Toronto Cider Fest is COMING!!!

Cider is steadily (much to my pleasure) increasing in popularity, and more importantly, availability. With cider bars popping up in the city and more options (including on tap!) at your local favourite drinking establishments over the last few years, I think it's safe to say this trend is here to stay.

Getting in on the action early, the Toronto Cider Festival is entering it's 4th year and has managed to again promise to be bigger and better than last time. Winner of the Notable Award for Best Festival of the Year 2017 and finalist for Best Public Festival at the 2018 Canadian Special Events Industry Awards, TO Cider Fest has been selling out of each of the jam-packed sessions.

This year things have expanded into 2 days of cider fun with a wild west theme. Like always, there will be over 100 ciders showcased from producers found all over Canada and around the world, food trucks, games, prizes, and live entertainment. What better way to spend a late summer evening in Toronto? Oh I know, a mechanical bull ride! Yup, this year, they'll have that too.

The Friday night session will feature line dancing and Rising Star Award finalist and Canadian country music artist Alessia Cohle and her live country band. On August 24th-25th, Sherbourne Common, right down at the Toronto waterfront, will be transformed into a western themed evening with returning favourites like the photo booth, cottage games, Flair Cider Cocktail Bartending Competition and Art Showdown with some added fun of Outfit Showdown contest and mechanical bull riding.

Each regular session admission includes 4 sample tokens and a commemorative sampling mug. If you fancy yourself more of a VIP status then the VIP Experience includes 6 additional sample tokens, access to the VIP hour and on Saturday night, food and cider pairings and bonus giveaways.
Check out Toronto Cider Festival for how to book your tickets online or find this picture (below) on my instagram for a free giveaway for a chance to win 2 tickets to this awesome event.Tickets are for the Friday session.

🚨 GIVEAWAY ALERT 🚨 The kind organizers of @tociderfest have provided me with two tickets to this year’s Toronto Cider Fest to give away to one of you beautiful and lucky individuals. Who’s in? 🙋🏻‍♀️ How to enter: 1) Follow me @edeerich on insta and like this post. 2) Follow @tociderfest on insta. 3) Tag your cider lovin’ bestie coming with you in the comments below. That’s it! 🍻 Contest closes 3 August 2018 at 11:59 am EDT Complete all 3 steps above to be entered. A winner will be selected at random and notified via DM. Tickets valid for the Friday evening session. Must be 19+ to attend the event

A post shared by Erin Out And About (@edeerich) on Jul 26, 2018 at 11:12am PDT

Disclaimer: I've written this post in exchange for tickets to the Toronto Cider Festival, but I really love this fest and really would be attending this event no matter what.

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5 Things You Don't Want to Miss Out on This Summer in Toronto

Canada, I know it's hard to remember what life was like without snow and cold and general winter grayness, but trust. Summer is coming. And maybe even sooner than we can imagine with an ice storm hammering the city this past weekend and 12 degrees Celsius called for this weekend. Not to get too ahead of myself, but I'm already preparing my annual warmer months 'To Do' list of all the things I want to make sure I do while I can. Although I have an extensive list of things, I've whittled it down to 5 items that I think you should join me in doing. Some are Toronto specific, but many are general ways in which one can soak in the summer sun and take a moment to appreciate the warmth while we still can. 

1 Festivals

The summer calendar in Toronto is chockablock of festivals. Art festivals, various food festivals, fairs, and markets. I adore them all! Of particular note (and one of my favourites!) is the Toronto Cider Fest, started 4 years, this festival has grown each year, both in size and popularity. This year's festivities will take place the last weekend in August (Friday 24-Saturday 25) and have a Wild West theme. As per usual there will be live music, contests, lawn games, flair cider cocktail bar tending competition, and over 100 ciders from the best apple growing regions of Canada and internationally. New this year is a Friday night session which is to include a country night with a country music band, line dancing, and mechanical bull riding. You do not want to miss out on the Toronto Cider Fest and right now until May 1st at midnight, there are early bird tickets on sale $30-$60 and I'll see you there!

2 Farmers markets

All over Toronto there are farmers markets. Small ones run by community groups and larger ones aiming to pull in more than just the surrounding neighbours. The fresh produce and locally crafted artisan foods are a marker of warm summer days. Sure you could go to the grocery store and fondle the peaches, but it's just not the same if while fondling your fruit you have a chat with the farmer who grew and picked them. 

3 Outdoor movies

I don't know why, but one of my most favourite things to do in the summer is to watch movies outdoors. Maybe it's because winter is just so darn long that when I have the ability to be outside with fresh air, I want to spend as much time as possible out there enjoying it to the fullest. And outdoor movies seems to be a thing that's catching on, with offerings all over the city; east end, waterfront, west end. I'm sure there's one in the north end too but nobody ever goes up there! (I kid! I kid!)

4 Lakefront and Beaches

I mean, when is it better to plant your butt down in sandy shores than in the summer time? Even with no events or special activities Toronto beaches are the shizzel. Cherry Beach, Woodbine Beach, Hanlan's Point, Ward's Island Beach, Bluffer's Park, Sunnyside, Sugar Beach to name just a few found along Lake Ontario's shoreline. Not such a fan of sand? Just head to any of the lakefront boardwalks. Specifically, I suggest the Martin Goodman Trail that starts in Mimico (west Toronto) and follows the waterfront, with little interruption, all the way to The Beaches (east Toronto). 

5 Patios

Summer in the city means patio living. Sidewalks fill up with chairs and tables, rooftops get the same treatment. Everyone and their dog can be found sunning their faces and downing cold beverages. We love patio life so much in Toronto that it becomes a little challenging at times to find empty seats. If you are able to snag a table at your local patio bar, stake a claim and move for no one! It's almost as coveted as reasonably priced Toronto real estate. 

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Toronto Cider Festival 2017

The Toronto Cider Festival (now in it's 3rd year) has quickly become my favourite summertime festival. I buy my early bird ticket and wait out the summer days until the big event. The only thing bad about this fest is that it takes place at the end of August aka the end of summer.

Those who know me well, even those who don't cause I usually make it known, I'm a cider drinker. I discovered my love for the beverage while living in England back in 2004. Many pubs had local ciders and scrumpies available on tap, I never had to drink the same thing twice (but of course I did). Returning to Canada I could only find Strongbow in a can. I still don't mind drinking Strongbow now and again, but I'm super loving this craft cider development that has been going down in this city for the past few years. The TO Cider Fest has definitely come around at the right time, selling out sessions all three years they've been running. Just like for me, I think the festival is becoming one of Toronto's must do summer activities.

One of the pairings: pulled pork taco with Brickworks 501

This year, as part of a media package, I attended the VIP pairing session, which took place from 5-6pm, an hour before the general admission of the evening session. 

The pairing consisted of 3 'courses' with food and cider provided by Brickworks Ciderhouse. It was a little disorganized and some servers appeared to be a bit frustrated, you know how people get with food, but with a little pro-action everyone got their food and pairing samples. I've tried all of the Brickworks samples before with the exception of the Mint and Basil Cider and whoooo boy was it ever good. It was paired with a crostini topped by apple, brie and prosciutto. 

Next was a pear and goat cheese salad, paired with their pear cider. Last was the pork taco paired with the Brickworks 501.

The theme for this year's fest, like many things this year, was Canada 150 in honour of this fair country's confederation.

Maple leaves, cottage games, a campfire, a photo booth with a canoe, a lakeside location and sharing what 'being Canadian means to you' were some of the things present this year that pulled this theme together. The atmosphere is super chill; uber urban-city-summer meets cottage country.

This year's fest was the biggest one to date and the largest one of its kind in Canada with over 70 cider tastings offered by a variety (28!) of local and international vendors. It's a fun place to try new ciders and talk to the passionate people who actually make them. 

Regular session tickets cost $30 and with it you receive a commemorative sampling mug, 4 drink tokens plus access to live entertainment, contests, games and some sweet food trucks.

Along with all the games and tastings there is entertainment. During the afternoon session was an art battle where artists have 20 minutes to produce a painting and the evening session had a flair competition (think Tom Cruise in Cocktail).

The location was new this year, moving from Dundas Square, which had been the home for the past two years, to Sherbourne Common (near Sugar Beach) along the waterfront. It's a bigger, greener space that didn't feel too big nor too cramped with the size of the crowd. I always love being able to see the lake when I'm in the city, so this location was ideal for grabbing a cider sample and finding a Muskoka chair to admire the view from. (Same complaint as last year though, more Muskoka chairs!)

We left the fest already looking forward to next year's event--actually we left the event looking for more poutine, but the excitement for next year's event soon followed.

*full disclosure* The VIP admissions for myself and a friend was complimentary from TO Cider Fest. Opinions are entirely my own.

What's your favourite summertime festival?

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