11 Toronto street festivals to check out this summer
Looking to enjoy the summer in the city without breaking the bank? Here are 10 street festivals that celebrate the best music, food and culture that Toronto has to offer.
Indigenous Arts Festival
June 20 and 21 at Fort York
Snotty Nose Rez Kids will headline this year's Indigenous Arts Festival at Fort York in Toronto.
Looking for a special way to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day this year? Taking place on the two longest days of the year at Toronto's Fort York, the Indigenous Arts Festival is a free, family-friendly event featuring traditional and contemporary music, dance, food and art inspired by First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Turtle Island.
Friday's music lineup will be headlined by DJ Shub, a trail-blazing producer (and former member of A Tribe Called Red) who helped pioneer the pow-wow-step genre, while Saturday's lineup will feature a traditional pow wow and a special performance by the Indigenous rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
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See the full festival lineup here.
Toronto Jazz Festival
June 20 to 29, various locations
Legendary R&B and gospel singer Mavis Staples will headline the Toronto Jazz Festival.file photo
The 38th annual Jazz Fest will take over Toronto for 10 days, with free outdoor performances taking place throughout the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood, plus ticketed events for a diverse lineup of local and international artists performing at venues scattered across the city.
The 2025 festival will be headlined by legendary R&B and gospel singer Mavis Staples, Toronto indie-rock titans Broken Social Scene and renowned actor Jeff Goldblum, who will perform contemporary arrangements of classic jazz and American Songbook standards alongside the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.
See details and the full schedule here.
Music
Toronto Jazz Fest announces full lineup, with Mavis Staples, Jeff Goldblum and Broken Social Scene slated as headliners
Richie Assaly
Pride Toronto Festival Weekend
June 26 to 29, The Village (Church-Wellesley)
The 2024 Toronto Pride Parade.
Nick Lachance/ Toronto Star
Whether you're looking to attend the Drag Ball or Sober Oasis, join the Trans and Dyke marches or peruse the Two-Spirit artists market, Pride Toronto has something for everyone during its 2025 Festival Weekend at the end of June.
The weekend will also feature dozens of live performances from local and international acts, including Brampton rapper (and former Polaris Music Prize winner) Haviah Mighty, Toronto drag queen superstar Priyanka and American R&B/pop singer Amerie.
Find all the details and full lineup information here.
Star Interactive
Toronto Pride 2025: Your guide to parade weekend, our favourite local spots and everything else you need to know
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TD Salsa in Toronto Festival
July 5 and 6, St. Clair Avenue West, between Winona Road and Christie Street
The 21st annual TD Salsa in Toronto Festival will transform midtown Toronto into the ultimate fiesta.
Steve Russell/ Toronto Star file photo
Looking to move your hips this summer? Grab your dancing shoes and head up to St. Clair Avenue West this July to take part in 'Canada's hottest salsa party.' The two-day fiesta, now in its 21st year, features local and international musicians, authentic cuisine and all things Latino culture.
See details and performance schedule here.
Toronto Summer Music Festival
July 10 to Aug. 2, various locations
TO Summer Music, an annual classical music festival, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with over two dozen concerts bringing world musicians to the city, plus free concerts, children's programming and much more.
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This year's festival kicks off with a performance of the timeless opera 'The Coronation of Poppea,' conducted by Leonardo García-Alarcón.
Find all the details here.
Big on Bloor Festival
July 19 and 20, Bloor Street West between Dufferin and Lansdowne
Toronto Samba Reggae drummers set the beat for members of Dance Migration for their performance that ran the length of the Big on Bloor Festival in 2022.
Steve Russell/ Toronto Star file photo
Now in its 19th year, Big on Bloor will transform Bloordale Village into a car-free festival of art and culture, while showcasing the unique small businesses that make the neighbourhood one of Toronto's most vibrant.
The theme of this year's (completely free) festival is 'Bizarre,' organizers say: 'a celebration of the delightfully peculiar aspects of local culture, artistry and community life, through workshops and installations led by local BIPOC artists, presenting conversations (about) their relationship to the individual, cultural oddities and how both are necessary for a healthy creative community.'
Keep Bloor Street weird!
More details available here.
OssFest
July 26, Ossington Strip, between Dundas Street West and Queen Street West
For years, Ossington has been touted as 'one of the coolest streets' in Toronto (in fact, in 2022, it was named the 14th coolest street in the world). Don't believe it? Check it out at OssFest on July 26, a pedestrian takeover that transforms the strip into a family-friendly celebration of music, food and culture. And because it's Ossington, you know it's going to get rowdy in the evening.
See more details here.
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Toronto Caribbean Carnival Weekend
July 31 to Aug. 4, Exhibition Place & Lake Shore Boulevard West
Naomi Stephens, 10, in yellow and Kalyce Grant Hackett, 12, wearing purple, join in the festivities at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival official launch in 2019.
R.J. Johnston/ Toronto Star file photo
Now in its 58th year, Toronto's Caribbean Carnival Weekend (formerly known, and lovingly referred to, as Caribana) has the distinction of being North America's largest outdoor street festival, typically attracting well over a million attendees and adding hundreds of millions of dollars to Ontario's GDP.
The festival, known for its food, music and colourful costumes, culminates each year in the Grand Parade, during which Lake Shore Boulevard is transformed into a massive stage for masqueraders and steelpan performers, with music that can be heard from kilometres away.
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Find all the details here.
JerkFest
Aug. 8 to 10, Centennial Park
What better way to enjoy a summer weekend than indulging in mouth-watering Caribbean food while enjoying the sweet sounds of reggae and dancehall? This August, North America's longest running jerk food and music festival returns to Centennial Park in Etobicoke for three days of family-friendly fun, with performances from Jamaican reggae star Tarrus Riley, Valiant and many more.
Check out details and full lineup information here.
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Yorkville Murals Festival
August 23–24, Yorkville Avenue, between Bellair Street and Hazelton Avenue
Guided by the theme 'No Empty Spaces,' the sixth edition of the Yorkville Murals Festival will turn this downtown neighbourhood into an interactive cultural playground filled with large-scale murals, inflatable art, immersive installations and more. The festival will kick off on the evening of Friday Aug. 22 at sunset with a DJ set by the international electronic artist Kaskade.
Find more details here.
Roncesvalles Polish Festival
Sept. 13 and 14, Roncesvalles Avenue
Crowds jam the street for the Roncesvalles Polish Festival — North America's largest — in 2017.
Richard Lautens/ Toronto Star file photo
Czesc! As the summer winds down, head down to Toronto's west end for some perogy and polka music at Roncy Polish Festival, which has been bringing old world charm to the city for 17 years. The two-day festival boasts four stages, 40 performances, 20 buskers, 90 vendors and exhibitors, and two family zones with rides and more.
Find all the details here.
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