Weekend need to know: Celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day and Pride

Na-Me-Res Pow Wow and the Indigenous Arts Festival is happening this weekend at Fort York. Photo credit: www.nameres.org

Posted June 19, 2025 10:58 am.

Last Updated June 20, 2025 9:40 am.

Celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day with a traditional Pow Wow and the Indigenous Arts Festival, as well as Pride, with multiple events over the weekend.

Also, just in time for the official start of summer, the City of Toronto will be reopening select outdoor pools on Saturday, with the remaining set to open on June 27.

Keep in mind, there are two subway closures happening this weekend on lines 1 and 2.

Na-Me-Res Traditional Pow Wow and Indigenous Arts Festival

A traditional Pow Wow will take place on Saturday at the Fort York National Historic Site in recognition of Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day.

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

The Na-Me-Res Pow Wow runs from from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Indigenous Arts Festival will also be happening at the same time, running on Friday and Saturday. It will feature live concert both nights featuring contemporary and traditional Indigenous musical performers and an artisans and food market.

TD Toronto Jazz Festival

The long-standing TD Toronto Jazz Festival kicks off its 10-day run on Friday with another stunning lineup including the likes of Dione Taylor, Jeff Goldblum and Broken Social Scene. The world-renowned jazz fest starts Friday and runs until June 29 with free outdoor programming in the Bloor-Yorkville area and ticketed concerts at venues across the city. Check out the festival map here.

The festival, which began in 1987 as an eight-day jazz showcase, continues to grow in popularity and now attracts half a million music lovers and over 1,500 musicians. Check out the full lineup here.

Pride Events

Market Street Pride

Celebrate Pride at St. Lawrence Market this weekend with day filled with music, food, workshops and live demos, local queer vendors, decorating, and more. There will be performances on the Great Lakes Brewery Stage featuring the iconic Tynomi Banks, along with youth workshops and demos with Freedom School Toronto and the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance.

It’s happening on Sunday from 10 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Night at the Aqueerium

It will be a night to remember at Ripley’s Aquarium this Friday as Night at the Aqueerium celebrates its ninth year.

There will be live performances from some of Toronto’s drag superstars, DJ’s spinning until midnight and incredible activations.

Tickets are available now and the event kicks off at 8 p.m.

PLAY! Taiwan Music & Food Fest

PLAY! Taiwan Music and Food Fest annual festival will feature trending musicians from Taiwan, local bands, and jazz performances this weekend. It will also feature a Pride market.

Enjoy the great food, music and fun this weekend at Mel Lastman Square. Entry is free.

Full details about the festival can be found here.

TTC and GO Transit

TTC

Line 1 closure

Subway service on Line 1 between St Clair West and St. Andrew stations will be replaced by shuttle buses on Saturday, June 21, and Sunday, June 22, for planned track work. Regular subway service will resume on Monday, June 23, at 6 a.m.

Line 2 closure

Subway service on Line 2 between Kipling and Islington stations will be replaced by shuttle buses on Saturday, June 21, and Sunday, June 22, for planned track work. Regular subway service will resume on Monday, June 23, at 6 a.m.

GO Transit

West Harbour GO service adjustments

From Friday, June 20 to Sunday, June 22, there will be service adjustments to some Lakeshore West trains at West Harbour GO due to planned third party track work.

Stouffville GO

On June 21-22, GO buses replace train service on the Stouffville line for construction upgrades. There will be no GO Transit service at Milliken, Agincourt and Kennedy GO, consider TTC options. Some late-night service on Friday, June 20, will also be adjusted.

Train service resumes on Monday, June 23, with some schedule adjustments until June 30.

Road closures

Weekend closures

Yonge Street at Mel Lastman Square

Until 11 p.m. on Sunday, June 22, southbound Yonge Street is reduced to two lanes at Mel Lastman Square for the PLAY Taiwan Music and Food Fest.

Fairbank Summerfest

From 7 a.m. tomorrow until 3 a.m. on Monday, June 23, Eglinton Avenue West will be closed between Ronald Avenue and Dufferin Street for the Fairbank Summerfest event.

Arraiá on Yonge

From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, Yonge Street will be closed between Manor Road and Belsize Drive for the Arraiá on Yonge festival.

Ontario Police Suicide Memorial

From 10:30 a.m. to noon on Sunday, June 22, Queens Park will be closed between Bloor Street West and College Street for the Ontario Police Suicide Memorial.

St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica Corpus Christi Religious Procession

From noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 22, Bond Street will be restricted to local traffic only between Shuter Street and Dundas Street East for the St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica Corpus Christi Religious Procession. Additional lane restrictions will be in place on Dundas Street East and Church and Shuter Streets to accommodate the Procession.

Rehabilitation of Eastern/Adelaide Bridges

The following overnight closures will be in effect on the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) for work on the Eastern/Adelaide Bridge Rehabilitation project:

From 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly from Sunday, June 22 to Friday, June 27:
One southbound DVP lane between Dundas Street East and Eastern Avenue.
Southbound DVP off-ramp at Richmond Street East.
From 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly from Wednesday, June 25 to Friday, June 27, one northbound DVP lane between Eastern Avenue and Queen Street East.

Gardiner Expressway closure

As part of the long-term construction plan on the Gardiner Expressway, one westbound lane and one eastbound lane are closed between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue. The eastbound on-ramp from Lake Shore Boulevard at Jameson Avenue is also closed.

A stretch of the westbound Gardiner will also be reduced from four lanes to three for approximately one year. The westbound lane closure will stretch from Park Lawn Road to Grand Avenue in southern Etobicoke. The eastbound lanes along the same stretch will be narrowed, but with no lane reductions, from April 2025 to December 2026.

Temporary closures

Yonge Street is reduced to a single lane both ways between Wellington and King for underground work at the TTC’s King Station to add new elevators and make it an accessible station. Construction is expected to continue into 2026.
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 until 2027.
Eglinton Avenue West is reduced to a single lane east of Islington and west of Scarlett Road due to tunnelling work related to the multi-year Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project.
Lane restrictions on Bayview Avenue between Roehampton Avenue and Armistice Drive while the city completes road resurfacing, curb and sidewalk replacement, and traffic signal and pedestrian upgrades. One northbound lane is currently closed on Bayview Avenue between Kilgour Road and Roehampton Avenue.
Cherry Street remains closed south of Polson Pier due to maintenance on the Ship Channel Lift Bridge (Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge). Road users are able to access the Port of Toronto and Cherry Beach via Unwin Avenue.
Queens Park Crescent is reduced to a single lane south of Bloor as part of the TTC’s Easier Access Program at Museum Station. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
Until Wednesday, Dec. 31, William R. Allen Road will be reduced to two lanes in each direction at Wilson Avenue for construction as part of the rehabilitation of the Wilson TTC Station bus underpass structure and the Mezzanine Bridge.
Until Monday, June 30, access to the Highway 401 westbound on-ramp from southbound William R. Allen Road will be closed. Detour signs will be in place to divert traffic to access Highway 401 using an alternate interchange nearby.
Bremner Boulevard is reduced to one westbound lane at the intersection with Navy Wharf Court until June. Eastbound lanes remain open.
Until August, Blue Jays Way is closed between Front Street and Navy Wharf Court until August. Local access is maintained.
Navy Wharf Court is closed between Bremner Boulevard and Blue Jays Way until August. Local access for residents of Navy Wharf Court is maintained. At a later stage of construction, the east sidewalk on Navy Wharf Court and Bremner Boulevard will be closed to pedestrians and a detour route will be in place.
Islington Avenue will also be reduced from three lanes in each direction to two lanes where they pass over the Gardiner Expressway for approximately eight months, from April 7, 2025, to November 2025.
From Monday, June 2, the intersection of King Street East and Church Street will be fully closed for the next stage of a project to replace a 142-year-old watermain and renew aging TTC streetcar tracks.
From Sunday, May 11 until Saturday, January 10, 2026, Market Street will be closed to vehicle traffic between Front Street West and The Esplanade. The street will be pedestrianized for live entertainment, pop-up market vendors and other events.