Toronto Taste of the Junction 2026

This annual Toronto festival shines bright on one day, bringing art, food and culture to Toronto's west end during the Saturday, June 27, 2026. The Taste of the Junction runs from 11am to 7pm in the Green P parking lot at 385 Pacific Avenue. This is just south of Dundas Street West that curves to the northwest, following the train line. The celebrating Black Culture tent is shown above.

You can find immersive installations and augmented-reality wall murals while enjoying food, drink and entertainment. There are five walk through cultural installations to experience as part of Passagesways while the 11 animated augmented-reality murals can be discovered using a free app (Artivive)

From the festival's website, "Visitors can explore 50+ vendor booths, shop unique creations from local makers, enjoy bites and drinks from neighbourhood favourites, and dive into pop-up experiences for all ages. The day will be energized by DJ programming, a vibrant market atmosphere, and a family-friendly Play Zone hosted in the Darren’s No Frills parking lot."

“Taste of the Junction is about celebrating the creativity and character that make Toronto’s neighbourhoods unique,” said Carol Jolly, Executive Director of The Junction BIA. “During Toronto’s Host City Summer, when more people are expected to be exploring the city, this festival gives residents, visitors, and fans a chance to discover the Junction as a vibrant west-end destination bursting with flavour, art, and surprises. It’s also an opportunity to support local businesses, enjoy public art, and experience one of Toronto’s most creative neighbourhoods.”

Together on Geary Street Festival

One of Toronto's most art filled streets, Geary Avenue, is throwing a free, one-day festival called Together on Geary on Saturday, June 27 from 1pm to 11pm.

From the Crawl's website, "A one-day neighbourhood celebration with live music + DJS, art, food+drinks, soccer-theme pop-ups, watch parties, interactive workshops, craft stations, kids’ activities, participation from your favourite Geary Ave businesses, and more."

Toronto Pride 2026

Toronto Pride weekend festival is here (June 25-28) culminating a month of celebration and preparation. The Trans March and StreetFair begin Friday, the Dyke March is Saturday and the big Pride parade is Sunday. Pride Toronto celebrates 2SLGBTQI+ communities with programming and events throughout the festival.

StreetFair is on Church Street, from Gould to Hayden, from Friday to Sunday between Gould to Hayden. The Gay Village pops with colour and music as the community parties till 11pm on weekends.

Trans March is Friday, June 26 with the rally and march taking place from 5-7pm, leaving from Church and Charles Street.

Mayor Olivia Chow joins the Dyke March

The Dyke March on Saturday, June 27 starts at Church and Hayden Streets and runs from 2 to 3pm.

The Pride Parade takes over downtown on Sunday, June 28. Starting 2pm at Rosedale Valley Road and Park Road, onto Church Street, then down Yonge Street, to Dundas Street and over to Nathan Phillips Square.

From the festival's website, " The Pride Parade returns in 2026 as one of the most powerful moments of the festival, a moving celebration of visibility, resilience, and joy. It’s a day when streets fill with colour, voices rise together, and our communities show up in full force. Whether this is your first Pride or one of many, the Parade is a reminder that you belong here. Starting at 2PM, more than 25,000 marchers and 250+ groups will take to the streets, each bringing their own stories, identities, and reasons for marching. Together, they create a living expression of Pride, one rooted in love, solidarity, and the belief that progress happens when we move forward side by side. The Parade kicks off from Yonge Street and Aylmer Street to Nathan Phillips Square, where thousands will line the route to cheer, celebrate, and stand in support."

See more photos after the jump.

Snowbirds fly into the Canadian Warplane Museum

It was a special day in Hamilton as the Canadian military acrobatic jet team met up with a B-25 Mitchell Bomber and did a number of flyovers before landing at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum for a meet and greet. The weather on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 was a little suspect but it remained clear enough for the B-25 to take off and meet the jet team after their recent appearance at the Barrie Air Show. The heritage flight did a pass over the museum before heading to Niagara Falls and later over Toronto for the flyovers, returning to land at the airport. 

The clouds were angry around the museum

The grounded Lancaster

The Snowbird's old CT-114 Tutor aircraft are being retired from the team in 2026. The last scheduled performances will be in October will be in the States, otherwise there are a number of events in September - including over Toronto during the Canadian International Air Show. It is anticipated that the new planes will be propeller driven, Swiss-made CT-157 Sisken II aircraft which may take until the 2030's to be used by the team. These aircraft are also to be used for early pilot training in the Canadian military. This is season 55 for Canada's jet team.

Snowbirds rolling in towards the museum

The B-25 and Snowbird heritage flight

B-25 bomber heading taxiing out to meet the Snowbirds

Firing up the twin-engine bomber

Lancaster out with the Snowbird jets during a pilot meeting

Snowbird team meeting around one of the jets wing

During initial planning the Avro Lancaster was proposed for the heritage flight, however a brake problem grounded the historic bomber and a B-25 Mitchell bomber was fired up as the Lancaster's replacement. The Snowbird team was anticipated in Hamilton around 2:30pm but first a single Snowbird did some maneuvers over the airport before landing to setup the landing area. As the balance of the Snowbirds flew south, the B-25 took off to meet up with the other eight jets to begin the heritage flyovers.

See more photos from the museum after the jump.

World Naked Bike Ride Toronto 2026

Time for the annual protest ride through the streets of downtown Toronto. The event is free to attend and actually saves you money because you don't need clothes to participate! As usual the World Naked Bike Ride Toronto takes place on the second Saturday of June - this year on June 13, 2026 and is a rain or shine event. Superman and Superwoman put on their costume for the ride in the photo at top.

At the Victory Memorial in Coronation Park

Organizer Gene Dare will be in Coronation Park early, probably around 9 or 10am (he was here at 8:15am), waiting to greet the people who show up for the ride. Gene is in the photo at above, right side along with Madison Charlton and their dog Quentin.

Biking on the city streets

Taking a break at Queens Park

Riders will gather, socialize and some will apply bodypaint (bring your own paint) and sunscreen. The meeting point is the Victory Memorial near the giant Canadian Flag in the park just across Lake Shore Blvd and Exhibition Place. The ride will start rolling around 1pm, doing a large clockwise loop around the city core, passing by and stopping at a few of the major city icons before heading back to Coronation Park at the end of the event. You can join or drop out any time you want as well as riding as bare as you dare!

One of the most anticipated stops is the pond at Nathan Phillips Square, City Hall. People splash in the water and play in the fountains, however the pond has been drained and covered with fake grass to create soccer fields in honour of FIFA. If they bring soccer balls maybe they will have a quick game on the pitch.

From the Toronto WNBR website, "JUST SHOW UP AND RIDE The World Naked Bike Ride is global protest against the over usage of oil and urban pollution, promoting greater cycling safety on our roads, and encouraging body freedom for everyone. This site visually describes the naked protest and environmental awareness event. You are encouraged to join this legal ride. There is no cost, no registration, no cost to the taxpayer, no corporate sponsors and best of all it originated in Vancouver, Canada, and now occurs in over 80 cities worldwide. Renting a bike? Cover the seat."

You can find some info about the ride on my previous post here.

See some previous ride links and more 2026 photos after the jump.

FIFA World Cup 2026 starts today in Toronto

I think this event will result in the biggest hiring of security guards in the history of Toronto as World Cup soccer, or possibly football plays six games in the City beginning June 12, 2026 and ending July 2. In addition to the games there is a FIFA Fan Fest taking place in Fort York and Bentway Park during the sporting event. This year's tournament is taking place in three countries; Canada, Mexico and the United States with sixteen host cities and 48 teams involved. Canadian cities are Vancouver and Toronto and overall the World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19.

Toronto's six games will happen at BMO Field in Exhibition Place on the following dates.

Friday, June 12, 2026 (3:00 p.m. ET) – Canada v. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Group B
Wednesday, June 17, 2006 (7:00 p.m. ET) – Ghana v. Panama
Saturday, June 20, 2026 (4 :00 p.m. ET) – Germany v. Côte d'Ivoire
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 (7:00 p.m. ET) – Panama v. Croatia
Friday, June 26, 2026 (3:00 p.m. ET) – Senegal v. Iraq
Thursday, July 2, 2026 (7:00 p.m. ET) – Winner of Group K v. Winner of Group L

Under the Bentway

Keep in mind that during match games some of the streets of Toronto will be closed so it will be difficult to get around. They suggest public transit, walking or riding a bike, which is always preferred in this city.

Game Day Road Closure Schedule *All times are approximate and subject to change.

Friday, June 12 – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 17 – 2 p.m. to midnight
Saturday, June 20 – 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Tuesday, June 23 – 2 p.m. to midnight
Friday June 26 – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Thursday July 2 – 2 p.m. to midnight

Road Restrictions: 

Local access only for Fort York neighbourhood June 11 - 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Local access for residents and businesses in the Fort York neighbourhood (Bathurst St to Strachan Ave, Fleet St to Fort York Blvd)

Road Closures: Lake Shore Boulevard West, Strachan Avenue and Exhibition Grounds June 12 - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Lake Shore Blvd W from Bathurst St to British Columbia Rd and Strachan Ave from East Liberty St to Lake Shore Blvd W is is fully closed in both directions as well as all roads inside Exhibition Place.

Road Restrictions: Local access only for Liberty Village neighbourhood
June 12 - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Local access only for Liberty Village residents and businesses, below King St from Dufferin St to Strachan Ave.

Road Closure: Bremner Boulevard (around Rogers Centre)
June 12 - noon to 11:30 p.m.
Bremner Boulevard will be closed between Lower Simcoe Street and Navy Wharf Crescent.

Road Closure: Fleet Street
May 18 to July 31
Fully closed between Fort York Boulevard and Strachan Avenue until July 31.

At HTO Beach looking toward the CN Tower #WeAreToronto

A floating soccer field is outside of Queens Quay Terminal

You can walk across this pedestrian bridge over Lake Ontario once again

I dislike these type of headlines, but sometimes you just have to have fun! I have walked over this bridge many times in the past as it crosses over a marina in Toronto and lands by Harbourfront Centre. Then five years ago it closed, or really the lifting part of the bridge was removed and it was blocked to keep people from falling in the water. The lift bridge was necessary to allow the boats to get in and out of Marina Four, part of Harbourfront Centre Marine.

This bridge was originally named the Spadina Wavedeck pedestrian bridge and with the repair and reopening of the bridge you too can save valuable minutes on your journey. It was renamed the Amsterdam Bridge because it was originally gifted to the city by the Mayor of Amsterdam in 1974, not because it is by the adjacent Amsterdam Brewhouse. On Sunday, May 31, 2026 it opened once again with the help of the Deputy Mayor, a representative of Harbourfront Centre and CreateTO along with the Dutch Consul General.

You can see the Amsterdam Bridge missing the lift bridge portion in the above photo from early May 2026.

Maple Keys carpet in Sherbourne Common

The urban park along lower, Lower Sherbourne has two sections; one north and one south of Queens Quay East. This is a great park that runs right up to the edge of the inner harbour and includes cool features such as a winding, concrete channel and some art installations that provide water cascading down to the channel, a washroom facility, a skating rink/splash pad, plenty of open space and some Maple trees that are shedding their seeds onto the concrete surface.

The seeds are maple keys that act light little helicopters, dropping from the tree and hoping to hit a nice, welcoming patch of soil that will allow a new crop of Maple trees. Sadly in this case they also need to wait for a nice wind to get them out of that urban hard spot. So many have dropped that it is hard to see the grey concrete through the seeds.

Monument to the War of 1812

Just checking in on Douglas Coupland's sculpture made of good old resin and steel and titled Monument to the War of 1812. It's still there at 600 Fleet Street in Toronto, a nod to the war that ended in a stalemate in a time long since passed.

The work of art installed in January of 2008 features two War of 1812 soldiers, one in gold standing over the other silver soldier lying at his feet. It is not real violence depicted as they appear to be toy soldiers.

@jmhcet Monument to the War of 1812 #Toronto, Canada. #sculpture #toysoldiers #douglascoupland ♬ sonido original - David