CNE returning to Toronto in August after 2-year hiatus

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is returning to Toronto next month after a two-year hiatus.

CNE organizers say there will be several new attractions as well as familiar favourites. The new features include a nightly drone show and a Celtic food truck festival.

“This year, the CNE has raised the bar sky-high (literally) with a dazzling nightly Drone Show, created for The EX featuring 100 drones that will light up the night with precise formations and colourful images,” a CNE spokesperson said.

“Drones also play a role in the CNE’s new multimedia show, NEVAEH & The NorthStar presented by VinFast, that merges the most cutting-edge theatrical technology, pyrotechnics, and augmented reality to take audiences on an immersive odyssey through time, land, sea and galaxies.”

The CNE says it is also reviving previously popular events such as the Celebrity Kitchen Stage, which last took place in 2017. Photo: Edith Yim.

The CNE says it is also reviving previously popular events such as the Celebrity Kitchen Stage, which last took place in 2017.

“The CNE’s Celebrity Kitchen Stage will feature a roster of renowned chefs, Canadian culinarians, and mixologists such as MasterChef Canada’s Claudio Aprile, Corbin Tomaszeski of Dinner Party Wars, and Food Network star Bob Blumer,” a spokesperson said.

The CNE is also inviting fairgoers to learn more about “the land in which we gather,” which is part of the Treaty 13 Lands and the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat.

The Exhibition was founded in 1879, and organizers say it drew about 1.4 million visitors in 2019.

It’s set to take place between August 19 and September 5.

Advanced tickets purchased before August 18 cost $20, while General Admission tickets for people 14 to 64 are $25. Seniors over 65 pay $20 for a ticket. Children under the age of four get in for free.

With files from The Canadian Press