Posted: Nov 16, 2022
Updated: Oct 10, 2024
Cultural Festivals in Toronto are one of the best ways to explore this amazing city, especially during the summer.
Toronto is a multicultural metropolis, and that is the prime element that makes this city so beautiful. Going hand in hand with its motto: “Diversity, Our Strength”, Toronto has been intentional about making sure that the richness of its cultural portfolios is represented, through the wide array of summer cultural festivals in Toronto that take place in the megacity every year. Toronto is the entertainment capital of Canada and the first city of choice for most immigrants, and cultural festivals in Toronto are the best time to travel through different cultures and get to know the nationalities that make this city (and this country) so great!
Besides being some of the most fun things to do in Toronto, summer festivals in Toronto are also excellent summertime activities for families with kids, for couples or solo travelers! Moreover, they give you an opportunity to explore and discover other Toronto neighborhoods that you would not have otherwise gone to, on a regular day.
In this article, I will share with you the best summer cultural festivals in Toronto that I recommend for any first-time visitor, newcomer, family or tourist looking for the best free and most affordable things to do in Toronto!
With no further ado, let’s start with…
Table of Contents
Best of Cultural festivals in Toronto: Afrofest Toronto
Considered the largest african festivals in Canada and one of the largest afro-festivals in North America, Afrofest Toronto is a 2-day festival that brings together the African diaspora in Canada and provides a great exhibition of the vibrancy of the African culture. Afrofest Toronto gathers more than thousands of patrons every year, avid lovers of African music, food, culture and vibes! The festival also provides an amazing avenue for local Afro-Caribbean artists to perform and has invited internationally acclaimed African and Afro-Caribbean performers to its stage. This is by far one of the best cultural festivals in Toronto!
Happens in … early July.
What I love about it: the rich display of African culture through food, dance, music and fashion. I also loved seeing international African artists perform at this event!
How I’d improve it: more affordable food options and better food combos from the vendors, perhaps?
See Afrofest Toronto live here and relive this amazing experience in video!
Best Cultural Festivals in Toronto: Caribana Toronto
Caribana Toronto is a popular 1-day Caribbean festival in Toronto inspired from the original Caribbean carnivals. As a summer cultural festival in Toronto, what I loved about Caribana Toronto is the fact that it includes all Caribbean islands under one roof. Or more like, on one road. The Caribana Toronto festival is a one day street parade where festival partakers march, dance and celebrate in costume bands at the exhibition place/boulevard, while bystanders celebrate them. If you’ve never had an experience of what Carnival is like in the Caribbean, this festival would give you a pretty decent idea of what it is like. However, it does not fully represent the Caribbean carnival culture, which offers a lot more than the costume parade (when you travel to the Caribbean).
Happens in … late July.
What I love about it: you can see a representation of Caribbean islands (in their people) during the street parade.
How I’d improve it: Include more specific cultural elements of each Caribbean carnival during the street parade, organize island-specific food stalls where patrons can try different foods from different islands, and have other cultural events (apart from “fetes”) that lead up to the grand parade, as a way to educate more patrons about the Caribbean carnival culture.
See Caribana Toronto live here and relive this amazing experience in video!
Best of festivals in Toronto: Taste of Vietnam
This is also another one of the great summer festivals in Toronto. Pretty self-explanatory, the Taste of Vietnam festival celebrates the Vietnamese culture and heritage in Toronto. During this festival, elements of Vietnamese culture such as food, dances, traditional wear and fashion collections are represented, and this is really enriching, culturally.
Happens in … early August.
What I love about it: there is a wide diversity of cultural elements that are represented at this festival, so you truly get to experience multiple facets of Vietnamese culture.
How I’d improve it: I am really not sure: I really enjoyed this festival!
See Taste of Vietnam live here and relive this amazing experience in video!
Best of festivals in Toronto: Taste of the Philippines
My first experience with the Filipino culture was working remotely with Filipino team members in clinical research! And yes, I do teach people how to find remote online jobs using the skills that they have. If you’re interested in bumping your paychecks (by adding another source of income) so you can earn more, do more and see more, here are a few companies that are hiring internationally!
So, from my first encounter with Filipino culture, I knew that I would want to visit the Philippines one day. While waiting, I chose to attend the Taste of the Philippines festival in Toronto!
Happens in … mid August
What I love about it: discovering the Filipino culture, tasting the different Filipino foods (such as sisig), and appreciating their diversity!
How I’d improve it: a lot of the performances on this year’s lineup were modern. I’d love to see a lot more traditional performances, and why not a display of Filipino fashion?
Brazil Fest, Toronto
Brazil is one of the first countries that I visited in my early years, and it certainly has a special place in my heart. I also appreciate Brazil as a country because of the football influence and coming from Cameroon (a giant in African football), this is a big deal. Brazil was also one of the countries where I had some of my best experiences as a traveler (staying in my first luxury hotel, experiencing excellent buffet breakfast for the first time, speaking a completely different language in a different country, etc.) as well as some of my worst experiences (almost getting scammed by a hotel, almost getting wrongly deported, and almost missing a life changing flight). Whew. This takes me back a very long memory lane that I will cherish forever.
So, there was no question about attending this event as one of the cultural festivals in Toronto on my list!
And because of this, I came with a lot of expectations that were unfortunately not fulfilled.
Happens in … mid-July.
What I love about it: I saw brazilian capoeira for the first time (dance-like martial art), and I really appreciated it!
How I’d improve it: a better display of different cultural aspects of Brazilian culture, such as: traditional foods, traditional dances, mini-stages with things that are peculiar to different regions of Brazil, etc. I’ve been to Sao Paulo and Brasilia, and needless to say – going to two cities is simply not enough to have a 360 view of the culture of a country as rich as Brazil. SO, going to this cultural festival in Toronto, I really wanted more!
Best of festivals in Toronto: TD Salsa on St Clair
Before we proceed with this section, I need to say this: I used to watch telenovelas religiously every day as a kid, until I was forced not to! (with active monitoring implemented). My grandmother knew the schedule every day and on Mondays, we would sit around her feet to catch up on the latest episode of “Milagros”. And God forbid, it was a re-broadcast: we would be so mad. I just thought I needed to get that out there. In addition to this though, my appreciation of the hispanic culture came from also learning how to dance the salsa, cha-cha, rumba and the Paso Doble while living in Dominica (not the Dominican Republic). I also learned Spanish at the Venezuelan institute (in Dominica), and every time I get to experience Hispanic culture, I take the chance!
Happens in … early July.
What I love about it: this cultural festival in Toronto is literally salsa dancing all day, for 2 days! So vibrant, so much fun, and so full of energy: you would not want to miss this! If you are looking for fun things to do in Toronto or things to do in Toronto with kids, this is great for you! You can learn different dance styles on the street, get to know different dance schools, sign up for free classes and there are countless opportunities to try their culinary delicacies!
How I’d improve it: the festival parade could be a bit longer (about 45 mns), and include more cultural groups.
See TD Salsa on St Clair live here and relive this amazing experience in video!
Toronto Chinatown Festival
Chinese culture is so popular and widespread around the world that it is very hard not to notice. I think the Chinatown Festival is also one of the best free cultural festivals in Toronto.
Happens in … late August.
What I love about it: The festival takes place in Chinatown, which is the chinese neighborhood in Toronto. This means that from the get-go, you are already immersed in the culture, whether you decide to partake into festival activities or not. I also loved the diverse display of Chinese culture through food, dances, traditional music, modern performances and fashion.
How I’d improve it: here again, I think having a longer parade would be helpful. Perhaps also plan a martial arts demonstration on stage?
See the Chinatown Festival live here and relive this amazing experience in video!
Independence Celebration festivals
Finally, if you’re looking for fun things to do in Toronto on your own or with kids, then consider Independence celebrations festivals. I attended the Trinidad Independence celebration (on Yonge and Dundas Square), and for someone who wants to know more about the Trinidadian culture, this was a great introduction! Trinidad & Tobago is widely known for its carnival, but there is so much more to this region that even a cultural festival in Toronto wouldn’t be enough to cover it all!
Happens in … late August.
What I love about it: seeing the Trinidad & Tobago diaspora show up and represent their culture, and discovering more trinidadian businesses in the region.
How I’d improve it: I waited for an hour and 15 minutes for a trinidad-style roti. Food lines during summer cultural festivals in Toronto are generally long, but having multiple vendors certainly helps!
See the Trinidad Independence festival live here (and what I thought about this Trinidad style roti!)
There you have it: my complete list of the best cultural festivals in Toronto to attend in the summer! Found this helpful? Share it with someone who would love it too! Know any other festival I should add to this list? Drop it in the comments below!
Looking for the best things to do in Toronto in December? Search no more: here is my complete list!
Still in the summer mood? Discover other great festivals in Toronto that I recommend, including the best music concerts to attend in Toronto!
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