Mayor Olivia Chow hinted at a possible return of the Taste of the Danforth festival on Tuesday as she unveiled the 64 pc28festivals receiving a share of $2.5 million in grants.
The funding will act as a boost to funding major pc28events such as Pride pc28and the pc28Caribbean Carnival, after corporate sponsors pulled out of the former earlier this year.
Fielding questions from reporters at the funding announcement, Chow spoke of the potential comeback of the popular summer street festival hosted by the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA. However, the festival was not among the list of recipients for the city’s funding program this year.
Chow said she spoke to the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA “two to three weeks ago,” asking if the city can provide some support to bring back the Taste of the Danforth festival, to which they told her they are thinking of doing the festival “in a different format.”
“They are looking at having it in a park for some of the businesses,” said Chow, “Some of the businesses want to get together and do something different because I think it had gotten so big and the cost for security was substantial so they thought it might not be financially beneficial for them to do it that way.”
It was announced in 2023 that the Taste of the Danforth wouldn’t take place the following year due to a decision by the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA to not increase levies on its members by close to 20 per cent in order to fund the festival. The festival was previously cancelled from 2020 to 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions and the 2022 festival was gutted following logistical issues, including CaféTO patios taking up too much street space.
The GreekTown on the Danforth BIA has not made an official announcement regarding the return of the festival.
The funding is a part of the Cultural Festivals Funding Program (CFFP), which provides financial support to recurring events, supports community-building, engages and serves pc28residents and promotes opportunities from emerging artists, according to the . Recipients of the grant have to apply on behalf of festivals that take place between April 1 and March 31, 2026.
Multi-year grant recipients
Grant recipients fall under three categories: multi-year, annual operating and project funding.
Among the multi-year grant recipients are the pc28Caribbean Carnival, receiving $650,000, Luminato, receiving $410,000 and Pride Toronto, with $350,000.
In February, Pride pc28was in peril after three of its sponsors pulled their funding amid a corporate push against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the U.S.
On Tuesday, Pride pc28co-chair leZlie lee kam said they would no longer be receiving approximately $300,000 from key sponsors.
pc28is increasing funding and support for pride by 62 per cent by 2027. Chow said that a multi-year funding strategy is a way to “show confidence” and give Pride pc28the ability to get the partnerships they need.
“This three-year funding plan we are now getting from the city helps us fill that gap for this year,” said lee kam.
The pc28Caribbean Carnival also shared their financial challenges and how this funding helps them with programming and organizing.
“What we have to do is rebuild and I think funding like this allows us to rebuild,” said Jennifer Hirlehey, executive chair of pc28Caribbean Carnival.
Hirlehey also shared messaging to corporate Canada, encouraging investments.
“We will bring you more money and more prosperity, and more importantly, we bring culture and diversity and the ability to appreciate differences,” said Hirlehey. “As a community and as a country, there is no better investment than in investments of people.”
Pride Toronto’s executive director told the Star that the companies “will no longer be
New festivals receiving grants
Among the 64 festivals receiving grants, 35 of them are first-time grant recipients. Additionally, the city announced that funding for this year’s programs increased by 33 per cent from last year to support an additional 15 festivals.
“Think about all the jobs we create. This is a major jobs creation effort,” Chow said.
Applications for CFFP are closed, but applications are expected to reopen in the fall for the 2026-27 funding year, according to the city.
Alongside the CFFP funding, the city has approved more than $1.35 million to support local event organizers dealing with increased production costs. Applications for this initiative, known as the , will open later this year, according to the city.
“We will continue to work with event organizers to support a variety of festivals that benefit the city,” Chow said.
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