How you can chime in on the future of Kensington Market’s Pedestrian Sundays
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DOCUMENTERS NOTES
How you can chime in on the future of Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sundays
Community members and shop owners in Kensington Market came together on April 24 to discuss the challenges and future of Pedestrian Sundays.
Pedestrian sundays in Kensington Market.
: Kensington Market Business Improvement Area.
Sebastian Tansil
Caring mastermind who loves spending quality time with friends and family. Empathetic and precise economist by training. Loves amber yellow as it reminds him of people dearest to him.
May 1, 2025
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There are few Toronto neighbourhoods where you can enjoy traffic-free days at least once a month in the summer.
Of course, we're talking about Kensington Market's iconic Pedestrian Sundays.
But, whether this monthly tradition will continue is uncertain.
On April 24, business owners and residents in the Kensington Market community gathered at St. Stephen-in-the-Fields church to discuss the challenges and future of Pedestrian Sundays this summer. The meeting was organized by the Kensington Market Business Improvement Area (BIA) and moderated by David Beaver, store owner of Wanda’s Pie in the Sky.
Pedestrian Sundays is a monthly community street festival that transforms the Kensington Market area into a car-free zone with live music, street art, food vendors and local businesses taking over the streets. It happens on the last Sunday of each month from May to October, starting 1 p.m.
The meeting began with local business owners and residents sharing safety concerns that came up during Pedestrian Sundays in the last few years, especially after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
- Many shop owners said they witnessed fights and violence frequently break out when streets were closed in 2023 and 2024.
- Other local business owners, mainly those along Augusta Avenue and Baldwin Street, expressed concerns with an increase in outside vendors.
- They said the event has regularly included unlicensed food vendors, including ones selling of live chickens.
- They also complained about alcoholic beverages being sold on the street with little to no regulation.
Meeting attendees also expressed concerns with the lack of volunteers to run Pedestrian Sundays and a general lack of “ownership” in the festival.
Many local business owners and residents in the meeting expressed support for either significantly paring down the number of Pedestrian Sundays, or canceling it altogether this summer.
Beaver said the community runs the risk of a “vacuum” being left open for other actors to take up the streets if Pedestrian Sundays were completely cancelled this summer by the BIA.
Swareena Rajkhowa, Kensington Market BIA’s coordinator, said that Pedestrian Sundays would have a paid security guard this year who will be dedicated to controlling traffic routes at entry and exit points to the festival.
Regardless of individual concerns, everyone in the meeting agreed that Pedestrian Sundays has traditionally been a beautiful street festival that celebrates community and creativity, a place where people can meet and have fun dancing on the streets.
How you can chime in on the conversation
The Kensington Market BIA board hosts a public meeting every second Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Red Pepper Spectacle Arts on Baldwin Street. Community members in the Kensington Market area are especially encouraged to join the meeting to chime in with their thoughts on what the future of Pedestrian Sundays should be before a final decision is made.
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