Culture of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is a clean, safe, cosmopolitan city with a wonderful network of parks, recreational, and cultural facilities. Toronto is the home of four professional sports teams and the third largest English-speaking theatre district in the world, behind New York and London. One of the world's most ethnically diverse cities, it is home to more than 80 ethnic communities from Africa, Asia, and Europe. Toronto is also the business centre of Canada. Here are just some of the many Web sites that contain information about our city.

		Cultural Services
		The City of Toronto is proud to play a vital role in the cultural life of the city. Committed to the development of arts and culture in the City of Toronto, the Toronto Culture undertakes a range of responsibilities including: the operation and administration of many museums, historic sites, performing and visual arts centres;financial support for cultural activity and individual artists;encouraging public art projects in both private and public developments; and assisting a wide range of community arts organizations in accessing and sharing municipal services and facilities. Central to the mandate of the Toronto Culture is: promoting the development of arts, culture and heritage throughout the City; ensure accessibility to a variety of cultural activities that enhance the cultural attractions of the Toronto Region; and providing direct cultural services through its museums and historic sites, and supporting the entire cultural sector of the community.

Public art can be defined, most simply, as art that is in the public realm. It might be a landscape installation made to delight passers-by; it might be aural or visual, functional, as well as inspirational. Public art can be permanent or temporary; it can be woven seamlessly into the city’s fabric or stand out as a unique and arresting detail or event. The City of Toronto owns more than 200 works of public art and its streets and courtyards host hundreds more pieces. These works have many functions and forms:

• to commemorate specific events and historical figures to give character to certain places in the city
• to make living, working and visiting Toronto an interesting, thought-provoking and creative experience.

Cultural Services is committed to encouraging the development of public art opportunities and maintaining its outdoor collection.

For more information about the Public Art Program, please see the Quick Links at the right.

With so much accommodation on offer in Toronto, where to stay depends very much on your specific travel requirements and budget. Hotels in Toronto are particularly clustered in the downtown district around Brampton, Markham, Mississauga, and Pickering, close to the city's many attractions, such as restaurants, shopping areas and nightlife. Other popular accommodation options in Toronto include bed and breakfast lodging around Toronto's Cabbagetown, Chinatown and Greektown districts. Further desirable hotels can be found on the Lake Ontario waterfront, and close to the nearby Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
Tourism in Toronto is thriving, with many local hotels and businesses geared up for the Toronto's busy tourism trade. The main tourist information bureau in Toronto city is the Tourism Toronto center between Yonge Street and York Street. Offering a good selection of tourist information, leaflets and maps, a further office of Tourism Toronto is located in the Metro Convention Center along Front Street West. Also, the conveniently placed Ontario Travel Center stands in Toronto's Eaton Shopping Center.

Toronto's many tourist attractions include the CN Tower - famous for being the tallest free-standing structure in the whole world, with an observation deck and revolving restaurant offering superb panoramic views across Toronto and beyond; Casa Loma - a truly unique castle in the very center of Toronto, with almost 100 rooms, grand gardens with fountains, and regular guided tours; Toronto's New City Hall - a contemporary and stylish building dating back to 1965, featuring two towers, a Henry Moore statue and a public area which becomes an outdoor ice skating rink each winter; and Ontario Place - a major summer theme park attraction for all the family, standing alongside Lake Ontario, with fast rides and seasonal entertainment.

Some of Toronto's main museums and art galleries include the Art Gallery of Ontario - one of Canada's best art museums, with many important paintings and art works, standing in Toronto's Chinatown; Campbell House Museum - a Georgian-style home containing many important local artifacts and historical features; Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum - an unusual attraction for shoe lovers, with exhibits ranging from blue loafers once owned by Elvis Presley to the ballroom shoes of Queen Victoria; the Toronto Museum of Television - full of memorabilia and information related to all things televisual, including many impressive collections and research facilities; and the
Royal Ontario Museum - highly rated throughout Toronto and Ontario, known for its extensive collections of Native American artifacts and important exhibits from Egypt.

Tourist attractions located nearby Toronto include the Woodbine Racetrack - a major horse-racing track situated in nearby Etobicoke, close to Toronto's downtown district and featuring free admission; Toronto Zoo - highly regarded and rated as one of the best zoos on the planet, with over 5,000 animals and landscaped gardens; the Toronto Islands - comprising three separate islands, Center Island, Ward's Island and Hanlon's Point, accessed by a short ferry trip, with recreational activities, beaches and the Centerville Amusement Park; and the Scarborough Historical Museum - a popular family attraction standing in Scarborough's Thomson Memorial Park, just a short trip from Toronto.

Toronto Parks and Gardens: Ashbridge's Bay Park - Lakeshore Boulevard East, Coxwell Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4M 1B4, (ON) Canada

Bursting with everyone from dog walkers and cyclists to rollerbladers, this parkland area of the Beaches is hugely popular among the fashionable and free-spirited. Encompassing large stretches beach and boardwalk, the area is regularly host to summertime sporting competitions and Toronto music festivals. Visitors to the city can soak up the greenery and make use of the park's fire-pits and picnic areas, while additional facilities include public toilets, drinking fountains, parking and a boat launch.

Covering nearly 400 acres / 160 hectares, this luscious parkland offers a feast of opportunities for outdoor pursuits including swimming, ice skating, baseball, tennis and walking, with plentiful nature trails. In addition to the recreational activities on offer, visitors come to Toronto's High Park to enjoy its pretty woodland and picnic areas, and to tour the park's very own zoo and greenhouse. Outdoor theater performances are also a regular occurrence here in the summer months.

Named after the Thomson family, who were among the first settlers in the Scarborough area of Toronto in 1796, the Thomson Memorial Park is most well-known for being home to the fascinating Scarborough Historical Museum. Visitors to the museum can trace the history of the area, while the park grounds offer everything from tennis courts and soccer fields to softball diamonds and a petting zoo. Families can enjoy the public picnic areas provided, while children can cool off in the wading pool.

Primarily known as one of the best place to come and play tennis in the city of Toronto, Trinity Bellwoods Park is home to a total of eight tennis courts, the use of which is open to the public. The courts are categorized into two groups, with one set of courts available for use free of charge for a 30-minute period.