Bloor Goes BIG

TORONTO—This year’s BIG on Bloor festival will kick off at 1pm Saturday July 23 with elected officials handing out awards to outstanding local citizens.

The festival, which spans Bloor Street West between Dufferin and Lansdowne, features local businesses, food, performances, and vibrant artistic exhibits in a multicultural mix.

There will be musical performances on three different stages, art fairs, discounts provided by local merchants, and tasting menus from the ethnically diverse restaurants that pack the street.

The event will also see the culmination of the month-long Responding Festival, themed on people responding to one another, the environment, and the community, at Kent Senior Public School.

“The Responding Festival is a project that involves architects, artist, poets, performers and community people to create a public art environment,” says event co-chair Dyan Marie with Bloordale BIA (business improvement association).

“They are planning to close Kent Senior School by the end of next year, so another agenda for this project is to mark the space as a place that should, for all time, be made into a public square,” she says.

BIG on Bloor began 4 years ago when two dozen community stakeholders in the community got together to form the Bloor Improvement Group, or BIG, according to Dougal Bichan, the festival director.

From their initial meeting they decided to merge the smaller festivals in the area into one, creating the BIG on Bloor Festival.

More information about the festival can be found at http://www.bigonbloor.com/festival/.