While some people want to hide inside the house all through winter, many others anticipate it and look forward to getting out into the fresh crisp air. Event organizers are busy all through the year hosting fun festivals, both indoor and outdoor, and wintertime is no exception. You’ll find holiday lights, active pursuits and cultural activities, so embrace the season with our Guide to the Best Winter Festivals in Toronto and the GTA…
Winter Festivals — Continuing in January
Mountsberg Conservation Area: Winterlit
Date: December 31, 2025 — February 16, 2026
Bask in the natural beauty of Mountsberg Conservation Area by taking an illuminated walk in the woods at Winterlit, where trails sparkle brightly for a combined distance of approximately 1.5 kilometres.
Winter Festivals — January
Friday Harbour: The Skate Escape
Date: January 16 — March 15, 2026
Celebrate the joys of the winter season at Friday Harbour with The Skate Escape on the shores of Lake Simcoe. The free event features ice skating, live entertainment, and more!
Design TO Festival
Date: January 23 — February 1, 2026
DesignTO is Canada’s largest annual design festival, celebrating creative thinking and making with more than 100 exhibitions and events.
University of Toronto New Music Festival
Date: January 23 – February 3, 2026
The University of Toronto New Music Festival is an international festival of contemporary music, featuring a varied program of classical and vocal performances.
Winterista Festival
Date: January 23 – February 13, 2026
The Winterista Festival is a new festival of ice, light and community that transforms Leaside’s Motorista Studio into a magical world of beauty and creativity.
Dance Ontario: DanceWeekend
Date: January 24-25, 2026
Dance Ontario presents their annual DanceWeekend, a high-energy, multi-day festival featuring a vibrant mix of performances, cultural voices, and community engagement.
Taste of Burlington
Date: January 26 — February 8, 2026
Whether you’re an experienced foodie, or new on the scene, you can try a new and delicious dishes (that you didn’t have to cook!) while supporting local business at the annual Taste of Burlington.
Winterlicious Toronto
Date: January 30 — February 12, 2026
Now in its 20th year, Winterlicious Toronto food event returns for another delicious edition, featuring three-course prix fixe menus.
APIK Mississauga
Date: January 30 — February 1, 2026
Hold on to your toques because the ski and snowboard competition APIK Mississauga returns to Mississauga’s Celebration Square, FREE to attend and including family-friendly activities and games, food trucks, pop-up shops, music and afterparties.
Hamilton Winterfest
Date: January 30 — February 16, 2026
Hamilton Winterfest includes numerous events across the city, including concerts and crafts, drag and dancing, theatre, fashion, art and so much more.
Port Union Winterfest
Date: January 31, 2026
The Port Union Winterfest returns with their annual family-friendly event in Scarborough, including live entertainment, food, games for kids, a vendor fair and clothing swap, and even caricature artists!
Bracebridge Fire & Ice Festival
Date: January 31, 2026
Celebrate a true Canadian winter at the Bracebridge Fire & Ice Festival, featuring snow tubing down the main street of this picturesque town.
Winter Festivals — February
Harbourfront Centre: KUUMBA Festival
Date: February 1-27, 2026
Toronto’s largest and longest-running Black Futures Month Festival, Harbourfront Centre’s KUUMBA Festival returns to celebrate Black culture, including KUUMBA Family Sundays where families can participate in weekly hands-on art activities sparking creativity and fun.
La Poutine Week
Date: February 1-7, 2026
With La Poutine Week, restaurants get creative for throngs of poutine fanatics, so bring your appetite and check out the participating spots in Toronto and the GTA.
Downtown Yonge BIA: Skates And Sounds
Date: February 6-27, 2026
Downtown Yonge BIA hosts a month of skating parties with free skate rentals on-site at the Skates And Sounds series at College Park’s Barbara Ann Scott Ice Trail.
Canadian Olympic Committee: Team Canada FanFest
Date: February 7-8, 2026
The Canadian Olympic Committee hosts the free Team Canada FanFest at Nathan Phillips Square, where fans can cheer on our country’s athletes participating in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games!
STACKT market: Sweet City Fest
Date: February 13-16, 2026
STACKT market returns with the Sweet City Fest, perfect for both Valentine’s Day and Family Day! The festival is free to enter and includes community events, live music and performances, experiences and workshops, vendor markets, and food and drink specials.
Downtown Yonge BIA: ILLUMINITE
Date: February 13 — March 8, 2026
Downtown Yonge BIA hosts ILLUMINITE, where you can discover captivating and immersive light-based installations brightening Yonge Street.
Toronto Spring Festival Fireworks Celebration
Date: February 14-15, 2026
Toronto Spring Festival Fireworks Celebration blasts into Toronto City Hall’s Nathan Phillips Square, with the bustling Echo Market, performances and nighttime fireworks.
Legislative Assembly of Ontario: Queen’s Park Family Day Winter Festival
Date: February 14 & 16, 2026
Come to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen’s Park for this year’s Family Day Winter Festival, including hands-on activities, indoor and outdoor experiences, and live entertainment.
Ontario Place – Lumière: The Art of Light
Date: February 16 — March 27, 2026
Ontario Place hosts Lumière: The Art of Light, an annual art event that transforms Trillium Park, along the shore of Lake Ontario. This free light exhibition allows visitors to experience art developed by Ontario artists utilizing innovation, light and discovery to celebrate the change of seasons from Winter to Spring.
Toronto Black Film Festival: TBFF Kids Film Festival
Date: February 16, 2026 (Full Festival: February 11-16, 2026)
The 9th edition of the TBFF Kids Film Festival arrives just in time for Family Day, with activities for kids aged 4-12 years old (plus all those young at heart!), including film screenings, arts & crafts, dance and storytelling.
Small World Music: Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival
Date: February 16, 2026
Small World Music presents Chào, Tết TO, an unforgettable celebration of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, filled with vibrant music, cultural performances, and traditional festivities to welcome in the Year of the Horse.
Ajax Winterfest
Date: February 16, 2026
The annual Ajax Winterfest is back for free frosty fun on Family Day, including inflatables, crafts, entertainment, free hot chocolate and s’mores.
LunarFest GTA
Date: February 21-22, 2026
LunarFest GTA welcomes the Year of the Horse through arts, culture, and storytelling, including craft workshops, films and stories at the Varley Art Gallery in Unionville.
GreekTown on the Danforth BIA: Fire & Ice Festival
Date: February 21-22, 2026
This celebration of Greek Mythology and winter wonders is a free epic winter festival experience fit for the gods, including live ice carvings, dazzling fire performances, and more.
FEATURED: Brimacombe Brimfest
Date: February 28 — March 1, 2026
Brimacombe invites families to join them for Brimfest, a fun weekend full of wintery celebrations… both on and off the slopes! Enjoy a weekend of skiing and snowboarding, along with special events, at Durham Region’s largest ski & snowboard area.
Conservation Halton: Maple Town and Sweetwater Season
Date: February 28 — April 5, 2026
At two of Halton’s conservation areas, guests can celebrate delicious and historic traditions! Mountsberg’s Maple Town and Crawford Lake’s Sweetwater Season are full of fun learning activities, delicious maple samples, and more.
Celebrate Toronto Festival
Date: March 7, 2026
Celebrate Toronto Festival marks our city’s 192nd Anniversary this year with an unforgettable free winter festival in the heart of downtown at Nathan Phillips Square, including free family activities, vendors and artisans, food stalls, a DJ Skate Party, plus live performances.
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA): Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival
Date: March 7 – April 6, 2026
Enjoy a sticky and sweet family day at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s annual Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival in two TRCA locations in Woodbridge and Whitchurch-Stouffville.
Bronte Creek Provincial Park: Maple Syrup Festival
Date: Weekends in March, weekdays during March Break (March 16-20)
Bronte Creek Provincial Park Maple Syrup Festival lets you enjoy a guided tour of Maple Lane, hop on a wagon to the Pancake House, and more.
Brooks Farms Maple Sugar Festival
Date: March 7 — April 19, 2026; Weekends & Weekdays of March Break (March 16-20)
Brooks Farms Maple Sugar Festival makes March Break delicious with outdoor activities and sugar bush tours, maple sugar creation (with tastings!), farm animals, train/wagon rides, and camp fire with roasted marshmallows.
Crane Creations Theatre Company: Puppet Festival Mississauga
Date: March 14-22, 2026
Puppet Festival Mississauga, presented by Crane Creations Theatre Co., is a puppetry and animation festival held over March Break with a variety of performances available for all ages and families to enjoy!
Sugar Shack TO
Date: March 14-15, 2026
Head to Harbourfront Centre as Sugar Shack TO returns, inviting March Break revellers to feast on some fresh maple taffy and maple-infused comfort food, plus games, live entertainment, warming station with bonfires, and more.
Purple Woods Conservation Area: Maple Syrup Festival
Date: March 14-29, 2026; Weekends & Weekdays of March Break (March 16-20) 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM, 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Purple Woods Conservation Area’s Maple Syrup Festival includes self-guided tours, games, activities, horse-drawn wagon rides and pancakes!
stackt market: Spring Equinox
Date: March 17-22, 2026
stackt market celebrates the new season with their Spring Equinox event, including community and family programs, vendor markets and more.
Wye Marsh: Sweetwater Harvest Festival
Date: March 28-29, 2026
Wye Marsh and Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons host Sweetwater Harvest Festival, inviting visitors to celebrate the uniquely Canadian traditions of maple and Spring.
More info coming soon!
Easter Fun Fest
Date: April 3-6, 2026
Easter Fun Fest is the Markham’s destination for family fun with jumping castles, kiddie midway, petting zoo, pony rides, easter egg hunts and more.
Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival
Date: March 7 – April 6, 2026
Participate in demonstrations and activities for the whole family at Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s annual Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival in Woodbridge and Stouffville.
Ontario Maple Syrup Producers’ Association: Ontario Maple Weekend
Date: April 4-5, 2026
Enjoy the sweetest time of the year with the annual Ontario Maple Weekend at participating maple producers across Ontario.
Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority: Spring Tonic Maple Syrup Festival
Date: April 11-12, 2026
Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority hosts the Spring Tonic Maple Syrup Festival with traditional maple syrup and activities, including pancake breakfast, animal exhibit, wagon rides, and more.
Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival
Date: April 11-12, 2026
Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival celebrates maple syrup with a pancake breakfast, sugar shack tours, plus two days of free shows and activities.
Muskoka Maple Festival
Date: April 25, 2026
Join Spring’s sweetest party at Muskoka Maple Festival in downtown Huntsville, including a Maple Marketplace, maple-inspired dining options, games such as mini golf, live music as well as buskers, and the Kiwanis Sap Run.
More info coming soon!
Guide to Lunar New Year Events in Toronto and the GTA
Welcome in the Year of the Horse with Lunar New Year events in Toronto and the GTA, including free festivals and cultural performances.
Guide to Family Day Events and Activities in Toronto and the GTA
Spend some quality time with your loved ones on this newer statutory holiday and embrace the winter season with our Guide to Family Day Weekend Events and Activities in Toronto and the GTA.
Guide to Valentine’s Day Events in Toronto and the GTA
Spend the day with your favourite people going to special events, making crafts and having delicious meals and/or treats together, with our Guide to Valentine’s Day Events for Toronto and the GTA!
Guide to Black History Month Events in Toronto and the GTA
This month-long celebration of our city’s vibrant cultures includes festivals, arts events, and more. Honour the beauty of our community’s multiculturalism with our Guide to Black History Month Events in Toronto and the GTA!
