Weekend need to know: St. Patrick’s Day, Toronto Comicon; TTC/road closures

The annual St. Patrick’s Parade in Toronto is taking over Bloor West this weekend, alongside the return of Toronto Comicon at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Other events include Nowruz celebrations and a festival celebrating Arabic culture.

A closure on a portion of the TTC’s Line 1 is scheduled this Saturday. Ongoing road closures also continue within the GTA. Scroll below for more details.

Here’s what to do this weekend:

Top events

St. Patrick’s Day weekend

Several different venues will be hosting St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on Friday and throughout the weekend.

Here are a few to check out:

St. Paddy’s Haaay Dance Party

The St. Patrick’s Parade Society is celebrating St. Paddy’s Day with a queer dance party at Rivoli on Queen West on Friday at 10 p.m.

There will be live entertainment from DJ Sumation and DJ Martina Bosede.

Tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door.

Guests are encouraged to show up to the party in their best green outfits.

Lucky at Rebel
Rebel nightclub’s annual St. Patrick’s Day party returns this year on Saturday between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.

There will be live entertainment from DCR Milda and Harper & Stokes.

Guests can get in free before midnight, wearing green.

St. Patrick’s Parade:

The Toronto St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins on the corner of St. George and Bloor Street West (near St. George subway station) and heads east, finishing at Nathan Phillips Square.

The parade starts at noon on Sunday and lasts about one and a half hours.

The parade route for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 19, 2023. CITYNEWS

There will be a review stand at Nathan Phillips Square with live entertainment and local dignitaries.

Toronto Raptors broadcaster Jack Armstrong is the Grand Marshal of the Toronto 2023 St. Patrick’s Parade. He will also be at Nathan Phillips Square after the parade.

TTC service

The TTC says subway service will be increased on lines 1 and 2 to help people get to the parade. Riders can get to the parade route from St. George, Museum, Bloor-Yonge, Wellesley, College, Dundas, and Queen stations.

The following surface routes will also be diverted:

• 13 Avenue Rd, from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• 94 Wellesley, from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• 501 Queen, from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

The 19 Bay, 505 Dundas and 506 Carlton TTC vehicles will move through breaks in the parade but riders can expect longer than normal travel and wait times on these routes.

Toronto Fire Pipes and Drums in the St. Patrick’s Parade | Photo credit: Philip Wong courtesy of St Patrick’s Parade Toronto Facebook

Toronto Comicon

The annual event for all comic, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming nerds returns to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre all weekend long starting on Friday morning.

Celebrity guests at Toronto Comicon include cast members from The Boys and The Flash, Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls, Emily Swallow from The Mandalorian, and more.

The event’s show hours run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Photo credit | Fan Expo Canada

Taste of Middle East

After several years of being hosted in Toronto, the annual Taste of the Middle East Winter Festival is expanding to the Mississauga Convention Centre for the first time this weekend from Friday to Sunday.

The festival celebrates Arabic music, art, food, and culture.

There will also be a “One Love Benefit Concert” for Syria and Turkey which is where over 50,000 people have tragically died after an initial 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.

Lebanese Canadian entrepreneur Hamsa Diab Farhat started the summer version of the festival in Toronto back in 2018, with the intention of tackling negative associations surrounding the Middle East.

Ten of Toronto

In Myseum of Toronto’s exhibition Ten of Toronto, the project reflects on the history of ten neighbourhoods around the city.

Topics of each neighbourhood include facts and stories of each area’s geography, economy, immigration, and social values.

The exhibit opened in February and runs until the end of April.

Myseum of Toronto is located at 401 Richmond Street West, and is closed from Sunday to Tuesday, and open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.

Nowruz at Aga Khan Museum

Nowruz is the Iranian or Persian New Year, taking place on March 20 this year, marking the first day of Spring.

However, several venues are celebrating the event on Sunday, like the Aga Khan Museum.

The museum is hosting a Nowruz celebration in the museum’s atrium and education centre from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Family-friendly activities include egg decorating, take home spring-inspired arts and crafts, and learning more about Nowruz and the traditional haft sin table.

The Aga Khan museum is seen from the Ismaili Centre Toronto | THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

TTC closures

Line 1 Bloor-Yonge to York Mills single-day closure

There will be no subway service on Line 1 between Bloor-Yonge and York Mills stations on Saturday.

Shuttle buses will operate, and regular subway service will resume at approximately 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Road closures

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Full road closures will take place on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and Queen Street for the parade on Sunday.

A number of secondary roads will also be closed or partially closed, impacting traffic flow in the area.

Road closures due to St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 19, 2023. CITYNEWS

Estimated road closure times for the parade are as follows:

8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.:

• St. George Street from Bloor Street West to College Street
• Devonshire Place from Bloor Street West to Hoskin Avenue

10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.:

• Hoskin Avenue from St. George Street to Queen’s Park Crescent West
• Harbord Street from St. George Street to Huron Street

11:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

• Bloor Street from Huron Street to Yonge Street
• Yonge Street from Bloor Street to Queen Street
• Queen Street West from Yonge Street to University Avenue

12 p.m. to 3 p.m.:

• Bay Street from Queen Street West to Dundas Street West
• Elizabeth Street from Dundas Street West to Hagerman Street
• Hagerman Street from Elizabeth Street to Bay Street

Mississauga intersection

• The intersection of Hurontario and Dundas streets will be closed in Mississauga from 7 p.m. Friday until Monday morning for Metrolinx construction.

Ongoing closures

• Westbound Queen from Yonge to Bay streets, the right lane will be closed until late 2023 for work on the Ontario Line.
• 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.
• 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 this month.
• 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