Portugal Day Parade 2017: Saturday, June 10 at 11 a.m.!
The parade runs from Lansdowne to Trinity-Bellwoods Park along Dundas West and the street is closed for the occasion. Talk about Portugal immersion! I think all 114,000 Torontonians claiming Portuguese as their mother tongue showed up at this parade on the day we attended. Wear red if you want to blend in!
The parade is a display of local folk attires from different regions of Portugal (flamboyant ones alternating with modest or very sober ones) worn by people of all ages. There are musicians, soccer players and dancers. You could stick to one viewing point but I recommend you take advantage of the sidewalk's action by doing the 25-min. walk along the parade's route. (If you do, take a peek inside St. Helen's Church at 1680 Dundas West.)
You'll see the street adorned with garlands and balloons, three-generation Portuguese families greeting their friends in the parade, tight t-shirt clad young men strutting about to impress the pretty girls, people admiring the parade from their balcony decorated with giant Portuguese flag. In the parade, I saw an ambitious float featuring a piece of cliff with a real goat, a beach segment with real kids playing in the sand, and one float with a church on a hill with old ladies clad in black!
