Ontario Events

Ontario’s calendar runs on summer festivals and a winter that people have learned to celebrate rather than endure.

Toronto International Film Festival — September

Ten days in which the city becomes one of the most important marketplaces in world cinema. Founded in 1976 as a festival of festivals showing what had played elsewhere, it grew into a premiere venue in its own right and now launches a large share of the films that go on to awards season. The People’s Choice Award, voted by ordinary ticket holders rather than a jury, has an unusually good record of predicting the year ahead. Much of the programme is open to the public, screenings fill fast, and the streets around King West close for the duration.

Winterlude — February, Ottawa

Three weekends of ice sculpture, snow playgrounds and skating on the frozen Rideau Canal, which becomes the largest naturally frozen skating surface in the world. Whether it freezes at all is now an annual question.

Stratford and Shaw Festivals — April to October

Two large repertory theatre seasons running side by side in small southwestern towns, with dozens of productions between them.

Autumn colour — late September to mid-October

Not an event as such, but the province tracks it week by week with published colour reports, and the parks fill accordingly. Algonquin peaks first, the escarpment and the south a fortnight later.

Caribana — late July and early August, Toronto

A Caribbean carnival with a costumed parade of tens of thousands along the lakeshore, one of the largest street festivals in North America.