Thursday, June 27, 2013

East York Canada Day Parade: the one and only!

If you're looking for a Toronto Canada Day parade, look East, as in East York. The other closest Canada Day Parade is in Port Credit (Mississauga by the Lake, see paintthetownred.ca for details).

East York Canada Day celebrations have been going on for 56 years! They've got it all. There's a large midway section in the northern part of the park, food vendors and tents in the middle, shows on two stages and a fireworks display to top it off.

About parking
If you want to watch the parade, I recommend you try to find a parking spot in the big parking lot in front of the outdoor pool just north of Stan Wadlow Park (near the end of Cedarvale Avenue). It will then take you 15 minutes to walk down Woodbine and west on Sammon to get a nice viewing spot. 

We really liked our viewing spot along Sammon Avenue, in a tree-shaded residential area. 




About the parade
When we visited, there were clusters of red-attired people here and there, fully equipped with chairs, parasol, water and Canadian flags. The parade included the usual suspects: good-spirited Shriners, marching bands, dancers, floats, decorated cars, veterans and sports groups. (The Shriners were dressed as hillbillies and were riding a... rolling loo.)




Expect the parade to arrive there at around 10:30 a.m. (it will reach the park at 11:30 a.m.). Click here to see the 2013 route.










Last time I saw Jack Layton, so full of life, in 2010.


About Stan Wadlow Park
East York Canada Day Parade ends its route at Stan Wadlow Park, which has a lot to offer in addition to the day's events especially planned for the occasion. It includes an outdoor pool (open on Monday July 1st from 12 noon to 8 p.m.), a large playground, a funky skatepark and access to Taylor Creek Park with kilometres of paved trail east and west of Stan Wadlow Park.

The fireworks display is at 10:30 p.m. (I'd make sure I'm there at 10 p.m.).


Other Canada Day weekend activity: 
Toronto's Pride Parade (June 30 at 2 p.m.)
Curious about what it has to offer to families? Read my description on torontofunplaces.com.




 

 



No comments:

Post a Comment