A show with tons of vendors focused on stationery, crafts, and all things papery? Sign me up!…read moreToronto Stationery Show is a relative newcomer but has been attracting craft lovers since 2019. The event was free but you could buy a VIP ticket that allows early entry an hour before doors open. VIPs were limited to 100 so the experience wouldn't feel crowded and you get a free tote bag. I just went for the free entry right around opening and didn't have to wait at all to get in. Which was great, because it was raining and there's no cover at the venue. 2023 was my first year attending, with annual shows in the spring. Located in a studio warehouse on Queen St W, the space wasn't small by any means but felt smaller than expected with all the fantastic vendors filling up the space. There were postcards galore, art prints, washi tapes, tote bags...A thousand things hand painted and drawn, and a thousand more on printed materials. It's honestly such a nice way to see small shops showcasing their goods altogether. Something that would make my experience better as a visitor though would be certain vendors getting larger booths. There were some vendors which I feel could be classified as "anchor" vendors or those that draw in a huge crowd. These areas were often so crowded, you couldn't even get close to them. For example, The Washi Tape Shop was there and they have over 400K followers on IG. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get close enough to the table to even see their Washi, let alone get the attention of someone. Another was Mugobunni which was near the entrance and just constantly flooded with people. Great business for the vendors, but they can certainly benefit from even more people having a chance to look at their products up close.

The 3-day RC Show event this year is happening at The International Centre in sauga March 8-10,…read more2026. 5 halls filled with lots of vendors, exhibitors, media and attendees! This was my first year attending and now I can understand why this is a 3-day event lol. I had a great time :) Hall 1 has all the alcoholic beverages, endless food samples, and AMEX lounge (definitely worth checking out) Hall 2, 3, 4 has all the huge appliances (with delicious samples), beautiful tableware, sustainable takeout packaging... we even saw sushi making machines that T&T Supermarket has adopted. Hall 5 has all the coffee tasting, machines and latte art competition + Kawartha ice cream truck, and milk chocolate sample.

Tips: - The first day of this three-day event is the most…read moreexciting with a welcome, opening address, and more. - Parking at Enercare Centre is packed in the morning. If you can delay coming till mid-afternoon, you'll have better luck with available parking spots. - In 2026, the show moves to the International Centre. - Wear comfortable footwear and clothing. You'll be walking around a lot, and sampling food and more. Yesterday, I visited the Restaurants Canada (RC) Show for the first time. A friend graciously got me a pass to go to this three-day trade show and conference, which saved me $149 to participate for the first time. I was grateful for the invitation. RC Show allows you to network with industry professionals. It's Canada's largest foodservice and hospitality event. It was a wonderful experience to shop, taste, learn, connect, and grow businesses and taste palettes. I frankly didn't know about Restaurants Canada until I found about this show. Canada has roughly a $114 billion foodservice industry. This trade show runs annually. I got to learn from the best, hear about the latest product innovations, and sample good eats and drinks. This event was at Enercare Centre. I'm familiar with it. I've been to the One of a Kind Show and Planted Expo here. I also attend Toronto Marlies and Toronto Sceptres at Coca-Cola Coliseum next door and park at Enercare Centre. I got here just after 11 am on a Monday. Finding an available parking spot was tough. I had to settle for crashing a lone parent-child parking spot. It was tiny, but my car fit in it fine. The check-in process was horrific. I was parked closer to exhibition hall D. You register online and need to have your QR code. At the registration counter at exhibition hall A, you get it scanned and then a badge is printed. You then go in exhibition hall B for the show. I lined up for 1.5 hours. My friend didn't tell me that I could have used to Skip the Dishes line to save time. Ugh! I did learn while in line chatting with a past attendee that it was faster entry last year. Scan the QR code and then enter. This new process was painful. One I got inside, it was awesome. I learned about Bunn slushie machines relying on torque and adjusting water levels to make the smoothest slushies. The peach one was fantastic! I am a tea person. I got to sample mango chai tea from Tea Squared. I have been a fan of its on-the-go square teabags for looseleaf tea for eons. It was wonderful to enjoy tea and see this vendor. I went a bit crazy with tea. It brings me great joy. I sampled peppermint tea and iced black tea from Steven Smith Teamaker. Both were excellent. I got a massive reusable bag and tea samples. I love this bag! I had a lot of dessert samples. A chunky monkey cake sample was divine from Elite Sweets. The best fruit preserves and fruit shots from Darbo and White Toque, respectively, were outstanding. The dulce de leche churro bite from the latter was incredible. The frozen treats were delicious. I got green apple and mango alphonso gelato that were amazing. The nachos, salsa, and sauce samples from Splenda and Select Food Products were inspiring. I rarely add corn to my salsa. I should after trying the former's recipe! The smoked lime and tequila sauce from the latter was incredible with nachos. The best products were paper cups and straws that don't get soggy by SoFi. They blew my mind. The latter had a bendy straw. I was impressed. I got sample paper straws. They are excellent! I also enjoyed the shell pasta sample from Griss Pasta and the Impossible chick'n nugget. Delicious! There was so much to take in. I ate and drank my way through this show. I will also suggest that there be more places to sit down to enjoy your samples. I ended up borrowing a side table at a booth to put down my stuff and sample before moving on. I only sat down once at a demonstration area and watch a man pour coffee from the most fancy industrial coffee maker. It was cool, even for a non-coffee regular. I liked the robots that past by me. I want one. I left at around 4 pm. It's definitely a day event and you can stay till closing. I was good going home earlier to avoid the crazy rain and winds. I had a good time. I learned a lot. There are improvements to be made with the badge procedure. I'm hoping that things are better, including parking at the International Centre next year. (124)

To be honest I didn't expect much from the event, yet the description on the website seemed to…read morepromise a lot more. Although they've had previous events in Vancouver, this is the first time in Toronto. We got to the Habourfront Centre, and I thought there would be more of a spectacle for this event. There were no signage for this to direct us to the right place. You wouldn't have known this was going on unless you knew already. The event takes place in one of the event rooms and the small atrium out side of it. It did seem less like a corporate sponsored event, and more like a high school play evening. We did get "hot asian beverages", a small cup of ginger tea, when we got there. There were two lines at the 'entrance' and we were stopped. We weren't allowed to go in the priority line because we weren't CIBC customers (show your card), so we directed to the other line. I don't see why it even mattered at this point because there was no one there. I thought they were going to give us a spiel or make us sign up for something, but that wasn't the case. We were stopped again, because we couldn't go into the exhibit room with our hot drink we just got. Instead we stood awkwardly in the line (what line? we were the only ones there), to finish the drink. Finally we walk though the small side door to the exhibit. It was quite nice, but along with the cheesy music and tv screen, the 'art' wasn't appreciated as it should be. The lights were cool, and I guess nice for kids, but there wasn't much else to this. 4 big installations. I can't describe the feeling of amateur and lack of ...professionalism?... I felt in here, yet I was sad that the art wasn't appreciated for what it should be. It was nice, colourful and big. You come out into the small atrium in the front. It's crowded. They could have had some of this up near the empty entrance to the area. At least it would feel less awkward, and folks could look at CIBC paraphenlia whilst sipping on their tea. And it would help make the even seem happening. You get a red pocket with a chocolate coin in it, there was a draw for a Silver Coin (and by draw, you are reaching into a box full of cards, and hoping to choose the right one), a spin wheel to win a pen, dragon hat or chocolate coin (which I already had), two tables to put together the hat and a photo booth. All might have been okay if it wasn't so crowded (and it's winter people have big jackets). Overall, don't take your time to come out to this unless already in the area, or you want to go skating as well. So glad this didn't cost anything, I would have been so mad. It is what it is. I hope someone is reading this, because the event could be improved still over the next few days!

We quite enjoyed the shadow puppet play but I would suggest to line up early for this. It's very…read morepopular with the families and the seating in the theatre is limited. First come first served. There's a glow in the dark aquarium exhibit setup in tribute to the play's characters. A few giveaways there, I spun the wheel and won a dragons mask, got some free candy at the CIBC VIP lounge (yum rootbeer and coffee flavour). You can also build a latern, supplies are limited though. Oh and if you start to get hungry, and don't want to trek to (Spadina & Dundas) Chinatown, the cafe near the skating rink was serving some Taiwanese food. I was surprised by how popular this event was considering it's in the middle of the winter so get there early. The puppet play was the highlight of the night, next was the photobooth where one can don some props like dragons and scrolls.

We visited this place during one of their monthly shows. It has two floors filled with model trains…read moreand amazing landscapes. I was expecting to spend 30-40 mins here, but we ended up spending more than an hour. I would say this is perfect for children around 2-8 years brackek and obviously for model train enthusiastics. There is $5 entry fee for adults and $3 for children.

I've been the the Barns a few times over the years for different events. A few times when they…read morehave held their Vintage Fair here (amazing vintage items, clothing, jewellry); once for a play and most recently for the Tabasco Hawkers Market. This is a great place to hold an event, party or wedding. This is a former hub for streetcars back in the day but has now been turned into an event space. Interior brick walls, high ceilings and open floor plan allows the venue to become accommodating to almost any kind of event. It has that vintage but industrial kind of ceiling. There are a lot of great photo ops in here. There are also photos/info on the walls that tells the history of this place.

This is probably one of the best things to happen to the neighbourhood in recent history. Grand…read moreopening was November 2008 and it hasn't looked back since. The space is a reclaimed TTC barn and has five 'barns' each labeled with giant steel numbers. First is the artist live-work space, 2 is the event space where you will find the market on Saturdays in the winter and various other community events, 3 is the community theatre, 4 is The Stop greenhouse and kitchen, and 5 is the open air barn. There is also a children's playground on the east side of the building, an open field that becomes an ice rink in the winter on the south end, an off-leash dog park at the south-west corner, beach volleyball court on the west side, and plenty of benches and picnic tables scattered throughout. I find that their website is not as informative as it could be, perhaps because it is administered by the umbrella Artscape organization: http://www.torontoartscape.on.ca/places-spaces/artscape-wychwood-barns So it's better to go directly to the Stop's website to find out about the market and the many very interesting fund- and awareness-raising events they have: http://www.thestop.org/green-barn-market I find that being on the mailing lists for The Stop and our local city councillor Joe Mihevc (http://www.joemihevc.com) keeps me informed of upcoming events like the solar energy info session this Sunday. Some additional notes: ** The Market ** During the cold months it is indoors and runs 8 a.m. - noon. It gets crowded by 11 and goodies like cinnamon buns don't last until then. Bring cash, your own bags and if you're really good, your own travel-mug for the wonderful Kurtis coffee. Interesting vendors include the venison guy, sweet potato man, Mennonite meat lady, knife sharpening guy, tofu dude, the fungi, and the freshwater fish people. In the warmer months it is outdoors and runs a bit later until 1 I think (it is still indoors as I write this so I'm not sure). The vendors are spread out over the walkways under their tents. Half the fun is stopping to chat with neighbours so check your usual Toronto sidewalk pace as you might get stuck behind a stroller and wagon jam. There are several vegetable vendors that also sell organic and heirloom variety seeds and seedlings in the spring. Too bad last summer was so cold and rainy - even so the purple tomatoes I planted were wonderful! ** The Dogpark ** It has weird hours and no commercial dog walkers are allowed. It is closed everyday between noon-3 p.m. and opens later in the morning on Sunday. I'll take a picture of the sign next time I'm there because it's confusing. There is a human + dog drinking fountain but the city doesn't turn on the water until mid-May so bring water for your pooches. Best doggy party times (as with most parks I'm sure) are from 5 - 7 p.m. There might be a morning party but I'm never up early enough to find out.

The organizers happily rip off the vendors. Vendors in the smallest booths pay $3000 plus booth…read morestructure fees for the 11 day sale. That means every day they need to sell $300 (plus plus) of product to pay the organizers. Another $200 to pay themselves to man the booth. Another x amount to pay for that first $600 of product that covered overhead of the show.... so... how much more to sell to cover all that product that paid for the booth and that paid for your day to run the booth? Mininally, you are giving away yes GIVING AWAY the first $500 of product sold at the show EVERY DAY. That is 5500 of sold product at the show before you BEGIN to make any money whatsoever. Are you okay with that? Instead just rent a chunk of space in your favourite retail store ? And because of the extraordinary overhead visitors get no price breaks. Everyone has money to burn?

This was my first winter One Of A Kind show ever. It is located in the Enercare Centre on the…read moreExhibition Grounds. It's super convenient to get there if you take the GO or TTC. There's a covered walkway that takes you directly to the doors so you won't get blasted by rain or snow. The tickets are kind of expensive since you're getting access to ashow to buy stuff. They're $18 for adults but I think the bundle with the GO tickets might get you some savings. The show is kind of organized by types of crafts. Notably there was a gallery alley for arts and a section for food. Everything else was mixed in together. You'll find things like hand carved stone and wood goods, ceramics, clothes made from leather and wool, etc. It's great to look for gifts for everyone of all ages and any sort of ailments. A few of things I picked up: - Handmade dainty silver studs that were $30 each or 3 for $70 - Wooden magnetic bookmarks that wrap around the page you were last at that came in a lot of different designs including lots of dog breeds, food related ones like boba and pho - A framed print of a map with a string heart over a featured city It's really well timed event as it's a great place to find gifts for the holidays. There were a lot of amazing things but at the end of the day, it was kind of cost prohibitive to be able to support all the different artists there.

Beaver Hall is an independent art space that is located mere steps of OCADU and Queen West. They…read morehold a variety of art shows like movie festivals to student art shows from Ryerson and Herzig College. It's a good size space. There's ample room for someone wanting to do a solo show and big enough for a group show. I don't know the specifics about how much it would cost to organize a show there but since they promote independent artists, most of them being students, it might be worth looking into. Looking through their blog and reading about past exhibits, they seem to organize some thought-provoking and original shows. The show I visited last night had an urban exploration theme which included more than photography by the artists but also actual objects from the places they visited. It was really inspiring stuff to see.

This is a not-so-fancy gallery space. I've been to better and I've been to worse. Conveniently…read morelocated for OCAD and Ryerson students, right in the middle of the queen street hipster hub. The walls at the entrance are a tasteless orange and the floors aren't clean either. There's a little patio in the back. The Nuit Blanche 2015 artwork here was rather tasteless.

The place feels small but cozy. Just make sure you don't arrive too early, but if you do, there are…read moreplenty of bars around that you can wait in. The Two Hours Traffic concert was dry, but the gallery sometimes gets a liquor license. Even if it's a dry night, the bar right underneath the gallery can be of great help! It's a good place, the sound quality isn't bad though they had a few mic/sound-check problems when I was there. There is no coat check but there is plenty of space to drop your coat off and it's safe enough for that.

This is one of the best places in Toronto. I don't know why I've taken so long to review this…read moreplace. It's the most amazing mixture of fine art and music art. The place is cozy but not too cramped, and you are forced to mingle. I think I even like the tubular powder room. I really enjoy going to this venue and seeing artists, and getting my drink on.