Toronto Illuminite light festival 2026

oronto has the Illuminite light festival returning for 2026 with five light installations spread around the downtown Yonge area. Below is a copy of the route map for the event.

From the Illuminite website, "From February 13 to March 8, 2026, the city will glow with creativity and colour at 777 Bay Plaza, College Park, Granby Parkette, Sankofa Square, and Trinity Square Park. Each site will feature a playful, interactive experience designed to spark joy, movement, and connection in the heart of winter. Whether you’re a curious explorer or just passing through, ILLUMINITE 2026 invites everyone to pause, play, and light up the city together."

The installations are as follows.

5. DOMINO EFFECT by Ingrid Ingrid in Trinity Square Park 19 Trinity Square.

OVAL SWINGS by Prevail Activations and is located at 777 Bay Plaza.

HORIZON by MattCreative in College Park at the Yonge Street entrance 420 Yonge St.

HEARTS AT PLAY by Daria Domnikova in Granby Parkette 431 Yonge St.

POP! by Gentilhomme in Sankofa Square 1 Dundas St E. You have to speak, sing or dance and the installations will transform.

@jmhcet #dominoeffect in #trinitysquarepark #Toronto as part of #illuminite light festival. #downtownyonge ♬ original sound - BringingTheNostalgia

@jmhcet #ovalswings in #Toronto by Prevail Activations as part of #yongebia #illuminite light festival #art ♬ How Bizarre - OMC

@jmhcet #POP! by Gentilhomme in #sankofasquare #Toronto, part of #yongebia #illuminite ♬ The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim

Colonial Tavern's record monument on Yonge Street

This record doesn't spin but it remembers great jazz musicians that performed at Colonial Tavern in Toronto from 1947 to 1987. The building that housed the tavern at 203 Yonge Street is gone now, demolished the year it closed, but the large granite monument was unveiled in 1996, removed during the condo development and parkette construction before it finally found its way back to the site of the former tavern. The parkette is really just some concrete and a ramp.

Two historic bank buildings bookmark the parkette, one with the large Massey Tower condo over the former Canadian Bank of Commerce building to the south and the old Bank of Toronto building. It probably took a lot of deposits to finance all those columns used by the banks.

The black granite disc, or record, shows 175 musical artists, including many legendary artists, who played the famous jazz venue, breaking the colour barrier in Toronto in 1947. The Colonial was founded by Lawrence and Lichtenberg and also inscribed on the stone is the following.

"Jazz Place: Serves to commemorate the important contribution to the cultural life of Toronto and the North American Jazz Scene. 1995"

The monument in the sidewalk

The Parkette between the banks

Former Bank of Toronto

Looking towards the former Canadian Bank of Commerce building

Craning on Yonge Street

Construction work on a building along Yonge Street required the roadway to be closed to allow cranes to lift equipment to the site. Workers brought in electrical equipment on several flatbed trucks and moved them to the building, high in the air. It was very exciting, I'm surprised that there wasn't a giant crowd watching this operation go down.

The crane lift happened on the September 20-21, 2025 weekend and Yonge Street was closed from Adelaide Street West to King Street West.

Mirvish Back to the Future The Musical

Went to the Mirvish production of Back to the Future, The Musical which you can find at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre (244 Victoria Street, Toronto) until August 31, 2025. This show follows the movie pretty well, dropping the extremist terrorists and adding a case of radiation poisoning along with a bunch of songs - some of them featured in the actual movie, the rest made for this theatre production.

It features many of the movie's characters such as Marty McFly, Doc Brown, George McFly and Biff Tannen and quite a few more. The cast looked and sounded like the movie characters and the songs also used in the movie were excellent, while the new songs were only okay. Where the musical shined was in the stage settings and special effects, they really blew me away, and it appeared that the DeLorean could drive. Marty hits 88 mph in the sports car and moves from 1985 to 1955, starts to change the past and has to find a way to get back to the future while also fixing the past before he leaves. A very enjoyable theatre experience and fans of the movie.

From the Mirvish website, "Winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, four WhatsOnStage Awards, including Best New Musical, and the Broadway World Award for Best New Musical, BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL is adapted for the stage by the iconic film’s creators Bob Gale (Back to the Future trilogy) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and directed by the Tony Award®-winner John Rando with original music by multi-Grammy® winners Alan Silvestri (Avengers: Endgame) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”), alongside hit songs from the movie including “The Power of Love,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Earth Angel,” and “Back in Time.”

Toronto Chariot Fest 2025

The Festival of India Toronto has become Chariot Fest and includes a Grand Chariot Procession leading down Yonge Street on Saturday, July 12, 2025. The 53rd annual weekend festival (July 12-13) celebrates Indian culture and the festivities continue on the Toronto Islands. The parade was led by a large dragon and two horse mounted police officers.

From the Chariot Fest website, "Witness the awe-inspiring spectacle of the Grand Chariot Procession, the centerpiece of the Ratha-Yatra festival. Elaborately decorated chariots carrying the deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra are pulled through the streets by enthusiastic spiritual seekers."

The three floats in the parade are 40-feet tall and are collapsible so that they can go under overhead lines and are pulled by volunteers while people dance, drum and sing all along the route.

Taxi flips in Toronto

It must have seemed like a taxi drive to hell when a two vehicle crash left a cab on its side on a very busy intersection under the Gardiner Expressway. Police sealed off the Lake Shore Boulevard intersection along with Yonge Street southbound from Front Street during the afternoon vehicular accident.

One person ended up being transported to the hospital as a result of the early afternoon accident on Sunday, April 20, 2025. I was in the area to witness a tow truck flip over the taxi so that it could be removed from site and the eventual reopening of the area. The tiktok video of the taxi being pulled over follows.

@jmhcet Taxicab flipped on Lakeshore Blvd at Yonge Street in Toronto April 20. A #towtruck pulled the #taxi back to its wheels. #Toronto #carcrash ♬ original sound - jmhcet 🇨🇦

Tiny motorized advertising in Toronto

In early April 2025 I was walking downtown at the Yonge Dundas intersection, waiting for the light when a small remote controlled vehicle wheeled by and seemed to get stuck at a door. A nearby woman tried to open the door because she thought it might be a delivery drone, however it didn't go in the door, it just kind of hung there.

I took some photos waiting for it to do something and didn't really notice that its sail was talking about advertising, which seems to be the opposite of what they want to accomplish. So if you can't afford a billboard, this might be your thing.

It was a busy intersection where they were driving this little wireless wonder

Toronto Festival of India parade

As part of the Festival of India there is a parade that runs down Yonge Street in Toronto and it contains thousands of participants and three humongous wagons that roll down to Queens Quay before making their way onto the Toronto Islands for the balance of the festival.

The impressive structures on the wagons come down when they need to pass under wires

The 2024 festival runs July 13 to 14 and is a weekend full of all India, including the culture, spirituality and the expression of community. The annual festival, which began in the 1960s, is called Ratha-Yatra and is organized by the Toronto Hare Krishna Centre. The event is free but you will still need to pay to get to the islands - and the lineups at the ferry boats and the water taxis were also humongous.

Here is the overall scheduling information from the festival.

Day 1: Grand Chariot Fest ParadeDate: July 13, 2024
Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Yonge-Dundas Square to Queensquay
The festivities kick off with the grand Chariot Fest, a colourful procession featuring majestic chariots, traditional dances, and vibrant music. The parade starts at Dundas Square and moves down Yonge Street, concluding at Queens Quay.

Day 2: Festivities at Centre IslandDate: July 14, 2024
Time: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: Centre Island, Toronto
The celebrations continue on Centre Island with a full day of activities including cultural performances, arts and crafts, spiritual seminars, and family-friendly activities. Attendees can enjoy a free vegetarian feast, explore a vibrant marketplace, and participate in interactive workshops.

Festival Features:Arts & Culture Tent: Discover traditional crafts, captivating performances, and interactive workshops.
Spiritual Seminars: Enrich your mind and soul with inspiring talks on mindfulness, wellness, and spirituality.
Gopi-Dots Face Painting: Experience the beauty of traditional face painting and learn about its cultural significance.
Family-Friendly Activities: Enjoy workshops and activities suitable for all ages.

Illuminite and Biolumen light art installations

Downtown Toronto is breaking out the bling with artistic light installations known as Illuminite during the month of March 2024. Six pieces are spread out around the Eaton Centre - one at Yonge-Dundas Square, one overlooking Y-D Square, one at Shuter Street and three in Trinity Square Park from March 1 to 31, brought to you by the Downtown Yonge BIA and all lit up daily until midnight - reminder they have more impact after sunset. Ethera is shown at top.

A closer look at ethera

SAM LAMP wants to help with your Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) mental health

The installations in Trinity Square Park are ethera by Ariel Weiss in Trinity Square Park, SPECTRUM by Mirari, co-production of Quays Culture and Quartier des spectacles Partnership and SAM LAMP by Sam Hardwicke-Brown (which used to be in College Park).

SPECTRUM - this has speakers at both ends and you can see your sound waves leaving and the echo and return light. One of my favourites of the installations

Someone modeled for me in SPECTRUM

SPECTRUM is an interactive installation with microphones built into the stands that hold the circles of light. Verbal communication "becomes a cascade of waves and luminous pulses, illustrating the fascinating trajectories of sound. Watch as your message moves from one end of the circles to the other. You will see how small gestures – invisible reverberations – can have a big impact."

Biolumen - you can spin the tubes

Biolumen in the large public square opposite the Toronto Eaton Centre and adjacent to one of the busiest pedestrian areas of the city features The art installation features "ten large luminescent structures where art, science, and nature merge. Inspired by deep-sea Radiolaria, “Biolumen” represents resilience and beauty in harsh environments."

Along Yonge Street you can find BIOLUMEN by Radha Chaddah x RAW Design (Yonge-Dundas Square), digital drapes by MattCreative at 19-21 Dundas Square and You were here by Meghan Cheng at Shuter Street which features lighted butterflies that animate as people walk by.

Digital Drapes shining in blue in the photo above - the design changes and one has a heart floating up

You were here butterflies in a window at the SE corner of Yonge at Shuter

The Illuminite map