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City News


There's an awful lot to do in Toronto this weekend - just not as many ways to get there.

The biggest show in town is the Taste of the Danforth, which offers big portions of entertainment and even bigger portions of food. It's an annual treat for everyone but drivers. The festival requires the closure of Danforth Ave. from Broadview all the way to Jones. The barriers go up at 11am Friday and won't come down until 11:59pm Sunday night.

Farther down in the city, there will be more hassles for motorists. The Chinatown Festival will close down the southbound lanes of Spadina Ave. from St. Andrew's to Sullivan St. That one begins Saturday morning at 7am and lasts until Sunday at 10pm.

And a great cause will create equally great troubles for commuters heading into the core. A celebration of the life of the late Ed Mirvish will see the area his Honest Ed's made famous put the squeeze on traffic for a short distance. It means Bloor St. from Bathurst to Markham will be off limits all day Sunday from 2:30am to just after 11pm.

If a show isn't your style, how about a parade? The Pakistan Independence Day Parade could see as many as 10,000 people marching from Nathan Phillips Square up University, east on Elm, south on Bay and west on Queen W., when it arrives back where it started from. The procession begins at 4pm and is expected to last several hours. Buses and streetcars will keep running, but there could be huge delays for drivers.

If you're planning to get to any of these events, the TTC may not be just the Better Way - it's likely to be the only way to get around the road blocks. Everything is expected to be back to normal for the Monday morning rush.