Just a few snaps of the people coming and going at the opening weekend of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Normally the intersection of King and John Streets is a hustle-and-bustle with vehicular traffic. But for the opening weekend of TIFF, they blocked off King Street for six or eight blocks and turned it into an open-air street fair, with live music, performances, and activities. The restaurants lining King Street set up outdoor seating areas in the curb lane of King Street to handle the extra business.
This was taken from the window of the Tim Horton’s at King and John, looking across the intersection at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theater on the right, and above the coffee shop on the left is the Indian restaurant where I had dinner and saw Sandra Oh (my first celebrity sighting at TIFF).
McDonalds set up a free coffee booth for the opening weekend, serving up McCafe coffee and a live DJ in the coffee cup on the upper deck.
A view of the eateries along King Street. I don’t know what’s going on with the bisected Holstein coming out of the wall of the Kit Kat club, but it certainly is eye-catching.
People in line for a film screening at one of the participating theaters. While TIFF Central is the TIFF Bell Lightbox, there were perhaps a dozen theaters across downtown screening films for the festival, ranging from single screen vintage movie houses to modern multiplexes like the Lightbox and the Scotiabank theater. This queue was for one of the premieres at an old Vaudeville-era movie palace.
