good days to not come to toronto
Apr. 28th, 2010 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davemerrillIf you're planning a trip to Toronto this summer, here's some handy tips on a few days to avoid the Greater Toronto Area. Mark your calendars!
The G20 Summit is June 26 and 27, so you can expect both crowds of foreign dignitaries, hordes of reporters, throngs of gawkers, and legions of anticapitalist protesters in expensive boots. The Metro Convention Center downtown will be surrounded by a 3-meter high security fence and five levels of security screening. Word on the street is that the boundaries of the outer security zone will be Queen St. to the north, Yonge St. to the east, Lake Shore Blvd. W. to the south and Spadina Ave. to the west, which is OK because everybody knows the cool stuff in Toronto is on this side of Spadina. Unless you like seeing the reactionary forces of the monied powers clash with the revolutionary forces of the unwashed trust fund babies, it's probably a good time to avoid Toronto.
Caribana is the largest Carribbean festival outside the actual Carribbean, and as such there are events happening downtown all summer long. The big Caribana event is the parade, which happens Saturday August 1. Other than closing down Lakeshore for the day, Caribana events don't interrupt the city too much, with the important caveat of occupying every hotel room in the city. So unless you have already made reservations, probably best to avoid the August 1 weekend.
The Honda Indy Toronto (formerly the Molson Indy Toronto) brings the thrill and excitement of Indianapolis auto racing to Exhibition Place as people drive around and around and around and around all day. July 16-18. Obviously this closes Lakeshore but I haven't noticed it having a terrible impact on city life. We're two blocks away and it's not even that noisy.
The Toronto International Film Festival is Sept 9-19, so if you want to catch celebrities and the kind of people who attach themselves to celebrities in order to experience the celebrity lifestyle second or third hand, that's the ten days you want to be in Toronto!
INSTEAD, you should come to TCAF and Anime North which are both in May, and spend June and July and August away from the city, just like the natives do.
BTW, we can expect to see roads closed to celebrate The Cult Of The Runner on both September 26 and October 17 for two competing marathons. I understand Canada contains enormous tracts of completely empty land, but God forbid these people find somewhere besides giant cities to show off in. If they aren't inconveniencing entire metro areas, how will people know they're running?
The G20 Summit is June 26 and 27, so you can expect both crowds of foreign dignitaries, hordes of reporters, throngs of gawkers, and legions of anticapitalist protesters in expensive boots. The Metro Convention Center downtown will be surrounded by a 3-meter high security fence and five levels of security screening. Word on the street is that the boundaries of the outer security zone will be Queen St. to the north, Yonge St. to the east, Lake Shore Blvd. W. to the south and Spadina Ave. to the west, which is OK because everybody knows the cool stuff in Toronto is on this side of Spadina. Unless you like seeing the reactionary forces of the monied powers clash with the revolutionary forces of the unwashed trust fund babies, it's probably a good time to avoid Toronto.
Caribana is the largest Carribbean festival outside the actual Carribbean, and as such there are events happening downtown all summer long. The big Caribana event is the parade, which happens Saturday August 1. Other than closing down Lakeshore for the day, Caribana events don't interrupt the city too much, with the important caveat of occupying every hotel room in the city. So unless you have already made reservations, probably best to avoid the August 1 weekend.
The Honda Indy Toronto (formerly the Molson Indy Toronto) brings the thrill and excitement of Indianapolis auto racing to Exhibition Place as people drive around and around and around and around all day. July 16-18. Obviously this closes Lakeshore but I haven't noticed it having a terrible impact on city life. We're two blocks away and it's not even that noisy.
The Toronto International Film Festival is Sept 9-19, so if you want to catch celebrities and the kind of people who attach themselves to celebrities in order to experience the celebrity lifestyle second or third hand, that's the ten days you want to be in Toronto!
INSTEAD, you should come to TCAF and Anime North which are both in May, and spend June and July and August away from the city, just like the natives do.
BTW, we can expect to see roads closed to celebrate The Cult Of The Runner on both September 26 and October 17 for two competing marathons. I understand Canada contains enormous tracts of completely empty land, but God forbid these people find somewhere besides giant cities to show off in. If they aren't inconveniencing entire metro areas, how will people know they're running?
no subject
Date: 2010-04-28 10:57 pm (UTC)Yeah, this is probably going to be my last year coordinating workshops.