Ontario’s Celebration Zone

In celebration of the PanAm and ParaPan Games, the Ontario government turned the area surrounding Harbourfront Centre into the Ontario Celebration Zone (OCZ), organised with daily programming for the entire duration of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. Daily programming includes morning pilates, live music, children’s activities such as dye shirt making or kids created poutine cook-​off, and my personal favourite, Treetop Trekking’s zipline, adrenaline jump and rock climbing wall. All of this for the price of free. That’s right, it didn’t cost a single penny.
There were friendly staff around letting visitors know of the day’s programming and to give general information, they were pretty easy to spot with a black shirt with their names on it. Staff at Treetop Trekking were great too, they were patient and thorough, ensuring everyone’s safety.
There were food stands, a bar, coffee stand, a free drinkable water refill station.
I really enjoyed this and hope the city would get a hint and do something like this more permanently to boost tourism. I’m no tourist and I so appreciated the use of this space, this is seriously how we should use this space.
I hope to see something like this again because it was tons of fun.

Adrenaline rush, food coma, cook-​offs, free music– what more do you want?
In case you have been wondering about the crowds hoarded at the Harborfront, this is the reason why.
In honour of the PanAm games, the Ontario government has created a «Celebration Zone» right at the Harbourfront.
The zone is open until August 16^th, everyday from 10 AM– 10 PM.
My personal favourites of the zone:
1. FREE 400 ft. zipline, rock climbing wall (just need to sign a waiver)
2. Really cool workouts– there was this session where people were doing yoga on surfboards. Didn’t even know that was a thing.
3. Celebrity chef cook-​offs
4. Almost nightly concerts
5. Farmer’s market on weekends!
6. Really cool outdoor neon bar
Full list of events (listed by the official website):
* 400 ft. zipline, 40 ft. rock climbing wall, adrenaline jump
* 38 nightly concerts, featuring up-​and-​coming and legendary Ontario musical artists performing in every genre from hip hop and indie rock to country and classical:
Bruce Cockburn, Down With Webster, Elliott Brood, Great Lake Swimmers, Lindi Ortega, Ron Sexsmith, The Glorious Sons, The Strumbellas, Tim Hicks, Kardinal Offishall and so many more!
* Ontario’s Celebration Zone will offer entertainment throughout the day, including over 50 theatre and dance performances, Aboriginal, Francophone and ethno-​cultural community showcases, book readings, art installations and comedy performances to entertain audiences of all ages and interests
* 17 celebrity chef cooking demonstrations and two cook-​offs
* 62 tastings and pairings will showcase Ontario’s regional cuisines and locally-​grown products
* Weekly Ontario Fresh Market on Wednesday’s featuring Farmers, wineries, food and craft vendors
* More than 100 kid-​friendly activities, including circus acrobats, children’s theatre and hands-​on science adventures
* Ontario innovation showcases, where kids of all ages can try the coolest toys from Ontario’s digital media sector or take part in multi-​player video game tournaments
* Daily morning workouts, «try a sport» opportunities and fly-​boarding demonstrations every Saturday