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Yonge-Dundas Square
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Yonge-Dundas Square, a newer square not far from City Hall, has also gained attention in recent years as one of the busiest gathering spots in the city. Other squares include Harbourfront Square, on the revitalized Toronto waterfront, and the civic squares at the former city halls of the defunct Metropolitan Toronto, most notably Mel Lastman Square in North York.
Hark Rock Cafe on Yonge-Dundas Square
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There are many large downtown parks; Grange Park, Moss Park, Allan Gardens, Queen's Park, Riverdale Park, Trinity Bellwoods Park, and Christie Pits. The Toronto Islands have several acres of park space, accessible from downtown by ferry. Large parks in the outer areas include High Park, Humber Bay Park, Centennial Park, Downsview Park, Guildwood Park, and Rouge Park.
Nathan Phillips Square is currently undergoing a major redesign by PLANT
Architect Inc., Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners, Peter Lindsay Schaudt Landscape
Architecture Inc., and Adrian Blackwell (winners of the International Design
Competition in 2006/2007).
West 8, a Dutch architecture firm, won the Central Waterfront Innovative Design
Competition in 2006 to redesign the central part of the Toronto
waterfront.
harbor cruises
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In 1999, Downsview Park initiated an international design competition to realize its vision of creating Canada's first national urban park. In May 2000, the winning park design was announced: "TREE CITY", by the team of Bruce Mau Design, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Oleson Worland Architect and Inside/Outside.
Toronto is a major scene for theatre and other performing arts, with more than
fifty ballet and dance companies, six opera companies, and two symphony
orchestras. The city is home to the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian
Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Notable performance venues
include the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Roy Thomson Hall, the
Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Massey Hall, the Toronto
Centre for the Arts, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres and the Hummingbird
Centre (formerly the "O'Keefe Centre"). Ontario Place features the world's first
permanent IMAX movie theatre, the Cinesphere, as well as the Molson
Amphitheatre, an open-air venue for large-scale music concerts. Each summer, the
Canadian Stage Company presents an outdoor Shakespeare production in Toronto’s
High Park called "Dream in High Park". Canada's Walk of Fame acknowledges the
achievements of successful Canadians, with of a series of stars on designated
blocks of sidewalks along King Street and Simcoe Street.
Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres
The Distillery District is a pedestrian village containing boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, artist studios and small breweries, including the well-known Mill Street Brewery. A new theatre in the district, the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, is the home of the Soulpepper Theatre Company and the drama productions of nearby George Brown College.
Royal Alexandra Theatre
More Photos of Theaters and Entertainment in Toronto
The production of domestic and foreign film and television is a major local industry. Many movie releases are screened in Toronto prior to wider release in North America. The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most important annual events for the international film industry. Europe's largest film studio, Pinewood Studios Group of London, is scheduled to open a major new film studio complex in west-end Toronto, with five sound stages, with the first two to open by fall 2008.
Toronto's Caribana festival takes place from mid-July to early August of every
summer, and is one of North America's largest street festivals. Primarily
based on the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, the first Caribana took place in 1967
when the city's Caribbean community celebrated Canada's Centennial year. Forty
years later, it has grown to attract one million people to Toronto's Lake Shore
Boulevard annually. Tourism for the festival is in the hundred thousands, and
each year, the event generates about $300 million in revenue.
Maple Leaf Gardens
Pride Week in Toronto takes place in mid-June, and is one of the largest LGBT
festivals in the world. One of the largest events in the city, it attracts more
than one million people from around the world. Toronto is a major centre for gay
and lesbian culture and entertainment, and the gay village is located in the
Church and Wellesley area of Downtown.
Afghan carpet
More Photos from the Textile Museum
Toronto is currently ranked 14th in the world with over 4 million tourist arrivals a year. Toronto's most prominent landmark is the CN Tower, which stood as the tallest free-standing land structure in the world at 553 meters (1,815 ft). To the surprise of its creators, the tower held the world record for over 30 years.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a major museum for world culture and natural
history. The Toronto Zoo, one of the largest in the world, is home to over 5,000
animals representing over 460 distinct species. The Art Gallery of Ontario
contains a large collection of Canadian, European, African and contemporary
artwork. The Gardiner Museum of ceramic art which is the only museum in Canada
entirely devoted to ceramics and the Museum's collection contains more than
2,900 ceramic works from Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The Ontario Science
Centre always has new hands-on activities and science displays particularly
appealing to children, and the Bata Shoe Museum also features many unique
exhibitions. The Don Valley Brick Works is a former industrial site, which
opened in 1889, and has recently been restored as a park and heritage site. The
Canadian National Exhibition is held annually at Exhibition Place, and it is the
oldest annual fair in the world. It is Canada's largest annual fair and the
fifth largest in North America, with an average attendance of 1.25 million.
from the Bata Shoe Museum
More Photos of the Bata Shoe Museum
The Yorkville neighborhood is one of Toronto's most elegant shopping and dining areas. On many occasions, celebrities from all over North America can be spotted in the area, especially during the Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto Eaton Centre is one of North America's top shopping destinations, and Toronto's most popular tourist attraction with over 52 million visitors annually.
Greektown on the Danforth, is another one of the major attractions of Toronto
which boasts one of the highest concentrations of restaurants per kilometre in
the world. It is also home to the annual "Taste of the Danforth" festival which
attracts over one million people in 2 1/2 days. Toronto is also home to
Canada's most famous "castle" - Casa Loma, the former estate of Sir Henry Pellatt, a prominent Toronto financier, industrialist and military man. Other
notable neighborhoods and attractions include The Beaches, the Toronto Islands,
Kensington Market, Fort York, and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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