Canada Day at Toronto’s Harbourfront: BeaverTails and Fireworks

One of the great pleasures of living near Queen’s Quay in Toronto is the Harbourfront Centre, a vibrant arts community that hosts year-round events from dance performances to cultural festivals. Every July 1st long weekend, it reaches its climax as crowds descend on the waterfront to celebrate Canada’s birthday with great fanfare, complete with musical acts, dance performances and a free fireworks extravaganza.

This year, the Canada Day long weekend at Harbourfront was a splendid success, complemented with perfect summertime weather, red-and-white-clad crowds and a host of activities for children and adults alike.

Of course, a Canada Day celebration wouldn’t be complete without an array of food offerings! The World Café feeds Harbourfront visitors with global cuisine throughout the summer but, this weekend, revellers indulged in even more variety from lobster rolls to decorative cupcakes.

 

And hello, Barque Smokehouse! They made an appearance and enticed the crowd with their tantalizing $7 Baconation menu: a bacon-inspired tasting of six food samples that included (among other items) peameal bacon tacos, bacon chips with salsa and, for the vegetarians, fake ‘n bacon (smoked tofu).

And what’s more Canadian than one of my all-time favourite sweet treats: the BeaverTail? Chewy and doughy, these flat pastries are hand-stretched and shaped to resemble the tail of Canada’s national animal. Then they’re deep-fried and served hot with a choice of delectable toppings.

I went for my usual Killaloe Sunrise: a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and the zest of citrus juice from a slice of lemon. I waited for this moment all weekend.

So I think I’ve made my point: the food was scrumptious.

But did the fireworks show measure up? It was spectacular. Crowds looked on to the lake where the dazzling display took place against the backdrop of music in just a short distance. Here’s a video of the sensational grand finale (watch for the explosion of light and colour about 35 seconds in). The spectacle was so immense that I couldn’t get it to fit within the frame of my iPhone in its entirety!

If you missed the festivities at Harbourfront this weekend, there’s plenty of time to plan your visit next year to experience for yourself the sights, tastes and sounds of Canada Day. It’s arguably worth attending just for the Canadian-classic BeaverTails and fireworks extravaganza.

Want to visit Toronto to join the birthday celebrations? You can check hotel options at Booking.com here. If you click on this link and make a reservation, I’ll earn a small commission – at no cost to you. Thank you for your support!