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BIG on Bloor Festival 2013

We welcomed 70,000 people last year with visitors saying, “The BIG on Bloor Festival was an exceptional experience with so much to see, do and really be engaged with.” This year we are in full swing to surprise and delight you again with event to enjoy and participate in. July 20/ 21, 2013 car-free Bloor St., Toronto, Dufferin to Lansdowne, celebrates arts, culture, community & small business with a unique community and city-building festival featuring hundreds of events, activities and exhibitions including: Bloordale Market: more than 200 arts, crafts, vendors and information tables! BIG on Bloor 2013 leading events: Celebrate Here: Music, performance and dance! Culture Works: Institutions, collectives, artists creative events… see, touch, learn, participate! Savour Bloor: In the stores, restaurants, patios and the Bloodale Food Court! Big Awards: Community appreciation! Play Fair: Games for children and adults and the Bloordale Market! The BIG On Bloor Festival an initiative of the Bloordale BIA, BIG: Bloor Improvement Group and the Bloordale community.

Bloorcourt Arts and Crafts Street Fair will be cancelled for this year

Bloorcourt Arts and Crafts Street Fair will be cancelled for this year The Bloorcourt BIA will be undergoing street level construction on Bloor Street West from Montrose Avenue to Dufferin Street, commencing June/July 2013 where: *the sidewalks will be re-poured in areas that are damaged *the roadway will be entirely re-surfaced *the above ground planters & trees will be removed and re-planted underground where possible. 2013

17th Annual Annex Festival

17th Annual Annex Festival Miles Nadal Jcc and Bloor Annex BIA present the 17th Annual Annex Festival on Bloor, Sunday, June 9, 2013,11AM to 6PM, extending from Spadina to Bathurst. AFOB features family-friendly programming — over 80 artisans, neighbourhood businesses, specialty food vendors, musicians, theatre performers, buskers and lots more. The Festival Mainstage at Bloor & Brunswick will feature a roster of local musical acts curated by The Tranzac Club and broadcast live on CIUT 89.5 FM. A selection of top Toronto Fringe performers will also be entertaining the crowds while some of Toronto’s mesmerizing Buskers work the street. The Children’s Village will be full of activities for children of all ages and the MNjcc Fitness will keep you moving all day. Location: Bloor Street West (between Spadina and Bathurst)

No Hot Dog On Bloor St

After a $20 million dollar upgrade, the trendy stretch of Bloor Street between Yonge and University, vendors selling hotdogs and items from carts, who formerly dotted this area, now find themselves evicted and no longer welcome here. The renovations and enhancements sponsored by the local BIA feel that the hotdog vendors no longer fit the feel or look they desire for this elite section of Bloor Street. If you’re walking through this area looking for a hodog vendor, you’ll have to travel down the street to find one. “The bylaw that we go by contains measurements from street planters and trees,” said Bruce Robertson, the director of licensing services. This section of Bloor Street that has recently undergone an extensive remodelling, a $20-million redesign, which was funded by the local business improvement association, widened the sidewalks for the city. With the street planters in place the vendors no longer have “3.66 metres of free space around the cart in all directions to allow for free pedestrian traffic,” Robertson said. When questioned, many of the vendors stated that they had already expected this to occur. In fact, they have not been allowed on the street since 2008. “It was in 2008 that the reconstruction started and they were apprised that it would all be under review when the reconstruction is complete,” Roberston said. But Nagib Amed, who runs a hotdog cart a block away, says the decision is a hard one for the vendors to swallow. “I think it’s not a good idea,” he said. “I feel sorry for them.” Hotdog connoisseurs Mark Walley and Mike Gray agree. “I don’t like the idea, I think they should be allowed,” Walley said. “It’s regrettable for the vendors,” said Gray. “I think having carts adds to the charm — or did add to the charm — of Bloor Street while they were able to sell their hotdogs there.” The city says it’s trying to find new spots — away from that specific section of Bloor Street — for the turfed vendors. Apparently, Bloor Street no longer relishes hotdogs.

Walk Bloordale – Enjoy the Light, Art – Food Event

Walk Bloordale – Enjoy the Light,
Art – Food Event

LAF is a light, art, food event with artists, store and restaurant owners collaborating to turn Bloor Street from Lansdowne to Dufferin, into a late-fall walking destination on cold, dark November 21, 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Everyone is invited. Over 20 restaurants are opening their kitchens, many with taster menus at marginal cost. There couldn’t be a better time to restaurant hop and try everything.

Retail stores are also transforming their shop windows with light and art projects. Artist Orest Tataryn is making a light sculpture for the corner of Bloor St. and St Clarens Ave. Artist Dyan Marie is having a nightlight creation party at 1211 Bloor. Galleries are staying open. Cafes are providing music. For a complete list of activities see www.bloordale-bia.com.

LAF is an initiative of the Bloordale BIA and artist Dyan Marie. Spiro Koumoudouros the BIA chair says, “This is a wonderful opportunity for families to walk out, explore and support local business while making new discoveries”. Musician and LAF co-ordinator Dougal Bichan says, “After producing the BIG on Bloor festival this summer, it is very important to continue sharing the attractions of this interesting neighbourhood. “

LAF is a DMP / Bloordale BIA initiative, a Cavalcade of Light, City of Toronto BIA Participant and a Transcultural Exchange proposal for The Art Of Collaboration

2011 BIG On Bloor Fest. July 23/24, Dufferin – Landowne

Big on Bloor July 23-24 2011

BIG On Bloor Fest. July 23/24, Dufferin – Landowne

Bloordale, from Dufferin to Lansdowne celebrates business, community, arts and culture with a unique community and city-building festival featuring hundreds of events, activities and exhibitions. Three stages will fill with performers, musicians, singers, dancers, theatre, and karate. More than 300 participants feature table exhibitions that line the street and present their projects, products, consumer goods, information or events. Community awards are presented to honour exceptional citizens and there are interactive games

craft tables and attractions for families and children. BAAF: Bloor Alternative Art Fair brings art institutions, collectives, galleries and artists to our street. Crafts, story-telling, face painting, green and social information, dog shows and much more will take place. Strolling buskers and parades weave through the crowds. Our famously diverse restaurants – East African, South Asian, Somali, Vietnamese, Caribbean, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and Canadian host food, music and dance, some with outdoor extended licensed patios. The Responding Festival culminates its month-long activities of art, architecture, poetry and performance at the Kent school-grounds.

The Responding Festival

Kent School playground directly edges Bloor Street but is separated by a 12 foot high chain-link barrier fence. This summer we open the playground area of the school and offer it as a Bloor Street public space. We will transform the empty space into a public art environment, a collision of art and architecture, performance, poetry, landscape, discussions and playgrounds made by artists and architects, cultural collectives and community participants. The intention is to make a non-stop swirl of activity, a site for evolving experimental forms and new ways of creating in a shared place that responds to the city, the community, each other and being here now.

You can download the Big on Bloor guide here!

Schools facing possible closure: Brock, Dovercourt and Kent: An Update

Update: Here’s what TDSB has said on their website:

Kent Sr. PS, ALPHA II Alternative School, Dovercourt Jr. PS, Pauline Jr. PS, and Brock Jr. PS

Brock Jr. PS and Dovercourt Jr. PS will convert to JK to Gr.8 with phased in implementation beginning in September 2011.

The location of ALPHA II Alternative will be referred to staff for recommendation to the Board within in 6 months.

Following the relocation of regular day school students from Kent Sr. PS and Alpha II Alternative School, the Kent/Alpha II school building located at 980 Dufferin Street will be closed.

Shutting Some Door Opens Others

Brock Jr. P.S, Dovercourt Jr. P.S and Kent Sr. P.S. are just a few Toronto schools facing possible closure in coming years.

The TCDSB states on its website that “…reviews [of] ten areas [including Dovercourt],. ..prioritized.. .based on input from Superintendents of Education, Trustees,…. [factoring in] the programs delivered by schools; the use of school buildings; current and projected enrolments; grade ranges; and the distribution of… sites.”

According to Etobicoke trustee John Campbell, 92 of 533 Toronto public schools have enrollments of less than 60%. The board has approved a plan setting a target size of 450 students in consolidated elementary schools, 1,200 at the high school level, and a phasing out of middle schools. The TDSB loses approximately 4,000 students every year.

“What parents have to understand is that… we’re trying to.. enable schools that have larger student populations and more programming options,… cut[ting] down on costs,… reinvest[ing] in better schools,… new libraries,… gymnasiums and additions,” Mr. Campbell said in an interview. “The under enrolled secondary schools… can hardly offer a variety of programs,… many don’t have basketball teams,… music… or Latin.”

Small town or big city, there will forever be two “schools of thought” when it comes to shutting down schools. My daughter is in JK this year. I can walk her to school in less than twenty minutes, and can get home in less than ten with my grown-up legs. Her neighbor is in the class right next door to hers. I admit I wouldn’t be happy if the walk was much longer at her age. A neighborhood school is a special part of the community, and is filled with cherished history and memories for thousands of people. Splitting up groups of friends and uprooting established students is quite the adjustment for young people who are already facing a big, scary world. But my daughter is lucky; she has a music teacher, a gym teacher, access to team sports, and class trips. If the fun stuff that keeps kids IN SCHOOL is in jeopardy, a school a little further away would be a small price to pay for a well-rounded education.