Weekend need-to-know: Taste of Little Italy, another full weekend of Pride events

Another weekend full of festivals, charity walks and Pride events is set to take over the City of Toronto with lots of places to celebrate your dad this Father’s Day.

The forecast is shaping up to be picture-perfect, too, as wet weather on Friday is expected to give way to plenty of sunshine.

Here’s what you need to know.

Taste of Little Italy

Taste of Little Italy will be taking over College Street to celebrate all things Italian this weekend. College will be shut down from Bathurst to Shaw Streets from Friday evening to Monday morning.

The annual festival returns after last year’s version, with live music on multiple street corners and on the main stage, extended patios, multicultural vendors, amazing food, and carnival rides. and new this year, a learn-to-skate park.

Na-Me-Res 2023 Traditional Pow Wow and Indigenous Arts Festival
A traditional Pow Wow will take place on Saturday at the Garrison Common at Fort York Armoury in recognition of Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day.

The event will feature drumming, dancing and also craft and food vendors.

A flag raising will be held at 10 a.m., followed by the Pow Wow from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on June 17.

On Sunday, the Indigenous Arts Festival will feature a full-day live concert featuring contemporary and traditional Indigenous musical performers.

Under Armour 10K

The annual Under Armour 10K will be happening this Saturday as runners take to the streets to support KidSport. The national not-for-profit charitable organization helps remove financial barriers that prevent kids from playing sports.

For more on road closure details, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Pride Weekend #3 events

Toronto Zoo Celebrates Pride! – The Toronto Zoo is planning a full day of activities to celebrate Pride, including a kid-friendly Drag Storytime in the morning, followed by a Drag Show with more than five Kings and Queens entertaining amongst the animals.

BACKYARD: Pride Celebration – The second STACKT Market backyard festival series will be happening on June 17 and will feature an “epic” Pride celebration. It’s happening from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. and will feature a pep rally day party, DJ showcase, and over 30 2SLGBTQIA+ vendors.

BI BI Baby – This Saturday night, head to the bi-annual immersive art and dance party celebrating bisexuality. Local bisexual artists come together to curate an evening of art, music, live performance, lighting design and digital media. It kicks off at 8 p.m. at HOMECOURT on Ossington Avenue.

Toronto swimming pools open

The city of Toronto is officially opening 10 outdoor pools will open Saturday across the city. They’ll run on a partial schedule for now, opening 4 to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

The list of the pools that will open tomorrow can be found here.

The rest of the outdoor city pools will open on the 24 also with reduced hours but will open on a full schedule by Friday, June 30.

TTC Closures

No major TTC closures on the subway this weekend.

Road Closures

Event closures

• College Street will be closed from Shaw Street to Bathurst Street beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, June 16 and will reopen on Monday, June 19, at 3:00 a.m.
• Under Armour 10k event will result in the following roads being closed from 4 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Fort York Boulevard between Fleet Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West, Strachan Avenue between Fleet Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West, and Lake Shore Boulevard West from Bathurst Street to Windermere Avenue.

Ongoing closures

• Queen Street is fully closed to traffic between Bay and Victoria Streets to accommodate work on a new station for the Ontario Line subway. The closure is scheduled to last for at least four-and-a-half years, until 2027.
• Lake Shore Boulevard West, from Rees Street to Spadina Avenue, is reduced to two lanes until May 31, 2024, for Enwave construction.
• Bathurst Street is down to a single lane each way at Laurelcrest Avenue for construction until the middle of August.
• 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 this spring.
• Eastbound Queen Street, east of Bay Street, has the right lane blocked for construction until September.
• Northbound Yonge Street is reduced to one lane between Wellington and King Streets for TTC construction. The project is scheduled to continue into 2024.