halloween on church

Why doesn't Toronto do more to promote Halloween on Church Street?

The annual Halloween on Church celebration is arguably the city's biggest spooky event, but yet, the question remains why doesn't the city promote it?

Brought to you by the good people at the Church Wellesley Village BIA, this event is Canada's biggest Halloween celebration that shuts down six city blocks to pedestrians only (Wood to Gloucester), dressed in their best costumes.

Each year thousands of residents come down to walk the block, show off their outfits and have some good ole fashion fun.

It is definitely a large enough event to have some city support and backing like marketing and advertising.

Other similar-in-size events like the Cavalcade of Lights and Nuit Blanche have the city's backing and definitely help in drawing in more attendees.

"The City provides ongoing support for businesses and events in this community through its BIA partnership with the Church Wellesley Village BIA," said a media spokesperson when asked what the deal was.

But take a look at any posters or advertisements for the event and you won't see any City of Toronto logo or mention.

The city also claims they work alongside transportation and police services to coordinate the street closures but I don’t call that “backing” the event.

Seeing as this if the first official Halloween that resembles any kind of normalcy prior to 2019, I'm betting this year's event will have a record-breaking number of attendees.

Here's hoping next year's run will have additional support and promotion!

Lead photo by

Hector Vasquez


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