There are always an unbelievable amount of events happening around town, and these events only seem to be coming up with greater frequency than ever. I will endeavour to maintain a list of events that I’m excited about, since twitter blasts are often missed or lost. If you have an event you’d like to publicize, please contact me directly. I am very happy to publicize and attend free events, but cannot guarantee that I will post events that involve admission fees or tickets (but I will respond to you!).
Admission: $15 in advance, $22 at door (HST incl) for 10 soup samples.
The Taste of Lawrence Festival has attracted huge crowds the past 2-3 years, being the first major street-closure food festival of the summer (aside from Kensington Pedestrian Sundays). It often serves as a trial run for many vendors who will be attending other festivals in the summer — when they show up at the Night Market events, you’ll be able to say you saw them here first. There is an eclectic mix of food, past years featuring murtabak (Indonesian stuffed pancake stretched & tossed to order), shaved flavoured ice from Cha.me.Cha, jerk chicken, along with crowd favourites like tornado fries. Notable gem Diana Seafood is located on this stretch of Lawrence.
Beer/Food tickets ($5 each) will be sold on site.
Friday nights at Mel Lastman Square plays host to the Cultura Festival, featuring live music and food vendors. I haven’t seen this year’s food line-up yet, but murtabak vendor Malaysian Kitchen was a regular in past years.
Last year’s trip to the Distillery Christmas Market was a wonderful evening of lights and aromas, with outstanding Belgian Waffles from Le Petit Dejeuner, and melt-in-your-mouth deep fried apple slices from the Apple Fritter Factory (they also have deep fried Mars bars, which I found far too sweet). I also ducked in to the Ontario Sake Brewery for a tasting flight — and if you’re not afraid of the cold, their soy bean ice cream is pretty good too. Don’t forget to wear your Santa’s hats and reindeer antlers!
After hosting a two-day event last year at $10 admission, it sounds like the folks behind the Toronto Garlic Festival have taken a lot of the crowd suggestions to heart, condensing it to a single day event this year, and dropping admission to $5.
Unfortunately, it looks like The Spice Chef won’t have my favourite item from last year, the ridiculously good Salted Caramel Roasted Garlic Truffle. I’m also not seeing Buzy Liz on the vendor list — I nibbled and savoured on her garlic brittle and garlic fudge for a good 3 weeks, whenever I was feeling peckish for sweets.
Soup nuts, this event is an absolute -must-. I showed up at last year’s Soupalicious event, and was blown away by the quality of the soups being served. Aria was my personal favourite with a thick hearty mushroom truffle soup with creme fraishe and crostini, while Southern Accent absolutely killed it with a jambalaya gumbo and a chipotle corn chowder. Globe had a very interesting White Chocolate and Parsnip soup.
$13.50 (for advance tickets; $20 at the door) gets you 10 soup tickets. They call them “samples”, but finishing 10 soups last year was really pushing the limit. My souping buddy was only able to finish around 6 soups.
This year’s vendor list and menu are online, and include the aforementioned Aria and Southern Accent, in additional to Toronto soup king Ravi Soups.
Take a look around Wychwood Barns afterwards — a stroll around the venue uncovered a beer garden in the back, along with a community farming co-op with a greenhouse full of herbs and vegetables.
Every last Sunday of the month between May ~ October, Kensington Market blocks off all vehicular traffic, for a lively Sunday afternoon filled with musicians, games, and food. Lots and lots of food. Many of the stores and restaurants will prepare and serve food on street stalls. Great food options include buck-a-shuck oysters from the seafood store (I don’t recall the name at the moment), pupusas/tamales from Emporio Latino, Columbian deep fried plantain fritters w/ cheese at the Columbian restaurant (I really need to find out names of these places).
There’s also chalk for sidewalk/street drawing, double dutch jump roping, megasized Jenga and Scrabble, and frequent live music (KC Roberts & the Live Revolution was here last month!).
The 3rd annual Scarborough Afro-Caribbean Festival on Saturday August 23 and Sunday August 24 with support of the Heritage Skills Development Centre. The festival hours will span from 12-8 pm on the respective days. The event aims to celebrate the Afro-Caribbean culture expressed through artistic mediums and offers the community an opportunity to experience Canadian diversity. The fun filled family event will be enriched through live performances by local and international artists, visual art exhibitions, Afro-Caribbean cuisine and dance competitions for adults and children. Your children will love the Kids Zone which includes games, face painting and more! 40 vendors featuring food, crafts, local businesses, Non profit organizations will be present to showcase their products and services. Join us in celebrating our diversity at the Scarborough Afro-Caribbean Festival. This event is free for all ages!
Check this out! October 2015.
The first food film festival in Toronto, Eatable features immersive screening events that engage Toronto’s culinary stars (and upstarts) to create consumable content inspired by the films. Bringing provocative content to the screen and to the table, Eatable is about providing film audiences and diners a new way to get excited about food. This year, Eatable offers three nights of food, films, and drinks – each with its own theme, tone and taste. Eatable satiates the hungry viewer and inspires the food-obsessed mind.