CNE season and the Labour Day weekend: Toronto’s big goodbye to summer

Every Toronto summer ends the same way, and honestly, it's a great way to end a summer. The Canadian National Exhibition runs from mid-August through Labour Day, and the long weekend itself (September 5 to 7 this year) is the city's collective last hurrah before everyone pretends to be responsible again.

The Ex, done properly

The CNE is over 140 years old and contains multitudes: a midway, concert stages, horse shows, and a food building famous for inventing things that arguably should not exist. Occasionally one of them is great, and finding it is the sport. The strategy is simple. Go on a weekday if you can, arrive at opening, ride the midway before the lines build, and save the food building for when you've earned it.

The air show

The Canadian International Air Show closes the CNE over Labour Day weekend, and the jets over the lake are visible from well beyond the grounds. Here's the insider move: skip admission entirely and watch from Trillium Park or the western beaches with a picnic. The lake is the runway, and the lawn is free.

The rest of the weekend

Labour Day weekend is peak everything. The lake is at its warmest, the patios are at their most committed, and the whole city has the slightly giddy energy of a last day of camp. It's also quietly a great weekend for the Islands, since the summer crowds thin just a little as families pivot to back-to-school errands.

A word about the crush

The Exhibition grounds pull enormous crowds on the holiday weekend, and the parking lots know it. Take the streetcar and glide past the whole mess. DayHop's long-weekend spotlight is live right now, so ask for a Labour Day weekend plan and it will favour the festivals, markets, and fireworks happening around the date.