2017 Festival Preview

See who is at the festival by clicking here

Summers in Canada never last long, so you have to take any opportunity to enjoy wonderful cold beverages outside in the sun while you can. One of the best ways to do this is at the 3^rd Annual Toronto Cider Festival – happening this year on Saturday, August 26^th at Sherbourne Common near Sugar Beach. This year, the festival has expanded with tons of new and returning cideries coming to sample their delicious brews and we could not be more excited for the event. With a morning session (11:30am-4pm) and a VIP exclusive hour (5-6pm) followed by an evening session (6-10:30pm), there is an entire day’s worth of fun to experience.

Last year’s festival was one for the books. With 19 different cideries in Yonge and Dundas Square, it was a beautiful, sunny day filled with amazing cideries, entertainment and people. We covered the 2016 Festival and you can find a review here; as well, our interview series with 18 of the cideries who attended last year here.

The 3^rd edition of the Toronto Cider Festival only promises to be bigger and better than years before. Expanding their cidery roaster from 19 to 28 (that’s right, 9 more cideries this year!!), and a new, beautiful location by the water, it is not going to be a day you will want to miss. Building on Canada’s monumental 150^th year celebrations, the theme this year is ‘Canadiana’ – with sponsors Bass Pro Shops and Wolfe Co Apparel bringing the decorations and flare to the venue.  Celebrating everything that is Canada, there will be cideries from the East to the West attending; featuring a cidery from Nova Scotia (No Boats on Sundays) to one in British Columbia (Lonetree Cider), promising a wide variety of selection for you to sample!

Some of the returning cideries to the festival include County Cider Company, Ernest Cider, Duxbury Cider, Spirit Tree Cider, Ironwood Cider, Shiny Apple Cider and many more. Amongst the returning favourites, are many new cideries including: Flying Canoe Cider, Sulkers Cider, 401 Brewery, 26 Acre Cider, and Steeltown Cider. With so many other amazing cideries attending, the only question will be where to even start sampling at the festival! See a full listing of the cideries attending here.

Of course, ciders pair very well with a variety of different things, like specialty food vendors, unique events and activities happening throughout the day. In session 1, there will be a live art showdown that will enthrall attendees; with session 2 guests being treated to a flair bartending competition. Guests of both sessions will have access to giveaways all day, awards – including the People’s Choice Awards where you can vote via text for your favourite; amongst live music and DJs by DJ D-Smooth and ONQ Entertainment, live size games and so much more. In celebrating the best of Toronto and its diversity, there will be a world food court featuring seafood from Busters Sea Cove, Pappas Greek food and many other delicious bites. Plan to visit the Canadiana photo booth and take part in the cider passport adventure to keep track of your tastings.

And if you want an even more special cider experience, there will be a VIP exclusive hour between 5-6pm. Included in this session is an exclusive food and cider pairing to try, presented by Brickworks Cider and eFresh Meals (included in the ticket price) and access to the evening session with a total of 10 sample tokens to enjoy. We highly recommend this VIP session if you want to learn even more what foods pair with cider; as well a more intimate experience with the cideries during this hour.

The Cider Crate will have full pre-and-post festival coverage – as well as covering the full day of festivities on the ground.  Every day, from July 28^th to August 24^th, we will be featuring content and information from a different cidery that will be attending the festival, getting you primed and informed for their lovely drinks. As well, we will be hosting a cider selfie contest where you could win two tickets to the festival for sharing a photo of yourself with a cider that will be at the festival, which will start August 1^st 2017. At the festival, we will be doing full day social media coverage and live-streaming of parts of the festival; as well as interviewing the cideries that will be available to listen to post-festival again. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to not miss any of the coverage from now until the festival day!

We can’t wait until Saturday, August 26^th. Hope to see all of you beautiful cider fans at the Toronto Cider Festival as well! Until then, visit our photo album from the 2016 Toronto Cider Festival here to tease your appetite for the big day!