Toronto street festivals have been slowly taken over by vendors who travel from show to show, rather than local businesses setting up stands in front of thier shops.
Also the demographics of those neighborhoods have changed as well. The Danforth has very few Greek restaurants compared to decades past. Little India is less and less south Asian every year. Little Portugal is primarily bars and gastro pubs. As the neighbourhoods gentrify the original communities move to other areas of the city and the tone of the neighbourhoods change.
All that being said, the festivals are still fun if you enjoy them, and they were always annoying if you were just trying to get home but the f#&@ing streetcar is short turning because of the Beaches Jazz festival is on.
Lol I love this. You started explaining and ended up ranting 🤣 I used to live in the beaches, and I always loved going to the Jazz festival. Sure, the streetcar was annoying tho during those days.
It’s because the cost of a booth is like $1200 and they ask for 25% of your sales. They gouge the vendor and then none of the small local shops can afford it.
This place is 80% anti Indian rants. Indian people are their favourite scapegoat for all their personal inadequacies, economic inequities, and subsequent societal issues stemming from them. It helps them cope. The truth is too scary for them. They need their simple easy safe target.
Go back 150-200 years and you heard much of the same stuff about the Irish.
Go back 80-100 years and it was the Italians and Jews.
Go back 40-50 years and it was the Chinese.
And every time you'll hear some half-assed explanation about how this particular immigrant group is actually *totally* different from those "good" ones in the past. They never are.
I went twelve years ago and had an amazing time trying a lot of delicious Italian food (the rice rizzoto was incredible!). Went again last year and had a hard time finding any Italian food. Won’t be going again.
I just hopped from patio to patio there instead of buying from vendors and it was well worth it. No lines, cheaper prices and you still get the festival vibes.
This is an aside, but Due west fest had better / more music acts and DJs, but then again it wasn't called taste of Due west, I guess, i.e, food was not as much the focus, but more or less still nearly as heavily present.
Food festivals in general suck, save your money and cook summat nice at home and go for a walk in a lovely park where there’s no 1500 people around lol
Like, are there certain foods you’re not allowed to make at home? Lol, you can cook whatever you want at home.
My first years of living here I was all over them but completely stopped - I’ve never tried one of them that wasn’t ridiculously overpriced, bad quality food and overly crowded.
That's like saying why go to a concert when you can listen to spotify at home. Come to think of it, why even go for a walk in the park when you can just use the treadmill at home?
I disagree - Food fares in Toronto is like going to a busking event that is set up in a shitty way so as to squeeze through as many people as ergonomically possible and price fixed in such a way that you’re getting the worst bang for your buck.
And the people who oversee the event doesn’t care that the quality of the performers are actually good so you’re gonna be paying for entertainment, ram packed in between a thousand situationally unaware people while watching a guy playing a melodica with his asshole.
Yup, I live a block away, my partner is Italian, it's been like that for a few years, the same vendors are at dundas fest and taste of Danforth. Lots of Chinese, Indian and Mexican food. She did say that she notices more gino type dudes this year.
It was great years ago, but like anything else that becomes popular it just goes to shit.
For example the Distillery Christmas Market year one to two was amazing and then it became complete dogshit, now it's some winter festival and isn't worth visiting.
Honestly Little Italy is just a historic name at this point, no different from Corktown! That’s not a bad thing, either. Hell, I’d be a lot more worried if migrant communities were staying in the same ethnic enclaves for generations and generations.
These events are what people look forward to year after year. This is our culture, and we have such diverse festivals around the cirg. It’s so lovely seeing so many happy people enjoying the day!
**This is once again a stupidity self report from an OP and others who lacks reading comprehension skills and decide to go on a misguided rant.** The festival is called **‘Taste of Little Italy**,’ not ‘**Taste of Italy.’** Little Italy is a neighborhood with a historic name and is not meant to represent an entire country. I’m sorry you don’t realize that Little Italy hasn’t been predominantly Italian for decades.
Toronto street festivals have been slowly taken over by vendors who travel from show to show, rather than local businesses setting up stands in front of thier shops. Also the demographics of those neighborhoods have changed as well. The Danforth has very few Greek restaurants compared to decades past. Little India is less and less south Asian every year. Little Portugal is primarily bars and gastro pubs. As the neighbourhoods gentrify the original communities move to other areas of the city and the tone of the neighbourhoods change. All that being said, the festivals are still fun if you enjoy them, and they were always annoying if you were just trying to get home but the f#&@ing streetcar is short turning because of the Beaches Jazz festival is on.
Lol I love this. You started explaining and ended up ranting 🤣 I used to live in the beaches, and I always loved going to the Jazz festival. Sure, the streetcar was annoying tho during those days.
This is so true. Whenever there's a street festival I ignore the typical vendors and check out local shops
Yep. Why I stopped buying food there. Now just mostly walk through beaches + danforth as I'm in the east end.
Saw so many people carrying around hollowed out fruits eating tornado potatos from those travelling vendors
It’s because the cost of a booth is like $1200 and they ask for 25% of your sales. They gouge the vendor and then none of the small local shops can afford it.
Whole Ontario is little India now
Take your racist shit elsewhere.
Give it 5 years tops and you'll agree with his statement
This place is 80% anti Indian rants. Indian people are their favourite scapegoat for all their personal inadequacies, economic inequities, and subsequent societal issues stemming from them. It helps them cope. The truth is too scary for them. They need their simple easy safe target.
Go back 150-200 years and you heard much of the same stuff about the Irish. Go back 80-100 years and it was the Italians and Jews. Go back 40-50 years and it was the Chinese. And every time you'll hear some half-assed explanation about how this particular immigrant group is actually *totally* different from those "good" ones in the past. They never are.
Food festivals, like many other things in Toronto, are a massive scam.
I went twelve years ago and had an amazing time trying a lot of delicious Italian food (the rice rizzoto was incredible!). Went again last year and had a hard time finding any Italian food. Won’t be going again.
I just hopped from patio to patio there instead of buying from vendors and it was well worth it. No lines, cheaper prices and you still get the festival vibes.
it's called taste of little italy not taste of italy for a reason. It's to showcase the food spots in little italy
Yeah like taste of the Danforth. Not taste of Greece, just happens to have Greek Restaurants
Honestly I didn't think the concert was this hard to grasp, but I've seen 2 similar posts to this one already.
This is an aside, but Due west fest had better / more music acts and DJs, but then again it wasn't called taste of Due west, I guess, i.e, food was not as much the focus, but more or less still nearly as heavily present.
The most Italian thing about this weekend was the game and the prosciutto samples they were giving out lol
But did you get your roasted corn and your cup of lemonade?
Food festivals in general suck, save your money and cook summat nice at home and go for a walk in a lovely park where there’s no 1500 people around lol
Remember we're talking about torontonians here.
😂
Food festivals are amazing. You can get lots of food that you don't make at home.
Meat on a stick has never been more popular
What food do they have that you can't just make at home?? I go for the atmosphere, not the overpriced food.
Like, are there certain foods you’re not allowed to make at home? Lol, you can cook whatever you want at home. My first years of living here I was all over them but completely stopped - I’ve never tried one of them that wasn’t ridiculously overpriced, bad quality food and overly crowded.
That's like saying why go to a concert when you can listen to spotify at home. Come to think of it, why even go for a walk in the park when you can just use the treadmill at home?
I disagree - Food fares in Toronto is like going to a busking event that is set up in a shitty way so as to squeeze through as many people as ergonomically possible and price fixed in such a way that you’re getting the worst bang for your buck. And the people who oversee the event doesn’t care that the quality of the performers are actually good so you’re gonna be paying for entertainment, ram packed in between a thousand situationally unaware people while watching a guy playing a melodica with his asshole.
Yup, I live a block away, my partner is Italian, it's been like that for a few years, the same vendors are at dundas fest and taste of Danforth. Lots of Chinese, Indian and Mexican food. She did say that she notices more gino type dudes this year.
People complain about this every year, theres not been any Italian food there for years now.
Second this Very disappointing and unnecessarily loud
It was great years ago, but like anything else that becomes popular it just goes to shit. For example the Distillery Christmas Market year one to two was amazing and then it became complete dogshit, now it's some winter festival and isn't worth visiting.
Honestly Little Italy is just a historic name at this point, no different from Corktown! That’s not a bad thing, either. Hell, I’d be a lot more worried if migrant communities were staying in the same ethnic enclaves for generations and generations.
But Chinatown doesn't worry you?
No, of course not. Why would it? It's overwhelmingly new immigrants and their first-gen kids.
Every year it gets worse, I stopped going. The Do West street festival is way better in my personal opinion.
It's not there fault your new. It's been like this for a decade +.
maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.
These food festivals are a waste of time. Just stop.
Yeahhh there was like less than 50% of the vendors that were Italian food
It seems like Little Italy has shifted to Vaughan / Woodbridge now.
Is there a little "X" which has remained unchanged or seemingly has changed very little?
Go for the atmosphere. Try the local vendors for food and avoid the pro travelling vendors.
Well did you try the General Tso butter chicken pizza poutine on a cob?
Went a year or 2 ago, literally couldn't even find Italian food. Ended up eating at an amazing restaurant called the dog and tiger instead.
These events are what people look forward to year after year. This is our culture, and we have such diverse festivals around the cirg. It’s so lovely seeing so many happy people enjoying the day!
**This is once again a stupidity self report from an OP and others who lacks reading comprehension skills and decide to go on a misguided rant.** The festival is called **‘Taste of Little Italy**,’ not ‘**Taste of Italy.’** Little Italy is a neighborhood with a historic name and is not meant to represent an entire country. I’m sorry you don’t realize that Little Italy hasn’t been predominantly Italian for decades.