Joanna Lavoie, CP24.com Posted Wednesday, June 1, 2022 12:08 PM EDT Last Updated on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 6:40 PM EDT
Organizers of the Taste of the Danforth festival will have to accept the “new reality” that bike lanes and CafeTO facilities will be part of their event, says Toronto’s chief spokesman.
This afternoon, Brad Ross said it is an “important undertaking” to remove and reinstall this infrastructure for the three-day, two-night festival.
“We are looking for at least nine days of interruption in terms of removing bike lanes and CafeTO facilities and then having to reinstall them,” he said.
“Many festivals are working within the confines of this new infrastructure.”
Ross noted Beaches Jazz, Pride and Taste of Little Italy, who also face this challenge and find ways to organize their events.
“We are confident that we can work with (Greektown on the Danforth) BIA to make this work for the city and businesses. … We believe we can find a solution,” he said, adding that city staff would survey companies in the strip to determine their preferences.
Today, Mary Fragedakis, Greektown’s executive director at the Danforth BIA, said the success of her festival could be hampered by these “logistical problems”.
He said that despite being “in talks” with the city for five months about its concerns, the local BIA still believes the best option is to remove the bike lanes and courtyards of CafeTO during its event.
“(The city) has made it clear that this will not be considered under any circumstances and wants a re-imagined Taste of the Danforth without allowing the use of the whole street. The whole street is necessary for a street festival of the magnitude of Taste and to ensure the safety of all attendees, “Fragedakis said in a statement to CP24.
“The permanent installation of CafeTO and the bike lane infrastructure has created challenges for organizing the festival as we have done in previous years.”
Toronto Mayor Spokesman Don Peat said John Tory is “very hopeful” that Taste of the Danforth, like many other large-scale face-to-face events in the city this summer, will not be canceled. .
He said last week Tory attended a meeting with City Council organizers and staff and “believed some progress had been made”. An emergency meeting with the mayor and city staff was also held this afternoon to further ensure that everything is being done to support Taste of the Danforth, he said.
“City staff contacted the BIA again this week to reiterate that we will support an event planner to help the BIA develop a plan that will allow the courtyards to continue to operate non-stop along with Taste of the Danforth.” , said Peat, and added Tory. “He hopes that the BIA will accept the help of the City Council and choose to take the festival forward, but in the end it is the decision of the BIA.”
“The mayor fully supports the ongoing work to support the festival and the BIA to make sure Taste of the Danforth returns.”
Local Council. Paula Fletcher said she is “deeply committed” to ensuring that this event continues as planned, adding that “it has been rolled out to ensure that the Taste of the Danforth is a success for the local business community and for in our city “.
“Everyone loves ‘The Taste.’ in Greektown, it has been a “lifesaver” for local restaurants.
“The creativity and intelligence that Toronto is so well known for can be put to work to make sure everyone can enjoy a great Danforth experience this summer.”
After a two-year pandemic break, Taste of the Danforth will run from August 5-7 on Danforth Avenue, from Broadview Avenue to Donlands.
Considered one of the largest street festivals in Canada, it is expected to attract some 1.6 million visitors over three days. In 2019, the event had an economic impact of approximately $ 70 million in 2019, organizers said.