Goblins and ghouls, make way for blue jerseys and white-panel ball caps. If the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers one last time tonight, Toronto will likely erupt into the biggest spooky and sporty celebration the city’s ever seen.
With the Jays back in town, playing game 6 at the Rogers Centre with a 3-2 lead in the World Series, Toronto’s team could become the first to clinch the championship title on the spookiest — and busiest — night of the year.
Halloween festivities have long been planned all over Toronto, and now many are pivoting into spooky World Series hybrid parties, making space amongst the faux-webbing and smoke machines for giant screens and baseball memorabilia.
The streets of the village will already be flooded with costumed revellers. Halloween on Church is known as the largest spooky celebration in the country; last year, about 65,000 people flocked to the event for free, all-night fun. Due to that massive turnout, organizers have added a second night to this year’s festivities, on Nov. 1. Church Street will be blocked off to cars from Carlton to Gloucester for tonight only.
The inclusive approach of the event extends to Jays fans. “If you’re going to a Blue Jays game and you want to come and hang at Halloween on Church, come on down,” said Jaret Sereda, executive director of the Church-Wellesley Village BIA. “Everybody is welcome.”
Sereda said many businesses have been granted licenses to remain open until 4 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday. And revellers will get an extra hour of partying on Saturday night as daylight-saving time will end at 2 a.m. on Nov. 2.
Both nights will feature a pop-up beer garden and a live drag show with the “queen of Church” Sofonda Cox and Canada’s Drag Race competitors like Jada Shada Hudson. While the game will not be broadcast to the outdoor party, baseball buffs can expect to hear the “OK Blue Jays” song ringing out.
If you’re looking to celebrate Halloween inside while still catching the game, plenty of restaurants and bars are holding hybrid events.
At swanky Mediterranean restaurant Lyla Toronto, on Sudbury south of Queen and Dovercourt, co-owner Daniel van Welie spent around $2,500 on televisions and projectors to be able to screen game six at their Halloween party.
“People thought I was a little bit crazy to transition and mash the two together, but our phones have been ringing non-stop,” van Welie told the Star.
Lyla’s “Haute Halloween Soireé” will feature a photo booth to capture the costumed moment, Halloween-themed cocktails, a Blue Jays-inspired beverage and a menu of twists on pub food such as chicken nuggets with caviar and truffle fries.
At King and Spadina, restaurant and vinyl bar Vinny Toronto is hosting a “Murder on the Dancefloor” dinner service and party with a DJ spinning nostalgic ‘80s and ‘90s tunes. Before the dance party begins, the Jays game will be projected on a large screen while patrons dine on a one-night-only menu featuring Wagyu hot dogs.
Near Corktown Common, the Lisbon Hotel will be broadcasting the World Series while offering ‘Halloweenies and martinis,’ a festive take on ballpark food and a Blue Jays special including a hot dog, a Burdock beer and a shot of Canadian whisky.
If we’ve learned anything from history, it’s that Toronto does not play around when reaping the rewards of its baseball devotion. When the Jays won their first World Series championship title in 1992, Torontonians flocked to Yonge Street from the lakefront all the way to Highway 401 — and that wasn’t even a home game.
The following year’s back-to-back victory was cemented by Joe Carter’s legendary walk-off homer at the Rogers Centre. David Angelo was there. A longtime fan, Angelo has watched his son become something of a local celebrity this World Series as the viral “Blue Jays jacked guy” often spotted behind home plate. Within five minutes of Carter’s winning 1993 play, Angelo had made his way from the upper bowl to the street, hoping to beat the crowds. His northern route was free and clear, but heading south was a different story.
“The streets were just getting flooded,” Angelo said. “Cars were honking, people were out their windows — just celebrating and celebrating.”
His friend Richard Pilosof was there too and remembers the ecstatic energy exploding from the stands and into the streets. Back then, he was focused on getting his then-wife, who was pregnant with their eldest son, out of the pandemonium safely. He says that this year’s World Series run feels just like it did in ‘93.
“The energy has been incredible,” he said. “It has totally lit up the city.”
