The Taste of the Danforth used to be an annual affair in Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood, but for the second year in a row the food festival has been cancelled due to a lack of funding, according to organizers.
The neighbourhood’s business improvement association (BIA) previously said it didn’t have the funds to host the festival, and it does not want to burden local business owners with the full costs associated with running a large event, like security, medical services and clean-up costs.
The Greektown on Danforth BIA also cited the City’s bike lanes and street-level patios for causing logistical issues and making it challenging for emergency vehicles to access the area.
The BIA did not respond to a request for comment.
“They could have worked something out,” said Tom Papadatos, a server at Cristina’s at 492 Danforth Avenue. “Every problem has a solution.”
“Work together, work something out,” he added. “Make it happen rather than just cancelling it yet again.”
The financial impact is being felt by local restaurants who looked forward to serving the hundreds of thousands of people who visited the festival.
“For the sales, the Taste of Danforth, that money is our back-up money for the winter,” explained Kamal Hosain, the owner of Alexandro’s at 484 Danforth Avenue. “During the winter season, business is very slow, so that money we keep as our back up.”
The community is also feeling the loss of the festival which traditionally shut down the Danforth from Broadview Avenue to Jones Avenue every August. Nearly a million people would descend on the neighbourhood for family fun and great food.
The festival took a brief hiatus to comply with COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021. It was revived in 2023, but has faced cancellations during the last two years.
“It impacts everybody in the area,” Papadatos said from the patio at Cristina’s.
So far, there’s no word on whether the festival will return in 2026.
