For the next year-and-a-half, prepare to surround yourself with the War of 1812. At a City Hall press conference this morning, the War of 1812 Bicentennial Steering Committee announced several major events that will reflect upon the conflicts and legacies from the battlegrounds of two centuries ago. The celebrations, according to co-chair Michael Thompson (Ward [...]

2:50 a.m., November 11, 1918, the office of the Telegram newspaper on Melinda Street. An early morning full of anticipation as workers there and at Toronto’s five other daily newspapers waited for word sometime during the day that an armistice ending the First World War would be signed. The news during the night had indicated [...]

For drivers heading onto the Highway 400 ramp from the eastbound collector lanes of Highway 401, the warehouse on the right doesn’t stand out. Just another non-descript suburban light industrial building, one of the dozens that line the highways. Except, this one serves as the secret headquarters of a jolly old elf. Pass through the [...]

Festival fever was in the air in 1967. Canada was in a celebratory mood during its centennial year and while most of the action was at Expo in Montreal, the federal government encouraged ethnic groups across the nation to showcase their contributions to a country starting to embrace its multicultural makeup. One such group was Toronto’s Caribbean community, who determined it was time to infuse the city with the colour and spirit of carnival. With less than a year of preparation, and long before there were any squabbles over management, financing, and name proprietorship, the first edition of Caribana was quickly embraced as a highlight of Toronto’s summer.

If the Freemasons really are a secret society bent on world domination, as some conspiracy-minded people suggest, then the Shriners—an offshoot organization that high-level Masons can elect to join—would have to be their most brilliant misdirection ploy. It’s hard to imagine the Masons getting up to much global dominance when their highest-ranking members spend so [...]

The Santa Claus Parade was started by the now-defunct Eaton’s department store in 1905 with just one attraction: Santa. This year, on Sunday, November 15, the parade will feature twenty-six floats, twenty-one bands, and more than a million pieces of candy. To get a sneak peek at this year’s edition of the one-hundred-and-five-year-old parade, Torontoist [...]

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. all your life you have waited for this moment to be free… Streets are for People—in conjunction with Newmindspace and nine other groups of urban merrymakers—is holding a number of events this Thursday night: a parade that starts from Central Tech, a Critical Mass ride that kicks [...]