Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

By day, it is one of the more bustling shopping areas within the City of Toronto.  People go there in order to get great deals on a number of different things, while local residents and students from the nearby University of Toronto tend to go there during their off hours in order to shop from store to store.  It is one of the quintessential local shopping areas in Toronto and on the 21st of December, it is going to be home to an absolutely fascinating festival of lights.

December 21st is the winter solstice and also the shortest day of the year.  During this longest and darkest night of the Toronto year, a number of different presentations from the rooftops and storefronts of Kensington Market will light your way as you traverse the various areas of the market west of Spadina Avenue and south of College Street.  The exhibition will include the famed Samba Squad as well as a number of different characters in costumed garb in a carnival parade the likes of which you are very unlikely to see anywhere else during the coldest part of the year!

The map above shows the general location of Kensington Market, but if you want to get the main parts of the market then you are best sticking to the area that is immediately southwest of the Spadina and College intersection.  Staying in the rectangle defined by those two streets, Augusta Avenue on the west and Dundas Street on the south will ensure that you get to see a fair number of the festivities, although feel free to traverse all the way to Bathurst if you’re feeling particularly adventurous that day!  The closest subway station would be Queen’s Park Station over at University and College, which is about a five minute walk from Kensington Market.

What: Kensington Market’s Festival of Lights

Where: Kensington Market

When: December 21st, 2007, starting at 6 PM local time

Post from: The Toronto Traveler