From neighbourhood street parties to globally recognized celebrations, festivals play a large role in Toronto’s identity.
Each year, Toronto hosts about 300 festivals—within a broader calendar of roughly 1,300 special events—drawing an estimated 19.44 million attendees to more than 180 public venues across the city.
But what makes a festival ecosystem thrive — and how should a growing city support it?
To answer that question, the City of Toronto turned to the research expertise of the Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University to map and analyze Toronto’s festival landscape as part of the development of Toronto's Festival Strategy (2026-2031).
The Strategy ensures all Torontonians can enjoy free, inclusive and diverse cultural experiences close to home, while boosting festivals that build community, bring streets to life and raise the city’s global profile.
“Our goal was to understand how festivals function—economically, culturally and socially—and what they need to succeed in the future,” said Samuel La France, manager, Cultural Policy Hub. “We did that by carrying out extensive research, which involved speaking to festival organizers and surveying festival goers, analyzing cultural data—including the City’s internal data about the festivals it supports— and developing case studies on how other cities have approached the development of their festival ecosystems. What we found helped our colleagues at the City identify the opportunities and challenges that a festival strategy could address.”
In-depth interviews and surveys
The Hub gathered first-hand insight from the people who run festivals. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 12 producers and organizers representing seven annual festivals across the city. Their anonymous input helped identify common challenges, from infrastructure pressures to shifting audience trends and expectations.
The research moved beyond interviews and into the crowds.
In summer 2025, the Hub partnered with consulting firm Nordicity to design a public survey of festival goers. Three OCAD University student monitors attended seven major events—including Beaches Jazz Festival, Toronto Caribbean Carnival and the Toronto Outdoor Picture Show—collecting responses on-site.
The survey captured what draws attendees to these events and what keeps them coming back, as well as some of the most common barriers people face to attending Toronto festivals.
Learning from the world
To place Toronto in context, the Hub examined festival strategies from eight cities internationally, including Edinburgh, Montreal and Seoul. Comparing priorities, funding models and governance structures helped identify best practices that could translate to Toronto’s scale and diversity.
From research to policy
The Hub’s final report was used alongside City documentation to draft Toronto’s Festival Strategy (2026-2031). The City refined and approved the plan through additional engagement and presented it to the Economic and Community Development Committee, which was approved by Council on March 26, 2026.
Why it matters
Festivals are often experienced in the moment—a weekend, a parade, a performance—but the Hub’s work highlights them as infrastructure: economic drivers, community builders and cultural platforms.
“People see the celebration, but behind every festival is a complex system that involves planning, partnerships and community engagement,” said La France. “Our research helps the City understand how those pieces fit together and this new strategy will help make sure that festivals are well supported to bring the city’s diverse cultural offerings to its parks, streets and cultural spaces for years to come.”
By grounding policy in research, the project positions Toronto to support festivals not just as events, but as a coordinated and sustainable ecosystem.
For OCAD University, it demonstrates how design and culture-focused research can directly shape civic decision-making and impact how millions of residents and visitors experience the city every year.
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