Weekend need to know: Family Day long weekend in Toronto

This weekend marks the Family Day long weekend in the province, meaning a long weekend for some. Click here for a list of what’s open and closed this holiday Monday.

Some weekend events include the annual Woodbine Beach Winter Stations, Black History Month at TIFF Bell Lightbox, and an ice sculpture festival.

There are no scheduled subway closures for this weekend, but ongoing road closures. Scroll below for those details.

Here’s what’s going on for the long weekend:

Top events

Woodbine Beach Winter Stations

The ninth annual Winter Stations exhibit launches at Woodbine Beach on Family Day and runs until April 3.

Each year, the Winter Stations exhibit invites artists from around the world to create temporary installations that transform lifeguard stations along the city’s beaches into interactive works of art.

Installation themes include topics like climate change, social justice, and the role of public space in the community.

Digital rendering of Winter Stations 2023 installation titled Life Line desgined by James Bruer, Nick Roland and Jacqueline Hampshire

Black History Month at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Throughout the entire month, TIFF Bell Lightbox is honouring Black excellence in film.

Featured films include the 30th-anniversary restoration of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, the 25th-anniversary restoration of Hype Williams’ Belly, and a 1990s Black cinema retrospective.

The year-round programme, TIFF Cinematheque, is presenting a retrospective of what they’re calling “New Black Realism” from the 1990s.

Curated by the American Cinematheque, Perpetratin’ Realism: 1990s Black Film examines how films navigated complex and often contradictory representations of Black life, love, and friendship.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is being performed until Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Princess of Wales Theatre on King West.

The show has been performed in over 80 countries and is recognized as one of the world’s most beloved family musicals.

The last performances areon Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Photo credit: Mirvish Productions

Bloor-Yorkville Icefest

The 17th annual Bloor-Yorkville Icefest is happening on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 11 p.m. in the Village of Yorkville Park and Cumberland Street.

The festival is a free, public event where visitors can see displays of over 60,000 pounds of carved ice, uniquely designed ice sculptures, live ice carving demonstrations, an ice lounge, and an ice wall with projections throughout the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood.

Bloor-Yorkville Icefest will also be donating this year’s proceeds to Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization.

Free Hangar Skate 

Every weekend for the rest of the month ice skaters can enjoy a free skate at the free, pop-up skating rink “Hangar Skate” at The Hangar District in Downsview.

Free skate weekends include live DJs in the evenings, free skating lessons in the afternoons, and a special Family Day program.

The rink is open on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On Sundays the rink is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Road closures

Ongoing closures

• Westbound Queen from Yonge to Bay streets, the right lane will be closed until late 2023 for work on the Ontario Line.
• University Avenue is a single lane each way north of Queen for work on the Ontario line until the end of February.
• Construction along Pape Avenue north of Danforth has been extended. Certain zones on and near Pape will have one lane closed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., but the lane and direction will change depending on where construction drilling is taking place.
• Military Trail is closed from Ellesmere Road to Highcastle Road for road rehabilitation and slope stabilization. The project completion date has been delayed to the summer.
• Sheppard Avenue West is reduced to a single lane east of Bathurst Street for the installation of a new sanitary sewer line as part of the city’s basement flooding protection program. All work is scheduled to be complete by March.
• Keele Street is reduced to a single lane about 100 metres north of Langstaff in Vaughan. Construction work is scheduled to finish in the spring.
• East and Westbound Queen Street is reduced to one lane between Bay Street and Yonge Street for work on a hydro vault. Work is expected to be completed in March.
• Northbound Yonge Street is reduced to one lane between Wellington and King Streets for TTC construction. The project is scheduled to continue into 2024.
• Bloor Street is impacted by long-term construction, which is behind schedule, between Parliament and Sherbourne streets.

With files from Kyle Hocking and Jordan Kerr of CityNews