One of Toronto’s largest street festivals to return this summer
Published February 19, 2026 at 10:34 am
One of Toronto’s largest street festivals will return this year.
Taste of the Danforth, a celebration of Greek food and culture, is poised to get a new injection of funding.
This week, Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said funding is coming to revive the three-day festival.
“Do you know what I miss? I miss Taste of the Danforth,” Ford said in an unrelated press conference. “I will commit, and I will talk to our friend, the boss there (Mayor Chow).”
Ford said he had great memories of attending the festival with his late brother and former mayor Rob Ford.
Chow said the City of Toronto has set aside funding for the festival this year and she welcomes the provincial support.
“Taste of the Danforth is a weekend of phenomenal music, great food, dancing, people coming together, tens of thousands of people come to Taste of Danforth,” she said. “Let’s bring it back this year because I’ve missed it the last two years.”
GreekTown on the Danforth BIA chair Tony Pethakas told the Toronto Star he was excited the event is coming back and to have the support of the premier.
The Taste of the Danforth has traditionally been held on the second weekend in August since 1994. It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. It returned in 2023, but was cancelled the last two years.
Past attendance numbers have been reported as high as 1.6 million people over the three-day event—making it the city’s largest street festival at the time.
Approximately 1.6 kilometres of Danforth Avenue was typically closed, from Broadview Avenue to past Jones Avenue, for the festival. Greek food was the highlight of the event, but the festival also included free entertainment, dance and music.
Lead photo: Yoho2001