The Redpath Waterfront Festival is set to deliver arts and culture, plus a spectacular pedestrian esplanade, at its anticipated annual summer celebration

Adding sweetness to the city for the fifth straight year, Toronto’s Redpath Waterfront Festival promises free entertainment, excitement and adventure that will kick off summer with a bang. Taking place June 19 to 21, 2015, this year’s five-event giant party will celebrate the revitalization of the waterfront with Party on the Promenade, an extravaganza that will include parades and family-friendly activities along Queens Quay Boulevard and the Martin Goodman Trail. Produced by Water’s Edge Festivals & Events in association with Redpath Sugar and the Waterfront Business Improvement Area (WBIA), the festival will boast Toronto’s newly renovated waterfront as a premier location for leisure, entertainment and commerce. “The overall goal is to continue to connect people to Toronto’s waterfront and showcase all of the great things we have to offer,” says Kevin Currie, chair of the WBIA. “We want to really highlight the fact that there’s so much going on here all year round. Whether it’s sailing, arts, culture, theatre or just plain old good restaurants, the waterfront is unique to the city.”

Arts and culture will be a primary aspect at this year’s festival. The Party on the Promenade will take place throughout the June weekend to celebrate the end of construction along the waterfront and Queens Quay area. Nancy Gavin, president of Water’s Edge Festivals & Events, expresses her excitement on the newly refurbished promenade and how the wait has finally come to an end. “What I’m most excited about is the opening of the new promenade along the Queens Quay,” she says, “and we’re calling it the Party on the Promenade because after three years of construction, through Waterfront Toronto, it’s all going to be open now.” Gavin believes that Torontonians will be happy to have the promenade open once again. “I think everyone is looking forward to having the street open to the general public.”

The party will include pop-up entertainment pods of live music and dance, with former So You Think You Can Dance contestant and Mississauga native Blake McGrath performing on June 19 at HTO Park. The Party on the Promenade will also consist of Art in the Park, waterfront lifestyle activities and professional buskers from Bay to Spadina streets. There will also be a Waterfront Artisan Market highlighting the works of local designers, chefs and bakers taking place at HTO Park East and Queens Quay Boulevard. The Toronto-based Samba Elégua percussion group is another “can’t miss” performance. “The Redpath Waterfront Festival, taking place at HTO Park East, Sugar Beach, Sherbourne Common South and Queens Quay Boulevard, is open to everybody and I think everyone will find interest in it too,” says Gavin.
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Photos 1 and 3 courtesy of Samba Elégua Percussion Band; Photo 2, courtesy of the Waterfront BIA; Photo 4, courtesy of Stacey Renee; Photo 5, courtesy of Canoe Toronto; Photo 6, courtesy of Alakazam; Photo 7, courtesy of Shadowland Theatre; Photo 8, courtesy of Toronto Island SUP