Dinos in Toronto: Inflatable Dinosaur Rampage

Urban Playground Toronto courts disaster as they attempt to gather and control dinosaurs with a Saturday, April 26, 2025 event called "Inflatable Dinosaur Rampage". This unnatural gathering will lead to nothing good if the dinosaurs get loose, because life finds a way - especially dinosaurs, and they rip locals and tourists alike with their sharp claws and giant, inflatable teeth.

Organizing group Urban Playground Toronto is dedicated to bringing fun into the six with free social events in public spaces and you can find them on facebook. They have put on such exciting activities as the recent Pillow Fight, the Water Gun Fight (for when it gets warmer) and a rousing round of Snow Ball Fighting (for when it gets colder again). Urban Playground's poster for the event is shown at top.

Participants will meet at 1pm by the clock tower in the Grand Plaza outside Union Station along Front Street where they will "Rampage like there is no tomorrow!!!!" as they attack several iconic downtown locations. Will humanity survive this chaos, will the orange guy change his mind about the 51st state?

The first annual rampage was a little sparse on the rampaging and destruction, only one dino showed up. Hopefully the dino pack will come out in force next year.

It's a Daisy Flashmob in Toronto

It seemed like a normal day at the city's busiest pedestrian scramble intersection at Yonge and Dundas with a small group of ladies giving out samples of perfume. Dressed in blue jeans, black shirts and all carrying see through umbrellas, the ladies in twos and threes were situated at all four corners of the intersection and the perfume sample they were giving out was Daisy by Marc Jacobs.

Then suddenly all the vehicles stopped and the all way pedestrian signals came on and the population of umbrellas and ladies grew significantly as they performed a coordinated dance routine. A sort of singing in the rain, without the rain. And as quickly as it started, the lights changed and the ladies poured out of the intersection.

See more of the flashmob after the jump.

#Toronto Board Meeting

The Chairman of the Board couldn't have done it better as hundreds of longboarders rolled down Yonge Street for their annual Board Meeting. Beginning at St Clair they took over the entire street as they made their way down to Toronto City Hall. The dress code was a shirt, tie and helmet. The flashmob event is usually held on the second Saturday of September (Sept 8 in 2012).

The boarders quickly lined the ramp leading to the green roof and made some exciting runs down the steep surface. A motion to have fun was quickly passed and seconded.

"A few years ago, Benjamin Jordan had a class assignment that required him to give something back to a community that he identified with. At this time, Jordan was involved with some locals who got together regularly for longboarding sessions in Toronto. The group, called Metro Longboarders, was started by Michael Brooke (founder, Concrete Wave Magazine) and Tom Browne. Jordan wanted to integrate his love of longboarding and his passion for photography into a meaningful event that would affect the longboarding community, and the city at large, in a positive way. In a moment of clarity, he knew what he had to do: get as many longboarders as possible to meet in a specific place, at a specific time, with the simple intent of riding through the city together, just for fun. For the sake of irony, and a nice double-entendre twist, he asked that all riders wear a white shirt and tie, and called it a Board Meeting. Although it was close to being called off by the authorities, Jordan and his co-conspirators pushed through, and the event has been happening every year since its original inception in 2003."

See more of the boards after the jump.

#Toronto @SilverSnailTO flashmob

It was a long, long line of volunteers, along with @TOrollerderby and the Star Wars 501st Legion, moving boxes and props from the old location on Queen Street West to Silver Snail's new location at 329 Yonge Street (just north of Dundas St).

Described as the 'longest and nerdiest bucket line ever' the more than 500 participants passed each item along to the next person - from Queen, up Bay, east on Dundas, passing by the new store location which remains under construction, before heading over to Ryerson U at Gould where they stacked the boxes and handed out rewards and prizes. The boxes started moving early in the morning of August 18, 2012 helped along by the Roller Hype Crew of the Toronto Roller Derby, the Run for Your Lives apocalyptic 5K obstacle race of zombies and with the Star Wars characters ready to fire on (and miss) any stray rebels.

The Doctor Who Society of Canada also helped keep things running smoothly at the finish line, besides a megaphone they also had a big, blue telephone box named TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space Machine).

Co-owners George Zotti and Mark Gingras in blue hardhats

As the last boxes made their way along the route the volunteers gathered at the pond where they were given a bag of goodies. Then they assembled in another line where they had a chance to win a prize.

See more photos after the jump.

Yoga flashmob in #Toronto

When the pedestrian all way crossing lit up at Yonge and Dundas Streets the yoga members went into the road and did some yoga stuff on Saturday July 28, 2012. The busy intersection beside the Eaton Centre is a very popular flashmob location, you have to be prepared to step around those usually funny flashmob participants.

This one was part of the lead up to Yogathon Toronto 2012: You already do Yoga. Now do it for a cause. The event will be held in the nearby square at 1 Dundas Street East on Sunday August 19, 2012 from 10am to noon and will join Yogathons in 5 other cities across Canada.

"The target is to do 108 Sun Salutations in 2 hours, but you can do as many as you like 25, 50,.. whatever your body is ready for. Believed to have originated 2,500 years ago, Sun salutations are a series of 12 fluid Yoga postures that create a full body workout.

100% of the collections from this event will go towards Care for Children, a charity program that helps underdeveloped countries establish schools and educational infrastructure for children. Take this opportunity to make a difference in children's lives!"

See more photos after the jump.

Ninjas swarm #Toronto Eaton Centre

Black clad ninja assassins gathered outside the @TOeatoncentre and almost invisibly made their way into the the iconic shopping mall in the heart of our city.

The flash mob came in the Yonge and Dundas entrance and utilizing their oriental battle arts went down the escalators. I think there was a sale on ninja masks!

Shoppers hugged children tight as they sensed movement through the mall

The ninjas seemed to float through the air - both feet are off the ground

Flashmob: National Ballet at Distillery District

Members of the Canada's National Ballet School filled the square in the #Toronto Historic Distillery District for a dancing Bollywood style flashmob celebrating International Dance Day.

The group gathered together at noon on Sunday April 29, 2012 to join in a spring celebration of dance.

Posted by Joe Hamilton. See more dancing after the jump.

Flashmob Proposal in #Toronto

#Yorkville was the place to be for the Saturday, April 28, 2012 #mprovToronto (I.t) performance of Flashmob Proposal. The last we had seen I.t they had gathered at Old City Hall with another musical flashmob: Best Busker Song. They brought back the music to serenade a young couple in love, where a marriage proposal would follow the song - and she said yes!

Oliver brings his guitar to the table and asks if he can sing a song - she seems a little surprised

"They will both be going out for lunch. While eating they are approached by a man with a guitar, asking if they would like a song. He gets both their names then he begins singing. Talking about when they first met, and the memorable moments in their life so far. At this point she’s very confused at how he knows these things. As the song builds, more and more people join in. Everyone from the surrounding tables, people from the streets, etc. A the song gets to the end, he gets down on one knee."

Practicing before the big event

In the afternoon of the big day the members of I.t gathered in the park on Cumberland Street, practicing for the big song, waiting for the right time to head to the site of the proposal: Trattoria Nervosa at the corner of Bellair St and Yorkville Ave. Finally the crowd streams out of the park heading to the restaurant when a guitarist appears at the table of the intended and asks if he could sing a song for her. Soon he is joined by a giant group of musicians and singers belting out the Proposal Song, written by Oliver Bailey.

Verse 1 

F# D#m 

Stumbling and falling way back in middle school 

B 

I never knew it would be you 

C# 

Who’d steal my heart at waterloo.

The group in action

As he moves in to propose

The best part of flashmobs, besides the happy faces of the participants anticipating the flashmob, is the looks of the people who see the large crowds waiting to perform curious as to what is happening (or about to happen) and then the amazement as they watch the flashmob perform. Another great job that brought smiles to many Torontonians today. The members of I.t gather together on the Yorkville Rock after the event for a group picture at top.

See more photos after the jump.

Pillow Fight 2012: Bunny Edition

Thanks Hooters girls: They reminded me that the action begins Saturday, April 7 at 8pm at Yonge-Dundas Square for the #Toronto Pillow Fight 2012. Soft pillows and costumes are the order of the day for Improv Toronto's annual pillow swinging melee and here are pictures of the nights pillow pounding fun. You can find more pics of the 2012 battle here and check out last years battle here.

Batman battles a little girl evildoer

See more after the jump.

Improv in #Toronto: Best Busker Song

A lone guitarist stands at the corner of Queen Street West and Bay Street, the wide sidewalk is filled as people pass in the cold. Someone holds a sign saying they will make up a personalized song and sing it to them, for free. And so it begins as Improv in Toronto starts their latest flash mob performance, waiting for someone that wants a song. Few stop and take the bait, but when they do, the magic starts.

First Oliver (photo at top) starts the song, playing the guitar and singing into the mic, as groups of musicians quickly gather in a semi-circle around the victim (one of them is named Maya). The tune is catchy and the mob is enjoyable to watch.

Complete stranger Maya stops and asks Oliver for a song. His lone voice starts the flash mob

Improv Toronto musicians rush from hiding and converge around Oliver

The large group belts out the personalized song for Maya

Maya beams after the experience 

"Maya,  Though we just met, I can tell that you’re pretty cool.
I wanna take a moment to appreciate everything that’s great about you.
Maya, You’re a girl of a different kind, And people must be blind, If they don’t notice you...."

In between performances

See more after the jump.