Weekend need to know: Black Diamond Ball, Everbloom music festival, ‘Hamilton’ musical

Events this weekend in the GTA include an award show and an all-Canadian music festival honouring Black History Month, as well as charity galas and Hamilton the musical.

There are no scheduled subway closures this weekend. But ongoing road closures continue in the city.

Here’s what’s happening this weekend:

Top events

SickKids Fired-Up Gala 

The first Fired-Up Gala for SickKids is happening at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto on Friday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The gala is a black-tie event in support of SickKids’ Burn and Plastics Unit and the hospital’s highest-priority needs.

The event will host 250 guests for an evening featuring an oyster bar, open bar, three-course surf and turf dinner, live and silent auctions, and live entertainment.

The gala aims to raise $50,000 in support of SickKids, with half of the proceeds going to the Burn and Plastics Unit and the other half going to SickKids Foundation’s fund dedicated to supporting the hospital’s highest-priority needs.

Tickets must be purchased before attending.

Photo credit: SickKids Fired-Up Gala

Black Diamond Ball

The Black Diamond Ball is an award show honouring Black excellence, and is happening on Saturday at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel starting at 5:30 p.m.

The awards and concert will be recorded live to tape to air nationally on Sunday, March 5, at 5 p.m. on Citytv and Citytv.com, and throughout the month of March on Rogers TV stations.

WATCH: Black Diamond Ball’s founder Shawn Cuffie, and vocalist Christina Smith on Breakfast Television:

Everbloom music festival

Everbloom is a Canadian music festival in celebration of Black History Month.

This year’s festival will take place in-person at the Great Hall on Queen West on Saturday, with a focus on celebrating Black performing artists from a variety of backgrounds and genres.

The event will also include a vendors market featuring artisanal products from Black-owned businesses in the GTA.

The lineup for this year’s festival includes Sammy Jackson, Del Hartley, AHSIA, and more.

You can view the full lineup here.

2023 World Rowing Indoor Championships

Mississauga is the first Canadian city to host the 2023 World Rowing Indoor Championships, happening on Saturday and Sunday at Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

The two-day event will welcome more than 2,000 athletes, who include Canadian Olympic gold medalists and Paralympians.

The competition includes several race categories like 2,000-metre and 500-metre races.

Hamilton the musical

The iconic performance of Hamilton, the hip-hop musical based on the life of the first U.S. treasury-secretary Alexander Hamilton, opened at the Princess of Wales Theatre on Wednesday and runs until June 11.

There are only a limited number of tickets left to catch a showing this weekend.

Tickets for the musical are available on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Photo credit: Mirvish Productions

Road closures

New closure

• In Bermondsey neighbourhood, north of O’Connor Drive is closed for sewer work, set to reopen February 28.
• Dufferin Street is shut down from Liberty Street to British Columbia Road, now expected to open March 3.

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

Rogers is the parent company of this website and station