Pape Village Summerfest ends the season with a bang

Street Performers lined up
Street performers entertaining the attendee's (Photo provided by Twitter user @juliedabrusin) 

After Taste of the Danforth was cancelled in June, many residents of the Danforth were left heartbroken and looking for a way to end off the summer.

Pape Village’s Summerfest was just the answer they were looking for.

The annual street festival took place Sept. 17. It spanned from Mortimer to Gamble avenues, with both ends being blocked off. The festival featured many different activities and events for attendees, such as face painting and live music performances.

Summerfest also offered a wide range of food for locals to sink their teeth into. Thirteen restaurants and businesses took part in the festival. Some of these restaurants were, Bullseye Burgers, Pho Challenge, Elmer’s Fine Foods, among others.

Bullseye Burgers are looking forward to future festivals! (Photo by Fareen Karim)

“I used to go to the [Taste of the] Danforth every single year and as soon as my mother told me that we couldn’t go this year, I was devastated,” local resident Kassandra Reves said. “This event just goes to show you how important things like this are to the community, especially after the pandemic.”

“I love how alive it feels right now, it feels like we are just one big family,” Reves said while enjoying a burger outside Bullseye Burgers.

The pandemic halted the festival

The pandemic has impacted the community, and Summerfest, as this is the second year it is taking place, after the first one took place in 2019.

Bullseye Burgers owner, Antonis Tsanakas, was ecstatic to hear it would be coming back.

“I believe that if COVID had not happened, then Summerfest would be huge!” Tsanakas said. “It’s an important event to have with people being out and about and getting to know what’s new in terms of businesses that are in the area.

“This is also our first year attending the Summerfest and we are excited to return next year!”

Extending the festival

With Summerfest bringing in a lot of attention and customers to the area, some businesses felt excluded from the event.

Owner of The Greek Grill Dimitrios Mantziouras expressed his disappointment with being outside the boundaries of the event. The Greek Grill is located at Pape avenue and O’Connor Drive.

“It would be great if in the future plans would allow an extension on Pape Avenue for future festivals,” Mantziouras said.

“I’m sure I would get more customers from spill over, and/or new people coming to the area to check it out, seeing as how I’m located close to the highway exit; it would be nice though to be a part of the actual festival itself.”

The Pape Village Summerfest looks to return in 2023, so area residents can get their summer foodie fix yet again.

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Posted: Sep 19 2022 9:00 am
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Filed under: Arts & Life Entertainment Food News
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