Toronto Is Having A Mid-Autumn Fest This Weekend With Floating Lanterns & Fusion Food

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, look no further: Toronto is getting a brand new mid-autumn festival and it's happening right by the waterfront this Saturday, September 25.

The event will be a cultural showcase that will have fusion food, live music with Taiko drummers, and even lion dance performances. There will also be a scenic water feature where event-goers will be able to release floating lanterns.

"We decided to do something in timing with the full moon," Kevin Yee, founder of the event, told Narcity over the phone. "It's a boutique-style event that's going to be hosted at Hotel X with much smaller crowds and just a select few vendors."

"We're situated on 6 acres here with tons of different greenery," Matt Black, the director of marketing and revenue at Hotel X, told Narcity. "It's a really convenient location being just a little bit removed from downtown."

Yee said the aim was to create an event that will bring together people from the community again.

"That's really what the initiative is — to give an opportunity for the Asian community to come back out and get together again," Yee said, adding that the event focuses on uniting the BIPOC community together as it most affected throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's something very dear to us, to give the Asian community on Saturday an opportunity to come out and feel safe in an environment where there's not going to be any judging or people blaming the Asians for the virus," Yee mentioned. "The idea is to embrace the culture and embrace the people that you're with."

On top of the Full Moon fest, they are also hosting a Mask-Off Caribbean WineDown Fest the following day, which will celebrate the Caribbean community through arts, culture, cuisine, and live music.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.