The Junction Arts Festival was in full swing on the weekend on Dundas West, west of Keele. Dundas was closed to traffic from Keele to Clendenan and many of the new bars, restaurants and cafes in the area had spread out into the streets with patios, and the strong local arts community was well-represented. Dundas has a relatively narrow right-of-way, with narrow sidewalks, so like along most of Bloor, front patios are impossible normally except for businesses in corner buildings – it’s amazing when you can see what the city would be like if all the back patios were in fact out front, though short of pedestrianisation, it seems unlikely to ever happen except temporarily.

The Festival is still in its formative years but seems to get better every year and is thankfully one of the lesser-known and more relaxed of Toronto’s street festivals, some of which are starting to choke on their own success. I’m sure many of the restaurants and bars would have preferred a larger turnout, but actually being able to move through the street is a refreshing change from the press of bodies one encounters at Taste of the Danforth and some of the other street festivals.