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The Festival of Old Town Toronto

 September 12, 13, 14 2008

For Tickets and Reservations Please see menu item on left side of our Home Page

Walking Tours, St. Lawrence Hall Concert  and Enoch Turner Concert, Corktown Picnic and Photograph Contest

Begining the  200th Commemoration of the WAR OF 1812    The Old Town Toronto Alliance is to building  capacity for a grand regional event in 2012.

 Friday, September 12, 2008 at 6 :30 PM

Toronto Heritage Concert at St. Lawrence Hall  159 King St East at Jarvis St.
 View the Hall at www.stlawrencemarket.com/hall/tour/Slideshow.html

Very unique evening of entertainment, featuring music spanning the period 1793 to 1930’s, tied together by historic narration by Bruce Bell, Richard Fiennes-Clinton and Bill Genova, with projected heritage photographs.

Two intermissions with Ontario wine and cheese available, and fiddle folk tunes, jigs and reels of Old Town Toronto's non-Family Compact class of that period.

The Arioso Quartet – Classical string quartet play music of the period 1793-1812

Chris Whitley and Diana Braithwaite – Music from the years of the Underground Railroad where the St. Lawrence Hall played an important part.

The Happy Pals – Ending the evening with the 1920’s – 30’s classic jazz

Walking Tours Tickets for each tour are $5.00.  These proceeds are entirely for the latch key kids Charity "The Home Work Club" of the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood.
Saturday Sept. 13th and Sunday Sept 14th our three historians, Bruce Bell, Bill Genova and Richard Fiennes-Clinton will conduct a 10 AM morning and a 2 PM showcase and inform you about Old Town Toronto.  Learn where and how Toronto began.  The Tours begin at the St. Lawrence Market 93 Front St East at Jarvis St.

Each tour will meet in the West Mezzanine (Corner of Market St.)for an orientation slide show of about 15 minutes, present by the Market's official Historian Bruce Bell.  Groups will then leave with one of our tour guides on a route of their choice, across Old Town.  Each of our guides is a wealth of knowledge and a professional guide that will make the walk entertaining and educational.  You will finish the walk (about 90 minutes) at the Gooderham and Worts Distillery.

You may remain there as you choose,and a shuttle bus will be available for a return ride back to the St. Lawrence Market.  You may choose to walk back along The Esplanade Ave. through St. Lawrence Neighbourhood , the successful urban residential redevelopment known as the Crombie Park.

Tickets for each tour are $5.00.  These proceeds are entirely for the latch key kids Charity "The Home Work Club" of the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood.

     Bruce Bell             Richard Finnes-Clinton     Bill Genova

    

Local residents meet for kids Games, Food and a fund raising Auction of donated items. On Saturday only from 11AM till 5 PM.   Corktown will welcome Walking Tour members of the Festival as the come buy to join in on whatever is going on at that time.  Sackville Playground is on King St East near the Underground Railroad-  Blackburn Heritage site.

Join us at for acoustic music by Random Roads and others. 2 PM till 7 PM  A corn roast with Toronto's culinary addition to North American food, Pea Meal Back Bacon included for $17.93.  Stories and music about early Toronto, tunes about pirates on Lake Ontario, Laura Second and events around the War of 1812, the Underground Railroad and discover why we aren't Americans.

Entertaining Readers and Scholars speaking in general about Old Town Toronto and sharing some of their work.

3 pm Prof. Sally Gibson will be reading from her new book,
Toronto’s Distillery District: History by the Lake.  (And Book Signing)

4 Pm Prof. Karolyn Smartz-Frost will be reading from hear book,
I've Got a Home In Glory Land: The True Story of Two Runaway Slaves Whose Flight to Freedom Changed History   (And Book Signing)


Photograph Competition

The Festival Photograph Competition for photography of Old Town Toronto’s People, Places and Heritage Sites.    Prizes will be awarded in each category with an added overall prize donated by O’Connor Gallery for Framing & Matting up to $200.00.

Heritage Sites – Must be within the Old Town Toronto borders – Yonge Street to the Don River, Queen Street East to the railway tracks on the South.  You should have no shortage of options as we have the largest concentration of heritage sites in Toronto.

People – Shots taken during the festival – at the Heritage Concert at the St. Lawrence Hall, during the Walks and at the Tales of Old Toronto at Enoch Turner and people in on the streets of Old Town.

Places – Old Town streetscapes, buildings, parks, fountains etc. - this is you chance to be creative and have fun

Prizes will be awarded at the end of October.

To purchase festival tickets please contact us at:

Email  office@oldtowntoronto1793.com  or

telephone 416-861-1793
(if we are on the phone we will call you back, so leave your number)

For purchase we require your :
Name
Telephone number
Visa number
Visa expiry date
- and the event you wish to attend
Heritage Concert – September 12, 2008 - $18.12 ($20.00 at the door)

Walking Tours – September 13 & 14, 2008 - $5 (proceeds to the Homework Club)

Tales of Old Toronto & Acoustic Music/Corn Roast - $17.93 ($20.00 at the door)
(price includes corn roast & pea meal bacon on a bun, or veggie choice etc.)