Toronto's Best Festivals

Festivals keep Toronto lively even when cold winds blow in off Lake Ontario in winter. Themes range from art to food, Caribbean culture to gay pride. Most national championship sports events take place in and around Toronto.

Tourism Toronto. Tourism Toronto maintains an online calendar of nearly every event in the city. 416/203-2500 or 800/499-2514. www.seetorontonow.com.

January-February

WinterCity. This festival celebrates the season with citywide concerts, theater, street performers, DJ'd ice-skating parties, and Winterlicious, a culinary event offering discount prix-fixe menus at top restaurants as well as themed tastings and food-prep workshops. 416/395-0490. www.toronto.ca/winterlicious.

April

Sprockets: Toronto International Film Festival for Children. Taking place in April, this children's film festival holds screenings for kids and teens aged (roughly) 3-16. 416/599-8433 or 888/599-8433. tiff.net/sprockets.

April-November

Shaw Festival. Held from late spring until fall in quaint Niagara-on-the-Lake, this festival presents plays by George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a two-hour drive south of Toronto. 905/468-2172 or 800/511-7429. www.shawfest.com.

Stratford Festival. One of the best known Shakespeare festivals in the world, this event was created in the 1950s to revive a little town two hours west of Toronto that happened to be called Stratford (and its river called the Avon). The festival includes at least five Shakespeare plays as well as other classical and contemporary productions. Respected actors from around the world participate. 519/273-1600 or 800/567-1600. www.stratfordfestival.ca.

April-May

Hot Docs. North America's largest documentary film fest, Hot Docs takes over independent cinemas for two weeks. 416/203-2155. www.hotdocs.ca.

CONTACT. More than 200 galleries and other venues mount photo exhibits by 1,000 different artists for this photography festival, throughout the entire month of May. 416/539-9595. www.contactphoto.com.

June

Luminato. For 10 days, this citywide arts festival combines visual arts, music, theater, dance, literature, and more in hundreds of events, many of them free. 416/368-3100. www.luminato.com.

North by Northeast. Modeled after South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, this is a seven-day music and film festival. 416/863-6963. nxne.com.

Pride Week. Rainbow flags fly high during Pride Week, the city's premier gay and lesbian event. It includes 10 days of cultural and political programs, concerts, a street festival, and a parade, and is centered around the Church-Wellesley corridor. 416/927-7433. www.pridetoronto.com.

Toronto Jazz Festival. For 10 days this festival brings big-name jazz artists to city jazz clubs and other indoor and outdoor venues. 416/928-2033. torontojazz.com.

July

Beaches International Jazz Festival. In the east-end Beach (aka Beaches) neighborhood, this event is a free, 10-day jazz, blues, and Latin music event and street festival 416/698-2152. www.beachesjazz.com.

Caribbean Carnival Toronto. A Carnival-like, 10-day cultural showcase, this festival, with Caribbean music, dance, and food, is put on by the West Indian communities. 416/391-5608. www.torontocaribbeancarnival.com.

Canadian Open. One of golf's Big Five tournaments, the Canadian Open, founded in 1904, is held at the end of July. Venues change each year; the 2012 Open will be held at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club, about an hour's drive southwest of Toronto. 800/571-6736. www.rbccanadianopen.ca.

Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival. The city's largest theater festival, this12-day event features new and developing plays by emerging artists. 416/966-1062. www.fringetoronto.com.

Honda Indy. Formerly the Grand Prix of Toronto, this event diverts local traffic so cars roar around the roadways of the Canadian National Exhibition ("the Ex") grounds and a portion of Lake Shore Boulevard. 416/588-7223. www.hondaindytoronto.com.

Summerlicious. More than 100 restaurants in Toronto create prix-fixe menus—some at bargain prices—for this two-week culinary event. 416/395-0490. www.toronto.ca/summerlicious.

SummerWorks. New plays are mounted at small local theaters during SummerWorks, an 11-day theater festival in early July. 416/504-7529. www.summerworks.ca.

August

Canadian National Exhibition. With carnival rides, concerts, an air show, a dog show, a garden show, and a "Mardi Gras" parade, this 2½-week-long fair is the biggest in Canada. It's been held at the eponymous fairgrounds on the Lake Ontario waterfront since 1879. 416/393-6300. www.theex.com.

BuskerFest. This is no ordinary street festival: aerialists, fire-eaters, dancers, contortionists, musicians, and more congregate near St. Lawrence Market for four days in August. www.torontobuskerfest.com.

Rogers Cup. Founded in 1881, this is an ATP Masters 1000 event for men and a Premier event for women. It's held on the York University campus, with the men's and women's events alternating between Toronto and Montréal each year. 416/665-9777 or 877/283-6647. www.rogerscup.com.

September

The Toronto International Film Festival. Renowned worldwide, this festival is considered more accessible to the public than Cannes, Sundance, or other major film festivals. A number of films make their world or North American premieres at this 11-day festival each year, some at red-carpet events attended by Hollywood stars. 416/599-8433 or 888/599-8433. www.tiff.net.

October

Nuit Blanche. In the downtown core, this is an all-night street festival with interactive contemporary art installations and performances. www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca.

November

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Held since 1922 at the Ex, this 10-day fair is a highlight of Canada's equestrian season each November, with jumping, dressage, and harness-racing competitions. 416/263-3400. www.royalfair.org.

November-December

Cavalcade of Lights. Starting with the lighting of the city's Christmas tree at the end of November, this holiday festival continues with light displays in neighborhoods around town, fireworks, skating parties, and concerts at Nathan Phillips Square every Saturday night in December. www.toronto.ca/special_events/cavalcade_lights.