
What: The Invictus Games will use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding of and respect for those who serve their country, and their loved ones.
When: September 23 to 30
Where: Various venues
Just for Laughs 43
What: The most hilarious, riveting and relevant comedy acts we could find over a 10-day period.
When: September 21 to 30
Where: Various venues
Guillermo del Toro at the AGO
What: The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will present the only Canadian appearance of a new exhibition that offers a rare glimpse into the creative process of famed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
When: September 30 to January 7
Where: 317 Dundas Street West
Food Truck Fest
What: Eat like a Foodstar for one fun filled day as you experience Ontario’s best food truck creations.
When: TBA
Where: Downsview Park
Soupalicious
What:
With the bounty of Ontario’s fresh harvest and the talents of local chefs, the creation of soups is the perfect opportunity to showcase Ontario’s culinary, agricultural, environmental and social connections in a fun and tasty way.
When: September 24
Where: Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street
Word on the Street Festival
What: Participate in hundreds of author events, presentations and workshops, and to browse a marketplace that boasts the best selection of Canadian books and magazines you’ll find anywhere.
When: September 24
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay West
Buskerfest
What: Toronto’s wildly successful international street performer festival – a showcase for hundreds of the most spectacular street performers on earth.
When: September 1 to 4
Where: Woodbine Park, 1695 Queen Street East
October
Reelworld Film Fest
What: Now in its 16th year, the Reelworld Film Festival is dedicated to harnessing the power of film as a force for social good.
When: October 11 to 15
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
TEDxTO
What: TEDxToronto is Canada’s largest TEDx event, a platform for exceptional ideas, and a catalyst for profound change.
When: TBA
Where: TBA
Everything to Do With Sex Show
What: North America’s biggest consumer romance show.
When: TBA
Where: 100 Princes’ Boulevard
Cask Days
What: A family run cask-conditioned craft beer festival in founded by barVolo in 2005.
When: Third weekend of October
Where: Evergreen Brick Works, 50 Bayview Avenue #300
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
What: The world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content.
When: TBA
Where: TBA
Food Truck Fest
What: Eat like a Foodstar for one fun filled day as you experience Ontario’s best food truck creations.
When: TBA
Where: Downsview Park
Poutine Eating Championship
What: The world’s largest Poutine eating competition and the second largest professional eating competition in the world.
When: TBA
Where: TBA
Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival
What: The annual Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival features a stellar line-up of celebrated Canadian talent at landmark Toronto venues.
When: TBA
Where: Theatre District
November
Movember
What: You know the drill: grow a ‘mo for a great cause.
When: All month
Where: Everywhere
Gourmet Food and Wine Expo
What: Each year the Expo offers 45,000 guests an unparalleled opportunity to sample over 1,500 fine wines, spirits and beers from around the globe.
When: TBA
Where: 222 Bremner Boulevard
Royal Winter Fair
What: Celebrate the best in agriculture, local food, and equestrian competitions from across the country.
When: November 3 to 12
Where: Exhibition Place
Cavalcade of Lights
What: This festive event, a Toronto holiday tradition for nearly 50 years, features the illumination of Toronto’s official Christmas tree, performances by some of Canada’s top musical talent, a brilliant fireworks show and a DJ skating party at Nathan Phillips Square.
When: TBA
Where: Nathan Phillips Square
Santa Claus Parada
What: More than 25 animated floats with themes ranging from Harry Potter to Hockey Night in Canada.
When: TBA
Where: Downtown
Hockey Hall of Fame Inductions Weekend and Legends Classic
What: The legends of hockey gather for a weekend full of tributes and fan events dedicated to Canada’s game.
When: TBA
Where: 30 Yonge Street
December
Solaris Music Festival
What: Some of the biggest names in electronic music perform at Rebel.
When: End of December
Where: 11 Polson Street
Bit Bazaar
What: A video game arts and crafts market + zine fair that happens a few times a year.
When: Various dates throughout the year.
Where: 50 Carlton Street
York-University Subway line completion
What: More subway stops!
When: End of 2017
Where: From Downsview to Vaughan Corporate Centre