The Top Toronto Festivals and Events To Check Out This Fall

Aside from the photo op-filled apple orchards and pumpkin patches – there are many reasons to look forward to fall in Toronto.
The Top Toronto Festivals and Events To Check Out This Fall

As the lingering summer finally rolls to a close and those beer-filled times on the dock or patio slowly become a distant memory, it’s easy to slide into a deep mourning of the easy, breezy days.

But it’s also easy not to.  

The good news is that – aside from the photo op-filled apple orchards and pumpkin patches – there are many reasons to look forward to fall in Toronto. Case in point: These nine events….

Just for Laughs

If live comedy is your thing, Toronto is about to get a massive dose of LOLs when the annual Just for Laughs Comedy Festival hits the city September 20 to 29. Held at various venues throughout Toronto, this year’s event features famous funny people like Seth Meyers, Wanda Sykes, and Ken Jeong (to name just a few).

Nuit Blanche

While it’s become more about the party than the art to some, if you’re looking for an event that will last all night and offer no shortage of creative inspiration, you may want to mark sunset on September 29 to sunrise on September 30 on your calendars. The marathon art affair that is Nuit Blanche will take over the city with over 75 talking point-filled art installations and no shortage of parties.

Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland

Unless you have a soft spot for the waterpark, the best time to hit Canada’s Wonderland is in the fall, when the lineups and crowds aren’t maddening and when the temperature is actually tolerable. It’s even better when everything is Halloween-themed. Beginning on September 29, Halloween Haunt takes over the amusement park for 14 nights, offering added bonuses like terrifying mazes, scare zones, live shows, and hundreds of monsters lurking in the sidelines.

Bobbyball Presents: Wild West

Toronto’s longtime favourite fundraiser for the young social set, Rethink Breast Cancer’s Boobyball, returns on October 12 to transform the sprawling space at Rebel into a charity event that never cuts corners when it comes to details. Perhaps one of the best themes yet, this year’s affair asks guests to rock their country finest for a cowboy boot-filled interactive evening of southern hospitality.

Hush Hush

Offering a chance to be as loud as you want to be in a library, Hush Hush – the sixth annual fundraiser for the Toronto Public Library Foundation presented by the young professional-filled New Collection – returns to transform the Gladstone Library into a multi-sensory party on Saturday, October 20. Hush Hush: Dewey Decimal to Digital will showcase a fusion of aesthetic nostalgia and advanced technology against the building’s classic architecture.

Art Toronto

If you’re in the market for some quality art, to shake up date night, or for a great party, Art Toronto – Canada’s international fair for modern and contemporary art – returns October 26 to 29. The event fills the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with important artwork from leading Canadian and international galleries, lectures, and panel discussions. Best of all, it kicks off with a hot-ticket (but pricey) Opening Night Party on Thursday, October 26, which always attracts the city’s finest for a cocktail-filled sneak peek.

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Almost 100 years old, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is a Toronto staple for the lovers of horses, agriculture, food, entertainment, schmoozing, and shopping unique finds. The event takes over the Exhibition Place November 2 to 11 and is the largest combined indoor agricultural fair and international equestrian competition in the world. If you’re seeking like-worthy social media material, you’ll find it here.

The One of a Kind Show and Sale

If you’re looking for unique gift ideas, to refresh your own jewellery box, decorate your home, or to meet local artisans (or all of the above), you may want to save the dates for the One of a Kind Expo, which takes over the Enercare Centre November 22 to December 2. Here, you’ll find hundreds of one-of-a-kind handmade products and gifts that you didn’t know you were missing in your life.

The Gourmet Food and Wine Expo

The annual Gourmet Food and Wine Expo– an event not to miss if you call yourself a foodie – returns to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre once again (November 22 to 25) to offer guests the chance to sample all kinds of culinary goodness, quality wine, and other boozy beverages. If you’re looking to shake up typical date night, this is where to do so.

Did we miss any of the best events happening in Toronto this fall? Share with us in the comment section.

Featured image: Instagram/ @canadaswonderland