toronto festivals

5 new festivals in Toronto this summer

New festivals in Toronto this summer provide the city with a whole lot of music, art, food, and even a day-long cycling party. There are times when I feel the chokehold of Toronto's ancient rules and laws, stopping organizers from doing super cool stuff, but then there is the summer of 2016: we're pushing our limits with new spaces and ideas, and it's really fun!

Here are 5 new festivals to check out in Toronto this summer.

Art Blast (July 9-31)
This new art festival is "the city of Toronto's first-ever, city-wide open studio and exhibition event." It's basically three weekends of self-guided tours of artist studios and exhibition spaces throughout the city of Toronto and boroughs, all for free. Grab your maps online and start planning your route.

All Day I Dream of Toronto Skies (July 17)
This music fest started in Brooklyn in 2011 and has since spread to Barcelona, Berlin and L.A. The Toronto edition happens at Fort York and features Lee Burridge, Matthew Dekay and Berlin's YokoO, who'll provide the house and techno soundtrack for this daytime party.

OssFest (July 23)
Ossington finally gets its own street festival in the form of OssFest. You'll be able to do a lot more than walk, eat, drink, dance and shop because from noon to 6 p.m. they'll run a criterium bicycle race (or crit, as the lingo goes) with categories open to pros, beginners, and kids. There's even a heat for those who ride fixies.

Lake Shore Rib Fest (July 23-24)
Fort York gets its very own Rib Fest! Part of the Northern Heat Rib Series, expect a whole lotta meat grilling, competitions, prizes and (duh) beer.

in/Future (September 15-25)
This is a transformative art experience at the abandoned Ontario Place grounds. From September 15 to 25, in/FUTURE will host more than 40 contemporary artists who'll create a slew of both indoor and outdoor installations. The Cinesphere will also be up and running, and it'll show a series of new films and videos as well as IMAX movies from Ontario Place's archive.

Thanks to Moosehead for sponsoring this post.

Photo of Ontario Place by Hector Vasquez.


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