Free summer festival in Toronto asking people to pay for the first time ever

An annual summer festival in Toronto that's typically free will be asking its attendees to voluntarily pay what they can during this year's event in response to rising operation costs and a reduction in government funding.

The Toronto Waterfront Festival is an annual tradition that celebrates the uniqueness of the city's waterfront with on-land and on-water programming, aiming to showcase the history, culture, and importance of water through nautical attractions, arts, music, food, and Indigenous entertainment. 

This year, the festival, which is a not-for-profit, will remain a free event, but for the first time in the event's 14-year history, festival producers are asking attendees to voluntarily pay what they can. 

"Our mandate has always been to bring free, family-friendly, water-themed entertainment to Toronto's Waterfront, and we will continue to do that for as long as we can," said Michael Riehl, Chair of the Toronto Waterfront Festival.

"However, with the rising operations costs and dramatic reduction in government funding from all levels this year, it is a very tough time for most festivals and events in Ontario. As a result, we are asking our visitors to pay what they can to help in any small way to continue to keep the festival alive." 

This year, the festival will be featuring the Canine Watersports Canada competition, a premiere dog dock jumping competition with a variety of cute pups diving and fetching into a 45-foot pool on land. 

The festival previously hosted fan-favourite dog jumping competitions in 2014 and 2015. 

Along with the competition, the festival will also welcome the tall ship Empire Sandy, the Canadian Armed Forces, Pirate Life Theatre, pop-up entertainment presented by Redpath, interactive cultural activities, food, and sponsor giveaways.

The Toronto Waterfront Festival takes place from Sept. 14 to Sept. 15 at Sugar Beach.