Skip to main content

BuskerFest, Check It Out!

I hate the end of August. For this summer gal the labour day weekend is my signal that winter is fast approaching. The one thing that gets me through this weekend, is going to the Toronto International BuskerFest for Epilepsy. It always puts a smile on my face.

The festival, at Woodbine Park in The Beach, showcases amazing fire-jugglers, sword-swallowers, magicians, ventriloquists, comedians, and musicians from all around the world. For kids, there is also a Family Fun Zone with face painting, circus academy, rides and a bouncy castle. It's a wonderful way to spend, what I call, the last weekend of summer. Best of all, all funds raised are used to help the more than 40,000 people in the Greater Toronto Area who have epilepsy.

Admission to the park (1590 Lake Shore Blvd. East at Coxwell Ave) is by donation, with a suggestion of $5 per person and $10 for a family. In conjunction with BuskerFest, The Mac and Cheese Festival is also being held, with more than 20 different mac and cheese vendors. I love mac and cheese!

It's unfortunate that Epilepsy Toronto must do so much fundraising to support the many wonderful programs it offers. In 2017 Epilepsy Toronto received only $7,000 in funding from the federal government. On the positive side, that was up $46 from the $6,954 it received in federal funding in 2016. I kid you not.



BuskerFest hours of operation are:

Friday noon to 11 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Monday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reading, Writing, Epilepsy and More...My First Blog

                      As a young girl my greatest loves were newspapers and books. I dreamed one day I’d be a newspaper reporter, and one day I’d write a book. At  21, I graduated with my degree in journalism and worked at newspapers in Collingwood, Barrie and Oshawa, but the book eluded me. Not any more. Four years ago I made time to follow my dream. In my little downstairs office I’d set my timer for 60 minutes and allow the words, the feelings and the memories to flow. With two 60-minute intervals a day, the words weren’t always pretty, but they were on the page. Today—following memoir writing classes at Ryerson, a graduate certificate in creative Writing from Humber College, working with an amazing editor, and countless hours of pouring my heart on the page—I’m ready to birth my 327-page baby. Seized—A Memoir of Epilepsy, Complications and Love , explores my journey with my son, James, who since birth has suff...

My Current Favourite Book

I'm so glad today is the last day of February. For a short month it was long and brutal! I can't wait for the snow, the cold and the grey to vanish. Usually I go for a long walk three to five times a week, but not this month. It has either been too cold or too icy. On the upside, I've had more time for reading.  This year I've recorded in my Book Lover's Diary the title and author of each book I've read and I've rated each book with one to four stars. My Mom gave me the diary in 2000 but this is the first year I'm dutifully recording every book I read. So far I've read eight books, or almost one a week. Six of the eight are non-fiction: Becoming , by Michelle Obama; A Smell of Burning, A Memoir of Epilepsy by Colin Grant; Educated , by Tara Westover;  Walk It Off, A Memoir by Ruth Marshall;   Intrepid Soul, A Memoir of Returning Home ,   by Leanda Michelle and Women Who Walk With Wolves , by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. The two fiction books wer...

Tristan Thompson and Epilepsy Toronto

      My son  James loves basketball. Guess I should have known he’d agreed to go with me to Thursday’s Amari Thompson Soiree in support of Epilepsy Toronto. Amari’s big brother—NBA superstar, Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers—is honourary chairman of the evening. You bet, James wants to attend!      I’ve always thought Epilepsy Toronto and the epilepsy community in general, needed a strong, well-known personality to help raise awareness and funds for those with epilepsy and their families. Along came Tristan, thank goodness! The Canadian citizen, who grew up in Brampton, partnered with Epilepsy Toronto to host the soiree in honour of his 11-year-old brother, Amari. Like James, Amari has suffered seizures since birth.      Tristan, who calls Amari, “the greatest motivational force in my life,” acknowledges that not every family dealing with epilepsy has had his good fortune. For this reason he decided to do what...