50th Cavalcade of Lights kicks off holiday season

Guide to going to Toronto's free event

Last year's Cavalcade of Lights show.  Photo courtesy City of Toronto

The 50th annual Cavalcade of Lights takes place at Nathan Phillips Square on Nov. 26.

Cavalcade of Lights Schedule

7 p.m. : Choir! Choir! Choir! leads an audience sing-a-long

7:30 p.m. : First lighting of Toronto’s Official Christmas Tree

7:35 p.m. : Cris Derksens’ Cavalcade Orchestra

8:30 p.m. : Procession of Light by Red Pepper Spectacle Arts

8:35 p.m. : Fireworks Display

8:40 p.m. : Whitehorse Concert

9:40 p.m. : Skating Party

Source: toronto.ca/cavalcade

The Cavalcade of Lights features entertainment that includes live performances, fireworks and the lighting of Toronto’s Official Christmas Tree to start the holiday season.

Pre-event activities begin at 3 p.m., which includes an art lantern workshop, a skating pre-party and a video booth. At 7 p.m., Choir! Choir! Choir!, who recently led a Leonard Cohen tribute at Christie Pits, will begin the Cavalcade of Lights with an audience sing-a-long, that will feature John Lennon’s Imagine.

The Cavalcade of Lights is a free event located at Nathan Phillips Square, that marks the official start of the holiday season in Toronto. The event has more than 525,000 energy-efficient lights, which includes a Christmas tree that will be wrapped around by 3,810 metres of LED lights and 700 individual ornaments.

Getting There:

Both the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and the Toronto Police Service (TPS) have announced streetcar diversions and road closures, respectively, because of the Cavalcade of Lights.

The TTC announced route diversions for the 501 and 301 Queen streetcars from 4:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

There will also be 501 and 301 shuttle bus that will provide service between Shaw Street in the west, to Woodbine Loop in the east.

For more information on other TTC route diversions and closures, visit their holiday service page.

Source: Toronto Transit Commission

Source: Toronto Transit Commission

The TPS announced the following road closures that will take place due to pyrotechnics from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The road closures can be seen in the map below:

About this article

By:
Posted: Nov 24 2016 12:30 pm
Edition:
Filed under: News
Topics: