Waterfront BIA launches new festival for the fall, bringing activities to the area.
Toronto’s waterfront is welcoming a brand-new tradition to the season with the launch of the Water/Fall Festival.
Taking place Sept. 27 to 28 and Oct. 4 to 5, the waterfront will come alive with exciting activities, exhibits, performances, and more for the entire community to enjoy.
Katherine Hebb, the Director of Marketing with the Waterfront (Business Improvement Area) BIA, explains how the waterfront is essential to Toronto’s warmer months, where everyone gathers, but it dips in popularity immediately after Labour Day.
“The waterfall festival is a brand new event. And how we really did this is we talked to other stakeholders who sometimes do programming around this time of year anyway, and we’re just have everyone kind of do it at the same time to make it really turn into one bigger event,” Hebb said. “The waterfront is very busy during the summertime but the fall after Labor Day, there tends to be a very deep dip in visitor traffic So that was the reason for choosing fall.”
This year’s event hopes to bring together the community and Toronto’s diverse population to celebrate fall on the waterfront, all while enjoying the last few warmer days of the year.
It is also an opportunity for the community to take part and experience all that Toronto has to offer through the different organizations, creativity, and cultures represented during the Water/Fall Festival.
“We really want to celebrate fall on the waterfront and feature creativity and culture and community over these two action-packed weekends,” Hebb added.
This year’s programming highlights for the Water/Fall Festival include art installations, performances, interactive public art, a harvest market with pumpkin carving, food vendors, and much more, as well as Indigenous cultural showcases.
The event even aims to include Nuit Blanche as there will be projections on the silos.
Hebb explains that the Water/Fall Festival is made possible by collaboration with many stakeholders.
“We really want to integrate as many waterfront stakeholders as possible, and get everyone working together and really build this coalition. And of course, a really important part of the waterfront is, of course, sustainability as it is everywhere,” Hebb said.
The Water/Fall Festival takes inspiration from Sydney’s Vivid Festival and hopes to grow year after year into an event that spans all 10 kilometres of Toronto’s waterfront
“We’re starting small. Yes, this festival is really focused mainly on the western
waterfront, but we have 10 kilometers of waterfront in Toronto, and we honestly, like our goal is to really build into a larger festival that would cover that whole 10 kilometers and animate that 10 kilometers. So that’s long term thinking.”
The festival is open to the public and free to attend, with a couple of Harbourfront ticketed performances.
The community and students at George brown college are invited to take part and witness the amazing collaboration of everyone involved in the development of the Water/Fall Festival.
Join the Water/Fall Festival and see the waterfront in a new way, inviting all members of the public to a family-friendly and fun-filled event. With its mix of art, music, food, and cultural showcases, Inviting everyone to discover the waterfront in a whole new season.
To learn more about the Water/Fall Festival, visit www.waterfallfestival.ca.
