Weekend need-to-know: Early Halloween celebrations across Toronto

Halloween falls on weekday this year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t multiple events to celebrate the weekend before. There will be lots of family-friendly happenings across the city.

Keep in mind, there is a subway closure in effect along Line 2 this weekend.

Halloween events

Riverside Howl-O-Ween

Get your costumes ready for the spook-tacular annual Riverside Halloween. The festival features free kids activities at Riverside Common Park including pumpkin decorating, treats, a haunted house, DJ, face painting and more.

It’s happening at Riverside Common Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Pumpkinfest

Join The Kingsway BIA with your best Halloween costumes (pets included) and get the chance to win prizes. There will also be pumpkin decorating, face painting and store-to-store trick or treat. Plus, enjoy a vibrant street market! 

It’s happening on 7 Jackson Avenue from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Day of the Dead Celebration – Día de los Muertos

Toronto Día de los Muertos Collective, in partnership with Casa Maíz Cultural Centre, will be hosting traditional annual multi-day Día de los Muertos celebration for 2024. It’s happening from October 24 to November 3, 2024, with the main celebration happening on October 26 from 3:30pm to 10pm at Wychwood Barns.

Experience meaningful ceremony, captivating performances, original artwork, and traditional food.

Halloween Food Truck Festival

If you are feeling hungry this Halloween weekend, check out the Halloween Food Truck Festival in Scarborough this weekend.

It will be family-friendly extravaganza with up to 10 of the GTA’s best food trucks dishing out delectable treats, craft beer to quench your thirst, live entertainment to keep you grooving, and a variety of activities for all ages.

It starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday until 5 p.m. on Sunday at Variety Village on Danforth Avenue.

Howl’oween at The Bentway

Halloween isn’t just for humans! At the Bentway, they will be celebrating canine costumes at Howl’oween.

.Prize-packs will be awarded to dogs for the Best Handmade Costume, Best Family costume – where dogs and their human companions come together to create coordinated ensembles – as well as overall Judges’ Picks.

Halloween Fest at Bay Lower Station

Brave the haunted subway train or stroll through the kid-friendly Halloween train this weekend at Bay Lower station

It starts on Saturday at 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and runs until 4 p.m. on Sunday.

alloween Fest at Bay Lower Station runs on Saturday, October 26, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and again on Sunday, October 27, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets will sold at the Cumberland entrance at street level for $5. All proceeds will go to United Way Greater Toronto.

TTC Closures

Line 2 weekend closure

On Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27, 2024, there will be no subway service on Line 2 between Victoria Park and Kennedy stations for planned track work. Shuttle buses will operate.

Regular service will resume Monday, October 28, by 6 a.m.

Barrie GO service adjustment

Starting at 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25 and throughout the weekend of Saturday, Oct. 26 and Sunday, Oct. 27 GO buses will replace train service on the Barrie line due to construction. GO buses will replace trains between Barrie Bus Terminal and Highway 407 Bus Terminal as we work to improve your service.

Road closures

Gardiner Expressway closure

As part of the long-term construction plan on the Gardiner Expressway, one westbound lane and one eastbound lane are closed between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue. The eastbound on-ramp from Lake Shore Boulevard at Jameson Avenue is also closed.

Temporary closures

• Intermittent lane closures will be in effect on Wilson Avenue between Dufferin Street and Billy Bishop Way until late November for the replacement of a natural gas pipeline.
• From 11 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15, to 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15, eastbound Lake Shore Boulevard East will be reduced from two lanes to one lane between Logan and Carlaw Avenues due to road reconstruction on Lake Shore Boulevard East as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection project. Drivers will not be able to right turn onto Carlaw Avenue from Lake Shore. A detour will be in place via Logan Avenue and Commissioner Street.
• Park Lawn Road is down to a single lane from north of Lake Shore Boulevard to the Gardiner Expressway due to the construction of a proposed GO station in the area.
• Spadina Avenue streetcars have been replaced by buses between Spadina Station and Queens Quay, and until the end of the year, there will be no 510 service between Spadina Station and Union Station. Commuters wishing to travel onwards to Union from Queens Quay will need to transfer to a 509 streetcar.
• O’Connor Drive is down to a single lane each way between Bermondsey and Sandra for road reconstruction and sewer and watermain installation until the summer of 2024.
• The Yonge and Bloor intersection will be reduced to a single lane until 2025 for condo construction and sewer installation.
• University Avenue will be reduced to a single lane in both directions between College Street and Queen Street West to complete several infrastructure projects for the next several months.
• Queen Street is fully closed to traffic between Bay and Victoria Streets to accommodate work on a new station for the Ontario Line subway. The closure is scheduled to last until 2027, at least four-and-a-half years.
• Northbound Yonge Street is reduced to one lane between Wellington and King Streets for TTC construction, which is scheduled to continue into 2024.
• Eglinton Avenue West is reduced to a single lane east of Islington and west of Scarlett Road due to tunnelling work related to the multi-year Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project.
• Lane restrictions on Bayview Avenue between Roehampton Avenue and Armistice Drive while the city completes road resurfacing, curb and sidewalk replacement, and traffic signal and pedestrian upgrades. One northbound lane is currently closed on Bayview Avenue between Kilgour Road and Roehampton Avenue.
• Cherry Street remains closed south of Polson Pier due to maintenance on the Ship Channel Lift Bridge (Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge). Road users are able to access the Port of Toronto and Cherry Beach via Unwin Avenue. 
• Until mid-October, both eastbound lanes and one westbound lane on Queen Street West will be closed at the York Street intersection for the installation of overhead wiring for the 501 Queen streetcar detour. One westbound lane will remain open.