Scarborough Canada Day celebrations include parades, fireworks, picnic

A parade nearly as old as the party in the park, and sponsored by Metroland Media Toronto, begins at 4 p.m. west of the Scarborough Civic Centre, passes by the celebrations and ends at Lawrence Avenue and Brimley at 5:30 p.m.

The Scarborough Museum at the park’s south end is open and free for visitors, with karaoke, free cake, croquet, and youth activities throughout the day. There’s a pie-eating contest at 2 p.m., and performances at noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. of Scarborough Fever, a youth-produced silent theatre piece.

The Royal Canadian Legion branch on Lawson Road in Highland Creek boasts the longest-running continuous parade in Greater Toronto - it’s been happening without fail since 1956 - which heads along Lawson from Centennial Road to the Legion at 10:45 a.m.

On the Legion grounds, there’s a beer garden. a barbecue with peameal bacon on a bun, a kids’ mini-midway, and a horseshoe tournament from noon to 4 p.m., with more events and entertainment in the evening.

"We’ve got four pipe bands, we’ve got a Corvette Club, we’ve got an antique car club," said Wayne Powell, a spokesperson.

The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, at Sheppard and Progress avenues, hosts its own free celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with hot dogs, cake, music and dance performances, crafts and the singing of our national anthem.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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People who want to spend the holiday taking part in a "four-day festival of food, entertainment and family fun," can go to the Canada Day Rotary Ribfest on the L’Amoreaux Community Centre Grounds at McNicoll Avenue and Kennedy Road.

Presented by the area’s four Rotary clubs - Agincourt, North Scarborough, Scarborough Bluffs and Scarborough Twilight - the fifth annual festival delivers not just ribbers but midway rides, vendors, a karaoke competition and live musical acts from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

There are fireworks in Scarborough too, if you know where to look, such as in Scarborough Bluffs Park, on Undercliff Drive east of Midland Avenue, south of Kingston Road.

The show follows a barbecue from 7 to 10 p.m. presented by local city councillor Gary Crawford, and organizers suggest people bring a lawn chair or a blanket.

There will be another free fireworks display hosted by the city at Milliken Park, on Steeles Avenue between McCowan and Middlefield roads, beginning at dusk.

The City of Toronto’s golf courses, outdoor pools, wading pools and splash pads are open on Canada Day, but community centres and indoor pools are closed.

The Toronto Zoo will be open, and certain animals there who come from the Great White North will be getting special treats, including "Canada Day frozen frisbees and frozen watermelons."