The Taste of the Danforth ran August 9–11, 2019, in Toronto’s Greektown. We spent time at the festival on Saturday afternoon and evening, and again on Sunday night, photographing the food, entertainment, and lively atmosphere. The rest is best told in pictures.
Just west of Jones Avenue
A Greek band (Eros?) performs at one of four stages set up along the danforth.
Close up of the bottles at the Ring-Toss game
Located in the Kids’ Fun Zone. Note to self - go for a ride next time for the view.
Ticket Booth at the Taste of the Danforth
Lined up to get tickets for the rides
Von Doughnuts, Danforth Cafe and Athens Restaurant.
Offering the ‘Homer Doughnut’ for $4. A donut with pink icing and sprinkles.
Athens Restaurant & Tavern
This guy is famous for dancing and singing every year.
Singing and Dancing
Crowd gathering at Athens Restaurant & Tavern
Athens Restaurant & Tavern
Announcing deals at Bakery & Authentic Greek Sweets
Why not?
Wine Rack employee holding up a can
Growers Cider Co.
Soulas Modern Greek Cuisine
Contestant singing on the Celebrity Stage
Miss Asia Canada Competition
Miss Asia Canada Contestant
Sakuramai TO is a yosakoi dance group based in Toronto, Canada.
The next set of pictures are of Mexican Folk dancers. They put on a great performance then taught the crowd some moves.
Ballet Folklorico Puro Mexico
Dancing
Near Broadview Avenue
Rock musician
Watching Adam Caranfa on stage.
He went up and gave the musician some money
Food vendors had offerings at $6 or under. Not bad at all.
Music through the window
Cafe Frappe
Grabbed a pizza for $6 .
@decks_n_cassettes
St. Louis Bar & Grill
Brought to you by Cirque Du Soleil
As the sun goes down there was a shift in the mood of the crowd. Food vendors were crowded.
As usual, patrons of The Taste of the Danforth were treated to an appearance from Mr. Spock. He has been making appearances at The Taste of the Danforth for a couple of years now. He is a popular guy here. People enjoy taking pictures with him.
It looked like a lot of people were looking around to find something to eat which left some of the games empty.
“Take your best shot!”
And empty game waiting to payed while patrons are looking for something to eat.
As I was walking east along the Danforth, I couldn’t help but notice these two workers who were having a really fun time serving customers their food orders and dancing with people in the street. There was this vibe in the air that seemed contagious.
I found the clown on stilts in the same spot as yesterday, making balloon animals for people.
This photo illustrates the beautiful weather we had on Sunday August 11, 2019 which was a great way to start the night and wrap up this edition of The Taste of Danforth.
It was really difficult to get a picture of Souv Like. It was so crowded here and there were some people leaving and more people coming into the The Taste of The Danforth
I’ve always found that there is a difference in the mood at the Taste of the Danforth on the different days. The 2019 edition of the Taste of the Danforth was no different.
There is always a crowd near this game with people taking group selfies or rushing to the front to a try to win a prize.
He made his shot!
A family waiting for the clown on stilts to make a balloon animal.
People lined up waiting for their own balloon animal.
Here is a patron capturing some video of the Happy Cooks from The Athens Restaurant & Tavern.
The Greek flag hanging from The Forth Event Boutique building on the Danforth just west of Pape Ave.
I found the composition of this picture to be great, There are people who are eating their corn, and there is someone taking a picture of her BBQ Corn on the Cob.
A research study that was in the Journal of Consumer Marketing would have us believe that taking a photo of what you are going to eat could enhance the that eating experience of that food. More info here: https://www.thecut.com/2016/03/the-psychological-case-for-instagramming-your-food.html
A server from Roasted Sweet Corn Kiosk serving BBQ corn to patrons.
I found that people would stand and watch the way this kiosk worked. What I mean by that is that there were some employees pulling the husks off the the corn cobs. Then they were put into a giant BBQ oven. Afterwards, someone takes them out of the BBQ and gives them to the cashiers to serve to their patrons.
Someone dressed up as a bunch of grapes dancing to music.
Offing a wide variety of of fish and seafood at a great price. It’s a great example of the diversity of food that you will find at The Taste of the Danforth.
As the sun went further and further down more of the night life started to come out to The Danforth.
This is a picture of DJ ashleyGxselle IG @ashleygxselle
At the intersection of Chester Ave. and Danforth Ave.
LED Light Balloons
No matter what event is going on in Toronto, there always seems to be someone selling these. Kids and adults really seem to like them, a lot!
I was taking long exposure photos when this person stood with in view of my camera. I was doing long exposures to show how many people were coming and going. The lady with her male companion was posing for a photo of her newly purchased light balloon.
After taking some long exposure photos, I walked back eastbound along the Danforth. I noticed a few people dancing on the street and saw DJ ashleygxselle hard at work.
Photo of DJ ashleygxselle along side Sarkzm
IG @ashleygxselle
IG @Sarkzm
Two photographers talking with a man who was holding a sign for the Wine Rack.
Last Photo of the night features a vintage looking Ice cream truck.
Even the dogs were having a great time!
The Gathering (Greektown)
As you can see, there was quite a gathering of people watching people dancing.
There were people dancing in front of Logo Bar & Cafe from the afternoon into the evening. This person came out of nowhere and started to get down. His T-shirt said “Be Your Best Self “.
The Street Is Packed - Taste of the Danforth Greektown in Toronto.
It was like the entire street broke out into dance. This picture is in front of Cafe Frappe #Frapped. There were plenty of onlookers who were enjoying that happy joyful feeling.
There was a huge variety of condiments that were available to put on your BBQ Corn on the Cob. I believe there were over 30 different herbs and spices that you could choose from.
People were still dancing their way up the street while others stopped to rest.
Budweiser Canada was giving the out free samples of their Copper Lager. I like it!
So after having some free suds, there were free bubbles that everyone was blowing out into the night sky.
What is the The Taste of The Danforth without a Napkin Toss?
People are always trying to get either a selfie or a picture of them selves with this iconic sign in the background. This is a long exposure photo to show all the different things that people are doing in the one spot. There is still a crowd gathered for more Napkin tosses. There are 3 people in the middle of this photo that had their picture taken under the Greektown sign. to the right there are people walking by. To the left there are 2 people taking a selfie.
The Taste of the Danforth is slowly winding down. Most of the games are quiet.
People get their last game in before the Taste of The Danforth Closes
It is closing time and just as I was leaving, I found Mr. Spock looking up at the Ferris wheel. I convinced him to give us a good bye picture from this years’ Taste of The Danforth 2019.
