Business owners have differing views on if Taste of the Danforth is worth saving

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 2024 edition of Toronto’s Taste of the Danforth festival has been temporarily cancelled after the event organizers cited a lack of funding available to continue the long-standing community tradition.

At its recent annual general meeting, GreekTown on the Danforth BIA, which organizes the festival every year, revealed a scarcity in sponsorships and fundraising opportunities.

Although the BIA agreed on a two per cent levy increase, this decision does not cover next year’s funding for the three-day event. The BIA’s members voted against an almost 20 per cent levy increase to generate the funding.

Miguel Araujo, manager at Trattoria Di Parma, told Beach Metro Community News that although he would love to see the festival continue, the increased fee to participate would not be worth the potential business the festival attracts.

“Last year was already very expensive,” said Araujo. “And they want to put our fees up as well. It will cost a lot of money.”

Araujo said that although the restaurant currently pays about $700 to take part in the festival, a 10 per cent increase would have been easier to digest. However, paying 20 per cent more to take part in 2024’s Taste of the Danforth isn’t feasible for many restaurants, he said.

According to the organizers, Taste of the Danforth has seen much success in the past, attracting millions of festival goers to the Danforth and boosting local businesses. However, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the festival has suffered.

“The increase in sales is not enough to justify spending that kind of money,” said Araujo. “After the pandemic lots of businesses aren’t doing well enough to afford $1,000 just to be on the Taste of the Danforth for three days.”

Mustafa Eren, owner of Chef Mustafa (516 Danforth Ave), said he sees the situation differently. He said that he regards Taste of the Danforth as an efficient way of bringing eyes to his business, attention that could potentially turn into future customers.

“It’s a marketing tool,” he said. “People come and get to see the restaurants. They become familiar.”

With the Greektown on the Danforth area seeing newer businesses replacing many of the older Greek restaurants that preceded them, Eren believes that the festival would help familiarize residents with the latest additions to the Danforth.

“Recently there’s not a lot of good Greek restaurants left,” said Eren.

According to the Toronto Star, a confidential source revealed discussions revolving around the idea that the festival “had lost its roots in celebrating the Greek neighbourhood” and that “non-restaurant businesses did not benefit” had taken place at the BIA’s annual general meeting. There were also concerns about a low turnout as the city’s residents struggle with the ongoing affordability crisis.

With Taste of the Danforth on hiatus between 2020 and 2022, this year’s celebration was supposed to mark a return to norm. But the results for the August 2023 festival were disappointing. The organizers reported a $257,000 loss which played a major factor in their decision to cancel next year’s event.

Over the next few months, GreekTown on the Danforth BIA will discuss ways to generate funding or secure a title sponsor in the hope that Taste of the Danforth, a staple in Toronto since 1994, can live on.

– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.