The Waterfront BIA, together with a large coalition of waterfront partners, hosted the first Water/Fall Festival, a new fall-inspired arts and cultural event that took place across Toronto’s waterfront over two weekends in late September and early October.

Designed as a primarily free celebration of creativity, culture and community, the festival welcomed visitors of all ages with a wide range of dynamic activations, including large-scale public art installations on and off the water, harvest-themed food and drink markets, live music and dance performances, a sustainable makers market, illuminated boat tours and other family-friendly experiences.

The Water/Fall Festival was a collaboration to showcase Toronto’s waterfront as a vibrant cultural hub, and highlight the vital role our waterfront plays in connecting people, culture and nature. Along with our many partners, we were able to bring artists, performers, local businesses and communities together to shine a light on the city’s incredible creativity and diversity through free, family-friendly and sustainable programming, said Tim Kocur, Executive Director, The Waterfront BIA.

The festival was presented by a broad group of waterfront partners, including PortsToronto, Billy Bishop Airport, Nieuport Aviation, Harbourfront Centre, The Bentway, OCAD University, the Global Centre for Climate Resilience, the Delegation of the European Union to Canada, Waterfront Toronto, Ontario Culture Days, Street Eats Market, Union Station and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

Across all installations, markets and performances, attendance over the two weekends was estimated at just over 100,000 visitors. Looking ahead, the Waterfront BIA hoped to work with existing and new partners to expand the festival in 2026.

Toronto’s waterfront has been undergoing rapid growth, with the population along Queens Quay and the central waterfront increasing from 10,000 residents in 2010 to more than 30,000 today. With the Port Lands Revitalization Project expected to open land for more than 100,000 additional residents in the coming decades, the Waterfront BIA and its partners have been exploring how “waterfront-wide” events could evolve in parallel with this expanding development footprint.

This perspective was reinforced in Ripple Effect: Unlocking Toronto’s Waterfront Potential — a 2023 report by The Business of Cities and the Toronto Region Board of Trade, sponsored by the BIA — which highlighted the emergence of a 10-km opportunity corridor as new development and redevelopment projects reshape the shoreline.

The Water/Fall Festival itself grew out of discussions among waterfront stakeholders about how collaborative events could scale and adapt to a district undergoing continuous transformation. The fall shoulder season was identified as the optimal moment: after the peak spring/summer surge, yet with weather conditions still favourable for outdoor programming. The last weekend of September and the first weekend of October offered a realistic window to sustain strong visitor engagement before winter conditions became too unpredictable.