Like good downtown residents, hubby and I hit up both of these extravaganzas on Saturday, starting with the Locke Street Festival. First impressions: I’ve never seen so many people on Locke Street. I mean, it was crowded, packed and hopping – and that was at noon (ie: when it had just started).
Every store on the street had set up a booth outside, selling their various wares, which means – you guessed it – there were tons of amazing food options on offer.
We each opted for something on Locke Street we’d never tried before (I was surprised that there was something we haven’t yet tried, but it was true). I had a hotdog from Beach Road, and hubby tried the NaRoma pizza. Both were tasty and fulfilled their objectives (ie: we’ll likely be making return trips to these establishments in the future).
We loved the festival vibe on Locke Street – live music, a patio at West Town, cupcakes galore – it had the feel of any street party we’d been to in Toronto or London – but somehow better and more community-focused.
After savouring the best of Locke Street, we headed home to recharge and get out of the sun for a bit, then ventured out to James Street North for the much-anticipated and talked about Supercrawl.
I had heard about Supercrawl for what seemed like months. When we moved here, nearly everyone mentioned that we should visit the Art Crawl, but that in September, there was the mother-of-all art crawls that couldn’t possibly be missed.
Well, with all the hype on Twitter and in the community in general ahead of Supercrawl, we couldn’t possibly miss it. We got there, and it was like the art crawl on steroids. The art crawl and so much more. There were street vendors everywhere, huge grandstands with music blaring, the usual galleries open for a browse around, yummy food options – it was fabulous. About the only thing James St. N. was missing that Locke Street had (or maybe I missed it) was a patio right on the street somewhere, so people could have a drink and enjoy the bands.
What a stellar weekend to be a HamOnt-ian! Can't wait to enjoy more.
