Toronto street festival back despite last weekend’s deadly shooting at Salsa on St. Clair

CTV News Toronto’s Janice Golding says TPS officers will have a visible presence at the Big on Bloor event and other outdoor festivals.

The Big on Bloor festival is back for the 20th year, with Bloor West – from Dufferin to Lansdowne – shut down for Bloordale’s annual celebration of local businesses, arts and culture.

“I love just walking around and seeing what there is,” a youngster told CTV News, while her sister said she enjoyed “all the food.”

The girls’ mother added, with a laugh: “They save up all year for this and then they go around and they can buy whatever trinkets they want out of their allowance”

Of course, this year’s festival comes just a week after the terrifying mass shooting at the crowded Salsa on St. Clair festival.

“I was actually there during the incident as well too. There was a lot of confusion, intensity. So we have a lot more general patrol officers, security, all of our staff are highly visible,” said Darren Leu, Big on Bloor’s director.

MP Julie Dzerowicz attended the event -- with her own private security – a precautionary measure she instituted following the pandemic.

“There was an incident, sadly, where one of my staff was assaulted.”

Dzerowizc says there are steps that need to be considered to make Toronto’s festivals safer, such as ticketing and metal detectors at entrances.

“There’s things we can do to allow people to continue to enjoy their city and these street festivals, but we have to be creative.”

Toronto police, meanwhile, say they want to reassure the public.

Spokesperson Stephanie Miceli said in a statement: “We understand that many people are still thinking about last weekend’s violence and that incidents like that can affect people’s sense of safety.”

Miceli added, police will have a “visible” presence at festivals across the city this weekend.

“I have confidence in our police and security. Stuff will always happen, but that’s rare here I believe,” said a Big on Bloor food vendor.

Another vendor adding: “We shouldn’t fixate on it. We should do what we can to address it, but we should live our lives and enjoy our beautiful city.”

Despite the ramped up security, some who attended the event told CTV News their sense of security has been shaken.

“I’m just concerned about what might happen tonight, given what happened last weekend, and really over the last year or two at festivals in the city,” said a woman who lives in the neighborhood.

The Big on Bloor festival is a free pedestrian-only event. Ten city blocks are shut down to traffic, in order to showcase local businesses, and scores of multidisciplinary art projects.

Organizers expect the event to attract more than 180,000 visitors over the course of the weekend.