Weekend need-to-know: Lots of fall festivals to choose from Thanksgiving weekend

Fall festival and market lovers will be spoiled for choice this weekend in Toronto. Keep in mind, Thanksgiving Monday is a holiday so there will be some closures. There is also a partial closure on Line 2 of the TTC this weekend.

Here’s what’s happening in the city:

Pumpkin Fest Toronto

Downsview Park will be transformed into Pumpkin Fest to mark the Thanksgiving weekend. Pick out your pumpkin for Halloween with a large patch and take your fall photos with their themed photo ops.

With your tickets, you can ride the midway as many times as you want and solve the inflatable corn maze.

There will be performances throughout the weekend along with a costume contest and dance parties. Tickets are available now on their website or you can buy them at the door.

The festival will run from Saturday at 10 a.m. until Monday at 6 p.m.

Toronto Indie Horror Festival

Horror fans will be flocking to the Eyesore Cinema this weekend to catch a few flicks at the Toronto Indie Horror Festival.

The DIY film festival began in 2016 to showcase independent horror movies from Canada and around the world.

You can catch anything from local short films to international found footage movies. It kicked off earlier this weekend runs until Saturday.

Tickets are available on their website.

Toronto Fall Harvest Market

Four days of fall food, acitivities, and vendors is what you can expected at the Toronto Fall Harvest Market.

It’s happening at Sugar Beach from Friday to Monday and will feature seasonal eats, marshmellow fire puts, pumpkin painting and fall-themed photo ops.

The event is free and kicks off Friday evening at 6 p.m. and runs until Thanksgiving Monday at 8 p.m.

Thanksgiving Market

Parkdale Hall will be filled for local goods perfect for holiday gathering and gift-giving at the Toronto Sunday Market’s Thanksgiving Market this weekend.

The curated lineup of local food vendors and makers will allow you to fill your bags with “handmade abundance.”

The market runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. It’s free to attend and pet-friendly.

TTC/GO changes and closures

The TTC will be running on a holiday schedule on Thanksgiving Monday while GO Transit will operate on their Saturday schedule on Monday.

Line 2 weekend closure

Subway service on Line 2 between Kipling and Jane stations will be replaced by shuttle buses on Saturday and Sunday for planned infrastructure work.

Regular subway service will resume on Monday.

Line 2 Monday late opening

Subway service on Line 2 between St George and Broadview stations will be replaced by shuttle buses until 11 a.m. on Monday due to planned infrastructure maintenance.

Road closures

Weekend closures

Scarborough Street Festival 

From 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, October 10 until 7 a.m. on Monday, October 12, Kingston Road will be closed from Markham Road to Eglinton Avenue East

Gardiner Expressway 

The following closures will be in place to facilitate construction work to repair bridges along and over the Gardiner Expressway west of the Humber River: 

Nightly 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., Thursday, October 8 to Thursday, October 15, excluding Saturday, October 10: 

• The Gardiner Expressway westbound collector lanes will be closed under Kipling Avenue from the Gardiner westbound express-to-collector transfer to Kipling Avenue. 

• The on-ramp from northbound Kipling Avenue to the westbound Gardiner will be closed. 

Nightly 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, October 12 to Friday, October 16: 

• The Gardiner Expressway eastbound collector lanes will be closed under Kipling Avenue from east of The East Mall to Kipling Avenue. 

• The on-ramp from southbound Kipling Avenue to the eastbound Gardiner will be closed. 

Gardiner Expressway long-term closure

As part of the long-term construction plan on the Gardiner Expressway, a stretch of the westbound Gardiner has been reduced from four lanes to three. 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.

For full traffic and closure updates, click here for the latest information from 680 NewsRadio Toronto.