New events in Toronto this summer mean projects from some of Toronto's favourite event promoters (Pedestrian Sundays, Long Winter, Mansion, Young Lion's Music Club) as well as some newer faces. A few cool new dates have already passed like Pride's Nuit Rose take on Nuit Blanche (which we hope returns next year) and the Distillery's Bacardi Festival, but there are still plenty of novel events left to attend this summer.

Here are our picks for the top new events taking place in Toronto this summer.

Otherland
The promoters behind Mansion's Happy Endings parties in Chinatown (and more) and Foundry are about to launch Otherland, a club series in the newly revamped Tattoo that promises to share its love for "something different" and fill a gap in the city's music scene with their DJ/live bookings. Going by this mandate and past events, at the opening night July 25 dance and electronic fans should expect anything but a generic club district vibe. The 25th's line up is Model 500, Jeremy Greenspan, Gingy B2B and Kevin McPhee in Room 1, and Members Only and more in Room 2. Check out the full summer line up and dates here.

Modern Man - Cancelled
Modern Man's Official Event for Man has been cancelled. Dudes just didn't want to spend the weekend at 99 Sudbury eating, drinking, playing, and shopping for $39 on a summer weekend. Back to the (manly) drawing board and shed a tear for a man near you.

Annex Flea
While the long awaited Annex Flea first launched during this past winter, vintage lovers and those seeking homemade goods will find these new digs at the Honest Ed's parking lot one more excuse to slather on sunscreen. Or tanning lotion, if you're flirting with death. Bonus: if you lost your shades at last night's party, one of the flea's fine vendors will have some fancy ones on sale with your name on them. And maybe some shoes, since you lost those somehow. I won't even touch on the fact you also lost your shorts. The next outdoor Annex Flea is July 27.

Construction
For the past two years Long Winter has thrown program-stacked music/art parties at the Great Hall about six months of the year (it's a damn long winter). Construction is Mike Haliechuck (Fucked Up) and Mark Pesci (Just Shows)'s smaller, more laid back summer edition of Long Winter, and shows, still all PWYC and all-ages, hop between Smiling Buddha and Double Double Land. July's show features Toronto bands Absolutely Free, Doomsquad, and Anamai at Smiling Buddha July 11. Watch their Facebook for more events.

TIME Fest
TIME took a three year break, so it's not brand new (here's a 2009 poster featuring Crystal Castles and A-Trak) - but a jump from Sound Academy to the Fort York Garrison Common means this fest is going to be a totally different experience - plus I can't remember anything that happened more than one year ago. July 19's one day line up will probably be more fun than Grove was last year - all I remember about Grove is they wanted to give me a free outfit in exchange for hanging out at Grove and tweeting about said outfit - no thanks? Death Grips will be a big loss for TIME (unless you hate yelling), but Grimes, Smith Westerns, Kaytranada, Charli XCX, Majical Cloudz and more are still on the bill.

Taste of Toronto
Not to be confused with Toronto Taste, this is the big one. After taking London, Milan and Moscow by storm, this global food event makes its first appearance in Toronto at Fort York on July 24th to 27th. The highly anticipated festival will bring together 20 big-name restaurants for lunch and dinner sessions featuring special menus and starter-sized tasting plates. General admission is $30 for the culinary showcase promising demos, an interactive tasting room and an artisan marketplace.

Heart of Toronto
Toronto's throwing some decent dance parties (see Otherland above), and Heart of Toronto's CD/party series proves we're also set up in the recording department. Last fall saw the first Heart of Toronto compilation feature some lesser known local musicians not known for making pure dance music - at least in the way TO projects Azari & III or, I guess, Deadmau5 are - including Tenderness, Prince Nifty, Jennifer Castle, Princess Century (Austra), Petra Glynt and Man Made Hill. The next HOT party is July 26 at Double Double Land with David Dacks (The Music Gallery) and Daniel Vila spinning only Toronto produced music.

Young Lions Long Weekend
Building off the success of last year's Young Lions Softball Classic, the Toronto event promoters are back with a bigger event for the August long weekend this year. Taking over all three baseball diamonds in Trinity Bellwoods on Saturday August 2nd, the idea is to hang with friends, meet new people, and be happy that you're not off at a cottage. Along with the softball festivities (which don't require you to be a sporting superstar), Young Lions promises additional programming over the long weekend to expand the event beyond the baseball diamond. They're keeping mum about plans so far, but we naturally expect a musical component to be added to the mix. More details here.

Kensington Market Art Fair
Toronto's newest outdoor art event, the Kensington Market Art Fair is hosted in conjunction with Pedestrian Sundays. Curated and run by Keep Six Exhibits, the relatively small fair (26 artists are featured at each event) is an excellent addition to the every busy street festival. The work on offer, which is by local artists, is well documented on the event's website, so you can scope out some of the artists in advance. Upcoming fairs will take place on July 27th and August 31st.

Craft Beer Cruise
End the summer in style with Toronto newest beer event, a cruise with a host of craft brewers on the River Gambler. Yes, beer and boats is a dubious combination, but given that you won't be steering, all you have to do is make sure that you don't fall off the side, which should be straightforward enough. Your $39.95 ticket gets you a mug and five 4oz samples (you can buy additional samples individually) to try over the course of the three hour-long cruise through the Toronto Harbour. Participating breweries include Left Field Brewery, Junction Craft Brewing, Great Lakes Brewing Company and the Kensington Market Brewing Company (to name only a few). September 13th, one cruise at 3:30pm and a sunset offering at 8:00pm.

Thanks to Pure Leaf for sponsoring our summer adventures. For more things to do this summer, check out our Best of Summer page.

What did I miss? Add more new events to the comments.

Writing by Aubrey Jax, Derek Flack and Liora Ipsum

Photo via Taste of Toronto's Facebook page