Harbourfront Centre

one of the most multi use venues in toronto, from the skating rink in the winter, to the kayak pond in the summer, the arts and crafts lessons inside, to the food festivals that are thrown here. there is definatly something for everyone. its very easy to come here and kill some time, or to spend a couple of hours doing stuff down here. the outdoor art gallery is a very nice feature during the better times of the year, and i think gets switched out seasonally. the workers here are really nice, and always eager to help no matter what event is going on. the little café is a great place for some coffee and treats as well.
something for everyone here

One of the places in Toronto where you can face a large body of water. I’ve never came here in the fall or winter as I believe it will be extremely cold. However, I have come here a couple times in the summer time and oh man, I loved it. It’s probably because it’s hard to get so close to such a large body of water in the GTA region. I mean, there are occasional lakes and ponds, and if you drive a lot up north, you can see stunning views, but in Toronto, not a lot.
Walking along the Harboufront feels amazing, as the nice breeze blows across, gently sweeping your hair. It’s awesome especially after eating a dinner in the summer time. Harbourfront Center occasionally hosts events with awesome music, cute little botiques that are usually overpriced. If you come here on Victoria Day, it has THE BEST fireworks, they’re large and runs for at least 20 minutes to about 30 minutes. I’ve never came here in the winter yet, but I heard there’s a beautiful skating rink here and feels very Christmasy with the DJs and the lights.

Came here quite often during my trip to Toronto. They had a summer festival going on that was part of the Para PanAm games, and consisted of free rock climbing and free zip lining, along with different activities under the roof of the center. Aside from the activities going on, it has a nice view of the CN Tower and the islands and Lake Ontario. Relaxing!

This place is pretty much dead in the evening. I think the main stage is only used a few days per year. I came here three times during the week and the place is as boring as any suburb.

Something for everyone at Harborfront Centre– Food, drink, street performers, but most of all what a view of Lake Ontario. Harborfront seems to be the site of numerous festivals and there are plenty of activities, concession booths, entertainers, boats, the ferry, green spaces to enjoy. Sandy beach with umbrellas too! Harborfront is easily accessible by streetcar or the subway from Union Station. Highly recommend.

There are a lot of festivals and free activities during the summer. This long weekend Circus festival is amazing for the kids. Great to spend some time with the family in a cultural environment.

If you’re a fan of the performing arts, this is certainly a spot worth checking out, I’ve recently been able to explore two of the venues on the Harbourfront grounds to watch my girlfriend perform in dance shows within the Studio theatre inside the main building as well as in the Bill Boyle Artport.
It’s a little tricky getting to the HFC by car currently with the construction along the Queens Quay, but if you are driving a pro-​tip would be to go along Lakeshore, turn onto Lower Simcoe and proceed straight, there is a ton of underground parking right underneath the grounds of HFC, and it’s all very new looking.
What’s interesting about the 10 acres of land, is that it is home to 30 different performance, shops and eateries both indoors and outdoors, all set along the waterfront — most notably would be the Westjet stage, the Amersterdam Brew House (their patio is incredible) and the Watermark Irish pub (avoid the chicken wings).
The main building of the HFC also has a Sobeys as well as a collection of small Canadiana type shops and other retailers, not for me but definitely worth window shopping. Not to mention there are several companies who’ve made the upper floors of the main building their Toronto offices.
I’m looking forward to making this a destination spot once the Queens Quay is completed, but until then there is enough to keep me busy and entertained!

The venue is a nice set up for friends and family to hang out. There’s a stage in the center of the venue with lots of open space for you to lounge. In the summer, there’s even red Muskoka chairs for you to sit and relax on. There’s no good food places around so you’re stuck with hotdogs, fries, and pop. But better yet, bring your own picnic. There’s a few bars around and they’re located right along the waterfront. Come in the late afternoon and grab a pint on any of the patios. Pro tip: There may be a long wait for patio seats.

It’s like going to a big international yacht event.

Fantastic to walk around on a nice day, they have events throughout the weekend with vendors, food, and performances. Very relaxing to watch the sailboats go by, the little kids riding around the water boats, pushing around gigantic inflatable beach balls.
I ran into an Iranian fair while I was there, and sat in a adorable make-​shift tea room having delicious Persian tea, ate some chickpea sweets, and then had some Chinese dim sum (shrimp dumplings). Only in Toronto lol…

When friends come to visit Toronto, this is where I take them.
There’s no question that Harbour Front Centre is a microcosm of everything Toronto has to offer.
First, it’s beautiful — right on the lake. If it’s the summer, the canoe /​wading (you might get yelled at) pond is open. If it’s winter, there’s a skating rink. All season long, there’s the lapping waves of the lake.
Second, it’s full of art — be it the glass work displayed in the fabrication hallways, or the rotating photo gallery, or the open space which has free exhibits all year long.
Third, there are always events going on — multicultural festivals, author’s reading, theatre… and a great number of these things are free (be sure to ask for a programming guide to check out what’s coming up.)
Fourth, the gift shop — there are items here you normally wouldn’t see outside of internet shopping sites.
All in all, it’s a great way to spend an hour, as you make your way along the beautiful Toronto Waterfront.

I regret to say that although there are many festivities, all free, most of them are not worth going to. A lot of them are focussed on children.
I would love to see more advertisements of events going on, hopefully it would bring out more people and generate better events in the future. The harbourfront itself is still a nice neighbourhood to walk around with the lake ontario to the south.

I’ve lived in Toronto for three years now but just attended an event for the first time here. It is a nice collection of performance spaces geared to smaller, customized event. The settings are very pretty.
I would like to see them do a couple of things to improve this space: Replace the astroturf «lawn» with some kind of foam that is easier to sit on. It does not look like grass and there is no need to make it look like grass. The vendor booths should be upgraded — there are plenty of other places in Toronto to buy Chinese tschotschkes. It would also be nice if the covering over the seating at the WestJet stage could be extended a bit further back so people in the back don’t have to get rained on or sunburned.
The craft studio space is a nice feature for young artists.

Highlight of my time at Harbourfront Centre: it’s a toss up between the honeybadger-​like-​man playing the random piano and just relaxing on the waterfront watching the planes.
I think I spent an hour chilling out on a bench at the Harbourfront Centre. When the weather is nice, it’s so nice to unwind while watching planes both small & large land at the airport over the water. It’s a great place for people watching, as well!
There was absolutely no one there on a Thursday morning and I kind of liked it that way. The occasional jogger or couple strolled by us, plus of course the eccentric gentleman playing the piano (so cute), but overall it was pretty desolate.

I really wish that the events at Harbourfront were more widely advertized! We went on Friday for a show on ancient string instruments and had a great time but felt there were some real missed opportunities with the music.
Possibly because it was poorly advertized, the crowd was mostly families with young children which didn’t really work that well for the type of music being performed. The concert of ancient string instruments we went for wound up playing covers of obnoxious pop songs instead of anything from the period, probably to keep the kids entertained. A really cool experimental band, Insideamind, played as well but they had an audience of maybe 3 people who were actually listening, the rest were families talking throughout and kids running around screaming. I honestly felt bad for the performers. I love kids, but it seemed like this was an event that was intended for adults and quickly modified to fit a children’s audience because someone forgot to tell any grown ups about it.
On the whole we had a great time exploring the waterfront, listening to the bands (except that one Goytre cover… never again do I want to hear someone wailing ‘but you didn’t have to cuuuttt me offff’ accompanied by a sitar) and eating tasty treats from the global food court. I just wish that they would do better to advertize and cater to one audience instead of putting on something that is sort of disappointing for both children and adults.

I just love coming here in the summer and just take a walk on the Harbourfront boardwalk. It’s just so filled with Toronto’s diversity and life, along with different types of free entertainment.
In the summer they have different types of festivals going on, people selling you stuff, and food. And in the winter time they have the ice rink for ice skating. It’s just so filled with life. Coming here in the summer is my thing, and just enjoying the sun while looking at the water (not jumping in it though). It’s good to take a breather every now and then just take a break from the city life. Just enjoy the tranquility while you sip on a beer by the patio.
I’ll really miss doing this in the winter…

Ouais je suis canadien et le patin c’est ma grande passion comme dirait Omar Sharif.
Le Harbourfront Centre fait face au lac où sont situées les Toronto islands.
Avec comme panorama la CN tower et les avions qui vont et viennent, cela donne un spectacle très agréable surtout de nuit.
Donc vous venez ici pour faire du patin à glacé, la majorité des canadiens possèdent leur propre paire de patins mais pas moi, je suis donc allé les louer à côté de la patinoire. Vous laissez une pièce d’identité et 8 $ et voilà, vous pouvez aller jouer les Candeloro en herbe sur la glacé. (Il y a aussi des casiers pour ranger vos affaires pour 1 $).
La patinoire ouvre jusqu’à 21h, et je vous conseille d’y aller en semaine car le week end ça ressemble plutôt à un 1er jour de soldes.

Gotta give props to the Harbourfront Centre for always keeping things interesting, diverse, and FREE!
I discovered the Harbourfront Centre in high school when I came for the Canada Day celebrations and found out about their summer weekend festivals (e.g. Hot & Spicy Food Fest, Francofete, Iranian Fest, Ritmo y Color, etc.). Always bustling with energy and lots of performances (music, dance, theatre) as well as cooking demos, a market area, crafts for the kiddies, film screenings, art exhibits, etc. Where else would I have the chance to see Indonesian shadow puppets or try a free flamenco class? I have been to some awesome free outdoor concerts here over the years, including Feist, Esthero, K’Naan and Patrick Watson. The programmers and curators here really do a great job.
Most people probably only come here in the summer, but there’s also a lot going on year-​round. Some things I have checked out included Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, Vegetarian Food Fest, International Festival of Authors (Douglas Coupland gave a talk about Marshall McLuhan), Ontario Dance Weekend (every January). The skating rink is nice in the winter and on selected Saturdays there’s a DJ! Admittedly, it’s much quieter (sometimes dead) in the off-​season, but it rewards anyone willing to explore.
You can definitely come here and make a day out of it. The gift shop has some great stuff and then there’s the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery next door. Food options are the only thing that is a bit weak… There’s the nearby Queens Quay Terminal that has a Sobey’s, Il Fornello, and Watermark Irish Pub. In the summer, the best thing is to just grab something from one of the stands (e.g. churros!) and have a picnic, possibly on H20 beach.
For free cultural happenings and Canadian content, the Harbourfront Centre can’t be beat!

I have not been to Harbourfront Centre ever until this Summer. It is a little out of the way for me since I live in the Suburbs. But with all the events they held this Summer, I decided to make the trek down.
Nice to walk around when the weather is nice. Live entertainments, exhibitions and events every week during summer.
I think I would come down more often next year if there are more interesting events.

This is probably the most lively spot to hit on the Toronto waterfront.
Its beautiful, outdoor, and the entertainment is free! There are sometimes street performers along the boardwalk, such as a magician or a human statue, or you might catch some live music or a film at the outdoor amphitheatre.
In fact, there are free cultural live music shows in the summer… a different theme every weekend! Also in the summer, there is an outdoor island-​style flea market, a food tent, a bar, and a number of restaurants each with patio’s along the water and on either side of the harbour.
If you go during one of the food festivals, you might be able to try some celebrity chef cooking! And you might find they have even closed down Queen’s Quay for the festival.
In the winter, there is free skating with DJ’d music. There are outdoor art exhibits and there’s a film festival theatre indoors. Its fairly touristy… but what do you expect?
Tip: The best Second Cup is right there on the water.

When I visited T.O. a year and a half ago, I got a chance to walk around and explore the Harbourfront. For a weekday, there wasn’t much to check out save for a couple of galleries and shops, but I did get a chance to go on a complimentary boat tour.
One the weekend I was blown away at how the whole area came alive. There were more market vendors to check out, as well as some street food to get my sticky fingers into. Not to mention the thick variety of Torontonians wandering about the area enjoying the weather and culture. The stories I could tell about the characters I met those days…
The concerts here were awesome! It just makes me wish I lived in TO considering most of my fav bands are based in this city alone and nearly all of them have had several shows in this place.

Spannende und abwechlungsreiche Gegend in toronto. besonders empfehlenswert finde ich die Kunstgallerie auf diesem Gelände, da man dort spannende Ausstellungen finden kann, die auch sehr ansprechend aufbereitet und präsentiert sind.
kleiner aber feiner Gallerie-​Shop mit netten Mitarbeitern, die einem gerne noch weitere Tipps für TO geben

Eine super Bildungs– und Freizeiteinrichtung für die Bewohner Torontos und ihre Besucher. Das Harbour Front Centre als Nonprofit Organisation bietet Workshops und Kurse, Festivals, Ausstellungen, Summer Camps, Theater, Tanz, Filme, Literatur u.v.m.
Zu dem direkt am Wasser gelegenen Komplex gehören u.a. Hafen, Parks, Restaurants und Shoppingmöglichkeiten.
Ein etablierter, beliebter und in seiner Mischung sehr gelungener Ort.

Das Harbour Front Centre liegt direkt am Ontario See und ist eine neuerrichtete Flaniermeile mit vielen Restaurants, Bars und Kneipen. Diverse Feste über den ganzen Sommer finden dort statt. Musikfestivals, Paraden, Märkte und vieles mehr.
Vom Harbour Front Centre kann man auch perfekt kleine Rundfahrten auf dem See buchen. Mit netten kleinen Booten fährt man ca. eine Stunde auf dem See entlang. Von dort aus, hat man einen fantastischen Blick auf die Skyline von Toronto. Für nur ein paar Dollar bekommt man so einen ersten Eindruck von der Stadt.