Throughout the year, many incredible music festivals in Toronto take place. For music lovers, it’s definitely worth traveling to Toronto to attend one of these festivals.
Whether you love jazz, classical music, electronic dance, or another genre, there will be a festival that’s a perfect fit for you. Also, you can see both emerging artists and well-known artists at these festivals.
I love music a lot and attending festivals is one of my favorite things to do. I made this guide to the best Toronto music festivals so you can decide which one you want to attend when you’re in the city!
Best Music Festivals in Toronto
Toronto Jazz Festival
The Toronto Jazz Festival is an amazing festival to check out.
This is a festival that completely focuses on jazz and the festival takes place for 10 days at the end of June.
During the festival, you can listen to many great performances by some of the best jazz artists from all around the world.
You can listen to these performances at many vendors that you can find throughout the downtown area of Toronto.
Besides jazz performances, you can also enjoy great performances of genres that are related to the genre. For example, you can listen to performances of blues, R&B, and several other genres at the festival.
Furthermore, in the past many famous artists, such as Miles Davis, performed at the festival.
Toronto Summer Music Festival
If you’re in the city in the summer, you can go to the Toronto Summer Music Festival.
This is an annual music festival in Toronto during which you can enjoy great classical music performances.
The performances of the festival take place at a variety of venues.
For example, some of the performances take place at The Royal Conservatory of Music.
Also, there are performances that are held at buildings of the University of Toronto.
For example, one venue where concerts take place is the Koerner Hall.
What’s great is that you can enjoy a large variety of performances during the festival. For example, there is piano music, violin music, clarinet music, and there are many other types of classical music.
What’s great too is that you can both enjoy music by famous artists as well as music by emerging artists.
Canadian Music Week
The Canadian Music Week is a music festival that takes place annually for 10 days in total.
It is one of the largest music events in Toronto and during it, thousands of national and international artists perform.
What’s great about this festival is that you can discover many emerging artists at the festival. There are a lot of bands that are very new and that are very good.
Also, what’s great is that there are many other events besides concerts at Canadian Music Week.
For example, there are talks by artists that are very interesting. Many famous artists and producers go here to speak.
21C Music Festival
The 21C Music Festival is a great music festival that takes place at The Royal Conservatory.
The festival takes place during the months of December and January, and there are 10 concerts in total.
During the festival, you can listen to great independent artists that perform contemporary music. And the concerts take place at the iconic Koerner Hall.
If you want to discover great new music and listen to very good performances, this is the festival that you should attend for sure!
Beaches International Jazz Festival
Here’s another one of the Toronto music festivals that can be great to attend if you like jazz music.
You can attend the Beaches Jazz Festival.
This is one of the largest jazz festivals in Canada and it is a very popular one.
Also, what’s great about this festival is that it is completely free, making attending it possible for anyone!
The festival takes place for about one month in July. Moreover, the festival is held at the beaches of Toronto.
During the festival, you can listen to very good performances by some of the best jazz artists in the world. Furthermore, you can enjoy great performances by local artists and emerging talent at the festival as well.
In total, there are about 1000 artists that perform during the festival.
MusicFest Canada
MusicFest Canada is another festival that focuses on music that takes place in the city of Toronto.
The music festival lasts 5 days in total, and it is an educational music festival.
During the festival, you can listen to great music by more than 7,000 young musicians from Canada. The musicians that perform at the festival are between 12 and 25 years old.
During the festival, there are performances of a wide variety of genres. For example, there are jazz performances and several other genres.
Moreover, what’s special about the festival is that the participants of the festival have to compete in order to perform at the national event. In total, many thousands of people compete to perform during the festival.
Veld Music Festival
The Veld Music Festival is a festival of electronic music.
This is an annual music festival during which you can listen to the best electronic dance music in the world.
Each year, the best DJs from all around the world perform at the VELD Music Festival.
For example, in the past Zedd, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, and Martin Garrix performed here.
In total, the festival takes three days and these days take place in August or the end of July.
Moreover, the festival is held at Downsview Park in the city of Toronto and there are 3 stages that all serve a different purpose. For example, the stages are different in the specific genres of music that you can listen to there.
NXNE Music Festival
One of the largest music festivals in the city is the NXNE Music Festival.
This is an annual music and arts festival that is all about live music by emerging artists.
Some very famous artists started their music careers at this festival.
What’s great is that the festival has very affordable tickets. Because of this, the festival is very accessible for anyone that wants to discover great new music.
You can attend the concerts of the festival at venues throughout the city. For example, in one of the past editions of the festival, there were 20 different live music venues involved.
Besides listening to music, it is possible to do other things at the festival. For example, during the NXNE Talks, you can listen to talks by famous musicians.
Sing! Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival
SING! The Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival is yet another one of the best annual music events that takes place in Toronto.
This is a capella festival that focuses on the best vocal artists.
At the festival, you can listen to great shows by both Canadian and International musicians that are very good.
Furthermore, what’s great is that there are both emerging as well as established artists that perform at the festival.
Besides great performances, you can also attend workshops at the festival which also makes this one of the most fun music festivals in Toronto.
Furthermore, there are visual arts as well, which makes the music festival even more fun to visit.
In total, SING! The Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival takes place for 3 days and during these days I’m sure you’ll have a fun time.
Mariposa Folk Festival
You should definitely attend the Mariposa Folk Festival when you are in Toronto in July.
This is a 3-day festival during which you can listen to great folk music.
The festival takes place in Orillia, which is a place that is very close to the city of Toronto and it is easy to get there.
Furthermore, the festival takes place at Tudhope Park in Orillia, which is a lovely place with nature that is transformed into a beautiful festival area.
Also, there are lots of different stages at the festival.
At the festival, you can enjoy great music from more than 100 performances.
Moreover, you can enjoy performances by both emerging as well as more established artists at the Mariposa Folk Festival.
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The events on this list take place throughout the year. So when you are going to the city of Toronto influences which Toronto music festivals you’ll be able to visit.
Also, you could plan a trip to the city specifically to attend a certain event.
Keep in mind that for some festivals you need to buy tickets far in advance and tickets can be limited in their supply. So when you definitely want to attend a certain festival, you sometimes need to buy tickets immediately when the tickets go for sale.
As you see, Toronto has a lot to offer for those who love music a lot. Thanks for reading my guide to the best music festivals in Toronto!