Summer events take over Toronto

Summer doesn’t have to be boring. While the rush of freedom may be enjoyable at first, everyone begins to experience mid-to-late summer lethargy, the feeling of listlessness and lost time as you count days for school to begin again, because having nothing to do just isn’t cutting it anymore. There’s a lot to do in Toronto this summer. Whether it’s your first time living in the city, or if you’ve been here a while, the Big Smoke has all sorts of hidden gems and great events you may not know about.
Starting with food, Toronto has a reputation for food festivals. Too many, in fact, as one of the biggest criticism the city gets is that all we have are food festivals. That isn’t true, but regardless, there are some great eats.Summerlicious begins July 4 this year, which means Torontonians will have access to great deals at Toronto’s best restaurants. The deals allow you to enjoy delicious multicourse meals at a fixed price at 200 participating restaurants in Toronto. The full list for Summerlicious comes out on June 20.
If you’re the picnicking type, High Park is open all year round with an excellent list of features, including a zoo with capybaras. Go for a picnic and a walk, take in some beautiful scenery, and admire the scenic parkland and the water. It’s a great place to be and very accessible. Bring mosquito spray, though.
The Harbourfront Centre and waterfront also hosts exciting events, which include free movie screenings, author readings, and of course, food.In case you’re a commuter student, reaching there is no problem—it’s super close to Union Station. Keep checking their website for events as they become available.
For all the movie lovers, this next bit is great news! Toronto finally has a drive-in movie theater, located just east of the city in the Port Lands. If you’re willing to mission out, there’s an even better one all the way out in Oakville.
If you’d like to get to know the city a bit more, Doors Open Toronto is a great way to do it. Explore all the places in Toronto you’d never get access to, including the CityTV building and the Winter Garden Theatre. This year’s theme is “Secrets and Spirits,” so if you love mysteries, you’d definitely dig this! You get to do a little bit of legal breaking and entering on May 24.
Of course, all of this is nothing compared to Pride, and this year, Toronto is hosting World Pride 2014, which is actually pretty amazing. If you thought the Pride Week Parade hosted annually is big, just wait until Toronto becomes a hub for all things fabulous.
And for everything else, North by Northeast takes over the city this summer as well. With headliners like Spoon and Danny Brown, as well as a whole lot of art and film going on alongside, this is the young artists’ dream. Go see a concert, go see a movie, then enjoy the many pubs and bars across the city.
Of course, it doesn’t end at just food and festivals. The ROM offers discounted tickets of $14.50 for students, along with the Ontario Science Centre and Gardiner museum that also offer discounts at this time of the year. Ripley’s Aquarium doesn’t offer any student discounts, but it’s worth the full admission price.
This is only a sample of what Toronto has to offer this summer. There’s so much more going on, and even more coming up. Be sure to grab a copy of NOW or head on over to BlogTO to find out more, as well as looking at Excalibur’s own web coverage of a York student summer.
 
Abdul Malik
Features Editor
 
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons