Toronto turns 191 this year and there's a huge free festival to celebrate

There's so much to love about Toronto, and we're about to get the chance to celebrate every one of them at a huge, free festival.

Celebrate Toronto? Twist my arm! This March marks the city's 191st anniversary and, while it may not be a milestone like last year, we rarely need all that much convincing to gather around and share some good times.

Taking over Nathan Phillips Square on March 8 from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., the Celebrate Toronto Festival is a lengthy jubilee built to honour a variety of cornerstones in Toronto culture, from its businesses and restaurants to its arts community.

A centre piece of the festival will be the 6,000 square-foot Toronto Made vendor market, which will showcase more than 100 local vendors offering a huge variety of handmade goodies.

If you prefer your support of local businesses to be of the edible kind, there'll be a number of food stalls on site representing the dazzling constellation of different cuisines you can find in the city at large.

There's also a bar area featuring local craft breweries and distillers which pairs quite beautifully with the main stage, where local musicians and DJs will be keeping the vibes up all day and night.

When the dance floor gets too crowded, you can also lace up your skates and hit the ice rink, too.

After a bizarre failed attempt at a drone show for last year's anniversary celebration, the city is taking things back to basics with a classic firework display at 9 p.m. to cap off the whole night.

There's really nothing more quintessentially Toronto than a fireworks display at Nathan Phillips Square anyway, is there?