Toronto’s Chinatown will be a buzz this weekend for the annual Chinatown Festival alongside multiple different food festivals happening across the city.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend.
Toronto Chinatown Festival
The annual Toronto Chinatown Festival will be celebrating 25 years of community and culture this weekend.
Anyone walking through Chinatown during this two-day festival will be able to enjoy live, traditional dancing and cultural performances and multicultural street food.
The Toronto Chinatown Festival will take place on the west side of Spadina Avenue between St. Andrew and Sullivan streets on Saturday between noon and 11 p.m. and on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.
A full list of programming can be found on their website.
Wavelength Summer Thing 2025
Two full days of live music will be taking over Trillium Park this week, ranging from indie folk to electronica.
Wavelength Summer Thing will also have immersive art and installations, delicious food vendors, a mobile sauna and an indie market.
A full schedule can be found on their website.
Taco Fest
Over 200 varieties of tacos from Toronto’s top taco joints will be at Taco Fest this weekend – as well as a lot of churros, refreshing margaritas and the famous tequila and mezcal bar.
All attendees will have a chance to vote for their favourite taco to crown the winner of the city’s best taco.
The event runs from Friday at 11 a.m. until Sunday at Fort York.
JerkFest 2025
This weekend will be all things jerk at Centennial Park for the annual JerkFest organized by Caribbean Promotions Arts and Culture.
There will be mouthwatering food demonstrations by chefs showcasing Caribbean culture and jerk cuisine.
Tickets are still available for the three-day festival and the schedule of live performances is available on their website.
HorseCapades
The unofficial kickoff to the CNE continues this weekend with enlivened Trick Riding Show: HorsePower Live. Two shows are being held daily in the CNE Horse Palace at 11:30am and 1:00pm.
It’s free to attend and will run until August 14.
TTC/GO closures
Line 2 late opening
Subway service on Line 2 between St George and Chester stations will be replaced by shuttle buses between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., for structural maintenance. Subway service will start by 11 a.m.
Road closures
Gardiner Expressway closure
As part of the long-term construction plan on the Gardiner Expressway, one westbound lane and one eastbound lane are closed between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue. The eastbound on-ramp from Lake Shore Boulevard at Jameson Avenue is also closed.
A stretch of the westbound Gardiner will also be reduced from four lanes to three for approximately one year. The westbound lane closure will stretch from Park Lawn Road to Grand Avenue in southern Etobicoke. The eastbound lanes along the same stretch will be narrowed, but with no lane reductions, from April 2025 to December 2026.
Temporary closures
- Queen Street is fully closed to traffic between Bay and Victoria Streets to accommodate work on a new station for the Ontario Line subway. The closure is scheduled to last until 2027.
- Yonge is currently reduced to a single lane both ways between Wellington and King for underground work at the TTC’s King Station to add new elevators and make it an accessible station. Construction is expected to continue into 2026.
- Eglinton Avenue West is reduced to a single lane east of Islington and west of Scarlett Road due to tunnelling work related to the multi-year Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project.
- Lane restrictions on Bayview Avenue between Roehampton Avenue and Armistice Drive while the city completes road resurfacing, curb and sidewalk replacement, and traffic signal and pedestrian upgrades. One northbound lane is currently closed on Bayview Avenue between Kilgour Road and Roehampton Avenue.
- Cherry Street remains closed south of Polson Pier due to maintenance on the Ship Channel Lift Bridge (Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge). Road users are able to access the Port of Toronto and Cherry Beach via Unwin Avenue.
- Queens Park Crescent is reduced to a single lane south of Bloor as part of the TTC’s Easier Access Program at Museum Station. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
- Until Wednesday, Dec. 31, William R. Allen Road will be reduced to two lanes in each direction at Wilson Avenue for construction as part of the rehabilitation of the Wilson TTC Station bus underpass structure and the Mezzanine Bridge.
- Blue Jays Way is closed between Spadina Street and Navy Wharf Court until September 30. Local access is maintained.
- Navy Wharf Court is closed between Bremner Boulevard and Blue Jays Way until September 30. Local access for residents of Navy Wharf Court is maintained. At a later stage of construction, the east sidewalk on Navy Wharf Court and Bremner Boulevard will be closed to pedestrians and a detour route will be in place.
- Islington Avenue will also be reduced from three lanes in each direction to two lanes where they pass over the Gardiner Expressway for approximately eight months, from April 7, 2025, to November 2025.
- From Monday, June 2, the intersection of King Street East and Church Street will be fully closed for the next stage of a project to replace a 142-year-old watermain and renew aging TTC streetcar tracks.
- From Sunday, May 11 until Saturday, January 10, 2026, Market Street will be closed to vehicle traffic between Front Street West and The Esplanade. The street will be pedestrianized for live entertainment, pop-up market vendors and other events.
- Allen Road has been reduced from 3 lanes to 2 in both directions just north of Hwy 401. The SB Allen ramps to EB and WB 401 are closed.
- Dufferin Street has been reduced to a single lane from Shanly to Dupont for road rehabilitation. Work is scheduled to be complete in August 2025.
- A multi-stage construction project has Harbord Street down to a single lane east of Ossington to Spadina for watermain replacement. Work is expected to be complete in early October 2025.
- Ossington is reduced to a single lane between College and Bloor because of watermain installation. The project is expected to be finished in December 2025.
For full traffic updates, click here for the latest information from 680 NewsRadio Toronto.
