Folsom Fair North, which changed its name to FFN in 2006, was last held in 2007. That fair was held in a large parking lot near the corner of Wellesley and Yonge in 20, and in Allan Gardens in 2005, and the "Church Street Fetish Fair" was widely perceived as retaliation for the Folsom fair not being held on Church Street itself. In 2003, San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair had licensed a consortium of Toronto community groups to use the name Folsom Fair North for a similar fetish fair. The business association also sponsored the Church Street Fetish Fair in August. However, this proved controversial when some business owners accused other businesses of "stealing" customers by providing street entertainment, and ended three weeks earlier than planned due to a lack of money. throughout the summer, two blocks of Church Street, from Wellesley south to Alexander, were closed to traffic to encourage more pedestrian activity. In the summer of 2004, the business association launched a pilot project. The Church Wellesley Village Business Improvement Area was established October 2002. Most people refer to it simply as Church Street or the Village, since most of the gay-related establishments in the area are located on that street.īars in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood include Woody's, Pegasus On Church, Crews & Tangos, the Churchmouse, O'Grady's, Statler's, Black Eagle, Boutique, The Drink, Flash, and Glad Day. The neighbourhood goes by a number of names, though most refer to it as Church Street or the Village.Ī number of alternative names for Church and Wellesley exist in local vernacular, including the Gay Ghetto, the Village, the Gaybourhood or the Gay Village - however, many of these "nicknames" are generic to gay villages across the English speaking world, and are therefore not descriptive of Church and Wellesley specifically, but of gay villages in general.
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A memorial candlelight vigil is held each year at the AIDS Memorial, during Pride Week. In 2007, a new wing was opened, and upgrades to the existing spaces were completed in 2009.Ĭhurch and Wellesley is also home to the AIDS Memorial, located in Barbara Hall Park, where the names of members of the community who have been lost to AIDS are etched into bronze plaques.
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"The 519", as it is most often called, is a city-run recreation centre that has been adopted locally as the queer community centre, though its programming is not exclusive to LGBT groups and organizations. The 519 Church Street Community Centre is the meeting place for numerous social and political groups and became well known as a LGBT-friendly space. The community fair includes tables from a wide variety of groups involved in or associated with queer culture. There is also a weekend-long community fair that closes off Wellesley between Yonge and Church and also goes into Church Street.
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The Dyke March is a women-only parade that runs on that Saturday afternoon and has a smaller parade route.
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The main Pride Toronto festival and parade is always on the last weekend in June, although a program of Pride-related events is held throughout the month of June. Church and Wellesley is home to the annual Pride Toronto celebrations.Ĭhurch and Wellesley is home to the annual Pride Toronto celebrations, the largest event of its kind in Canada with over 90 floats and an enthusiastic crowd that numbers in the hundreds of thousands.