I went to the 2023 Toronto Waterfront Festival, or as I like to call it, The Duckie Festival đ„
Let me tell you all about the festival and the Toronto's Greektown!
The Toronto Waterfront Festival (Duckie Festival)
This festival was so much fun to be at! Usually mama duck is on the water, but this year they plopped her on land.
There were a food few vendors selling roasted corn or butter chicken pizza, but the majority of the festival food was free. They had samples from Zevia, SunRype, Redpath, Pure Life, Florida Natural, Cheez It, and of course, the creators of mama duck, Clorox!
I ate so much free food, drank lots of yummy free drinks, and got a coupon for a free Clorox product! Who doesn't love free stuff?
As I was mentioning over on my Insta story, my bathroom is the entire reason I went to this festival. For those who don't know, my bathroom is rubber duckie themed. The last time I counted, I think I have 67 rubber ducks in my bathroom. I have them on the counters, on the ceiling, on the mirror. I have a rubber duck faucet cover, rubber duck anti-slip tub mat, rubber duck soap holder and so much more.
As I promised over on Insta, here is the photo in my bathroom. I DIY-ed this by simply printing and colouring the photo, as well as painting and hanging the frame. Definitely one of my favourite additions to the bathroom.
It's all themed after the Sesame Street song Rubber Duckie from Bert and Ernie.
Airbnb
While in Toronto for this festival, we stayed in this adorable and comfy Airbnb.
The space was in the basement of our hosts home, so there was a flight of stairs leading down to the studio. On the ledge of the stairs, the host had put out a sign that said "Welcome" and our names. It was a really sweet and personal touch.
Right as you entered the studio, there was a big comfy bed with a wall mounted TV in front of it. Just next to that was the bathroom, and off to the far left of the unit was a small kitchen space. They had a small mini fridge, a microwave, a kettle, a french press, and a Brita filter. The host had also set out some coffee and a variety of green teas for the morning.
The place was just full of personality and charm! It was decorated with bright reds and yellows with lots of wood accents. The host also had multiple books in the cozy reading nook about Nicaragua that detailed the culture, as well as a few memorable nick-nacks throughout the space.
I think one of my favourite things about this Airbnb was, funny enough, the light switches.
They were so quirky and different, they made me laugh when I first saw them.
Instead of labeling the switches for what they do, the host had labeled them based on the shape of the light fixtures. How cute is that!
This Airbnb is definitely a great place to stay in Toronto if you plan to eat out often, and what better place to do just that than Greektown! If you stay here, tell Maria I said hi!
The Big Carrot
Let's keep chatting about Danforth! While on our way to the Danforth Krispy Kreme, we stumbled across a little Sunday farmers market in front of this adorable, and surprisingly huge, sustainable and allergy/vegan friendly grocery store. The store is called The Big Carrot - Danforth Community Market.
I always love coming across these little spot because they always have so many options for me (lactose & gluten intolerant/ often plant based) that regular groceries just do not include.
To the far right of the store, was the bulk sustainable section. You could refill your flour, peanut butter, and oils, as well as pick up your favourite sustainable beauty products, toiletries, and kitchenware.
To the far left was all the meats, produce, and prepacked goods. They had a complete information list on how to purchase meats sustainably and what each brand they sold offered (free range, organic, certified humane, etc.).
They also had varieties from brands I've never seen before (I didn't know Sweets From The Earth did peanut butter cookies!) and a few Ontario local brands that offered gluten free and vegan goodies.
They also sold pre-ready allergy friendly meals. Having the convenience to not make dinner and instead simply pop something in the oven or microwave on a busy night is not always an option for us allergy folk, but this store said "I gotchu!".
In the center of the store, they had a hot bar, similar to Whole Foods, full of yummy foods, such as Pad Thai, that were nearly all gluten free and vegan! All the nums had detailed allergen information and ingredient lists right above them.
I cannot tell you how happy I was to see a bakery section full of goodies I could actually eat! They had variety! For those of us who don't have food allergies or dietary restrictions, you might not realize how much variety in your food options matter.
They didn't have just one kind of gluten free bread or only prepackaged baked goods. They had multiple different brands with multiple different options (white bread, whole grain, raisin bread, lemon loaf, banana loaf, etc). I don't remember the last time I was able to grab a single muffin from a grocery store instead of 6 prepackaged muffins.
As if it couldn't get any better, they also price match! If you find a cheaper price for the product you're buying, they will match that price up to 4 items per transaction! Allergy friendly foods are often much more expensive than the usual product, this is a big deal!
It felt so nice for a grocery store to be so inclusive and accommodating for a variety of dietary needs/wants. Will definitely be going back on the next trip to Toronto!
To get to the festival, we took Go Transit. If you read my last Toronto post, you know I'm not a fan of Go Transit or PRESTO. I was not looking forward to this commute as it was my first time taking the Go Bus.
However, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to be so chaotic in the bus, but it was quite peaceful and a smooth ride, whereas the train can be quite loud, busy, and rocky.
As a tip though, if you ever take the Go Bus, sit upstairs in the very back, there is soooo much more leg room and space for luggage than anywhere else in the bus.
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