Right in the heart of the city at Nathan Philips Square (Toronto’s City Hall), the Cavalcade of Lights kicks off this weekend on November 29th at 7pm with the tree lighting, special fireworks and live performances from Serena Ryder, Alex Cuba, Andrew Craig, Toya Alexis and The Canadian Tenors. The skating rink will also be open until 10pm…which if I’ve calculated correctly means that my evening on November 29th will go something like this -

7:00-8:30pm enjoy the fireworks and music, take some photos and savour this delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate I’ll be making to celebrate.

8:30-9:00pm hop back to my apartment and pick up my ice skates.

9:15-10:00pm enjoy the first ice skate of the season (and work off that hot chocolate).

If you can’t make it this weekend, that’s okay – The Cavalcade of Lights continues every Saturday before Christmas in December –

December 6 – The Top Three Tour, featuring Canadian Idols Theo Tams, Mitch Macdonald, Drew Write plus special guests Mookie Morris and Sebastian Piggot
December 13 – Dragonette
December 20 – Serena Ryder

Address:
Toronto City Hall’s Nathan Phillips Square
100 Queen Street West
(Queen Street West and Bay Street)

TTC: Osgoode Subway Station or Queen Subway Station (both fully accessible)

Images: John Vetterli on Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Christmas is a very fun time, regardless of whether you celebrate it or not.  You get the chance to be with your family, many of whom you may only see at that time.  You get the chance to watch television and eat chocolate as much as your heart desires.  And of course people that do celebrate the holiday get to have presents, sing Christmas Carols and everyone also gets the day off from work.  All in all, Christmas is a very fun time and if you are going to be in Toronto this evening you can help the Metropolitan Community Church celebrate Christmas by attending their Christmas Eve Service at Roy Thomson Hall.

The service itself will be attended by people from all walks of life within Toronto’s diverse cultural community and people will gather to listen to the singing of Christmas Carols as well as a special performance by Louise Pitre.  It’ll truly be a fun Christmas eve get together and if you enjoy that kind of Christmas spirit, then there are fewer places to get it better than with the Metropolitan Community Church at Roy Thomson Hall.  Tickets start at $10.

Roy Thomson Hall of course has appeared on The Toronto Traveler at least two or three times in the eighty or so posts that this blog has, but just in case you’re new to the blog, here is a map showing you exactly where Roy Thomson Hall is.  it is located on Simcoe Street, which you can reach by going west on King Street until you pass University Avenue.  It is right next to St. Andrew Subway Station however, so if you don’t feel like navigating streets you can simply take the subway to that station and follow all the signs pointing to Roy Thomson Hall.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Winter Fest this year is going to be very interesting, with the highlight performance being sung by Omarion.  This is a man that is absolutely multi-talented, with the ability to produce, act and sing.  He is a performing arts genius and he will be joined at the Winter Fest concert celebration by young and upcoming R&B artists Trey Songz and Mario.  The price for this concert is quite hefty, with tickets starting around $65.00, but at the same time if you are a big fan of this kind of music and want to get in on the Winter Fest fun, this might be the time for you to shell out those extra big bucks.  Either way, there’s going to be plenty to do and see in the next two to three weeks, so if you want to wait and spend that money instead on two or three different events, that is also a good idea.

Massey Hall is of course one of the best known venues within the city and because it is just a bit east of Nathan Phillips Square and the Toronto City Hall, a lot of people end up performing at that venue.  It is located on Shuter Street just east of Yonge Street and the closest TTC station to it is Dundas Station, allowing you to walk southwards for about five minutes or so before you reach Shuter.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Annual events around the holiday season are very encouraging to tourism, especially because it gives the tourism economy of a city something to plug each year.  Annual events around the holiday season that are free do this on an even larger scale and if you are a music lover and someone that is interested in developing music talent, then I think there is no event better for you to visit in the city of Toronto than the Annual Tuba Festival and Choir Sing-A-Long.  As a person that used to be a tuba player when I was in high school, I can tell you that I found these concerts extremely fun and it seems like most of the people that were around to spectate the concerts did so as well.

The bands and choirs perform from 12:30 PM to 1:15 PM and the concert is completely free to attend; you either sit or stand and listen to the music that is being played.  The Greater Toronto Area Music Educators have referred to this concert as being “A fun time for young and young at heart” and definitely is something worth visiting especially if you are looking for something to kill time with before visiting another event.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Now that snowfall is occuring here in Toronto and the weather is getting reasonably cold (although we haven’t had snow fall since the first snowfall earlier last week), the famous ice rink in Nathan Phillips Square in front of city hall is open for business once again.  This is an ice rink that I remember going to and skating on year after year when I was a kid and on any given day you’ll see Torontonians having a great time with friends and family as they skate around the partially natural, partially man-made ice rink that covers the square during the winter months.

Weather permitting, the rink itself will usually stay open 12 hours a day from 10 in the morning to 10 at night, although with the milder weather we’ve been having so far this year those hours are probably not going to become regular until December comes and brings regular snowfall with it.  More information about what the operating hours are going to be can be found by calling ahead at 416-338-RINK and asking what the hours are that day before you suit up and prepare to head out with the family.

In addition to being a great place for people to go and skate during the winter, Nathan Phillips Square is filled with the history of not only the City of Toronto, but also of Toronto’s interactions with the rest of the world.  That, however, is a story for another time.

Photo Credit: City of Toronto

Map Credit: Google Maps

Post from: The Toronto Traveler