This weekend, Bloordale is going totally car-free with a pedestrian takeover by BIG on Bloor, one of Toronto’s largest street festivals complete with art installations, concerts, dancing, patios, art workshops, and other summer festivities.
Established by the Bloor Improvement Group (BIG), the BIG on Bloor Festival is celebrating their 15th anniversary with a return to an in-person celebration of the diversity of rich cultures that surrounds the Bloordale community.
The all-day festival will be brought to life in colour with murals, installations, and AR artwork exhibits by a range of local artists.
Keep an eye out also for beautifully painted doorways as a part of BIG on Bloor’s “Portals” exhibit, which invites festivalgoers to see “familiar, unseen residential entries, alleyways or back doorways through the eyes of another. No longer used primarily as mere doorways, but portals to another's perspective.”
You’ll also be able to catch some live performances at the festival’s two stages. On Emerson North, the Latin World Stage has prepared a lineup of Samba Reggae, a Brazilian Percussion Parade, and many more musicians from all over the world.
The Main Stage in front of the Bloor Collegiate Institute will also spotlight a range of musicians performing “emotive dancehall boom, supreme garage rock, experimental avant-garde,” and more, including a Bahia Brazilian Percussion Workshop on Sunday.
At the Card-Yard, grown-ups and children alike will discover hands-on fun with cardboard tubes and structures, art workshops and stations, plus a workshop on how to make your own cardboard castle. This is also where you’ll be able to listen in on the Emerging Writers Reading Series and catch the Edllusion Magic Show on Sunday.
Showing their full support for local businessowners, BIG on Bloor will also have a Youth Market for entrepreneurs under 13 to set up a booth of their own.
“We are excited to present an alternative community event that represents social distancing while celebrating community-building, local businesses and the diverse arts and culture of the area.”
Find these and many other activities—like giant billiards, Jenga, and a bowling alley—this weekend, July 16 and 17 at the BIG on Bloor Festival on Bloor St W, between Dufferin and Lansdowne. The 10-block festival is free and open to everyone both days from noon to midnight. Visit the official festival website for the complete schedule and to learn more about its history.
