As I continued my attempt to see all the holiday festivals in Toronto, I obviously had to do the Distillery District.Once again, Alex secured the tickets, which are free as long as it is not Friday. I headed to his apartment, and we took a street car down. A truly Toronto experience if there's ever been one, Street car to the Distillery District.
If you're not familar with this area of Toronto, the Distillery District is a large group of Victorian buildings that once housed the largest distillery in the world. Gooderham and Worts Whiskey operated out of the area until 1990. Luckily the area was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1988. The buildings remained empty, but well preserved until it was taken over for shopping and entertainment in 2006. The biggest draw for me is the Mill Street Brewery. Every Christmas the businesses that have moved in set up a Winter Village, similar to what you see in Europe.
In the past few years they have definitely accepted the influencer lifestyle by setting up photo-ops every year. In 2018 there was a pair of angel wings that mirrored the viral trend. There's always a large peace sign, decorated in symbols from many different religions and of course the clock. Do you even live in Southern Ontario if your instagram feed isn't plagued with pictures of the countdown clock? Telling you exactly how many days until Christmas, it's the most recognizable part of the district. Looking at it this year, it definitely needs so TLC as a few bulbs have gone out.
This year was my third time going to the Distillery District Winter Village. I won't lie, I don't understand the hype. Maybe I'm that person who thinks if you're going to advertise yourself as the best market in all of Canada, you should actually be the best? This year the whole thing was sponsored by Dior. It was written on the tree, the logo flashed on the buildings, and the big photo ops were with presents that said Dior. It definitely showed that the market has come a long way from when they wouldn't let anyone but small businesses sell there.
I did like the addition of multiple places we could grab drinks. I got a scotch and cider while Alex chose mulled wine. Would have been nicer if we could have walked around with them rather than staying in one specific spot, but it was a step in the right direction.
We put our names in at Mill St Brewery almost right away so we could get a table to eat. It was a 45 minute wait so we took the time to wander around. Alex made fun of me as I filmed and took selfies. You'll see in this weeks video some "behind the scenes" shots of what it can be like to hang out with me.
It is a good thing we took that time to look around. By the time we were done dinner, and quite a few beers, we left the brewery at 9:15 and the entire market was closing up. We were disappointed that we couldn't have more cider and instead had to opt to visit Alex's local pub.
Overall, I say it was a nice night, made better by the brewery. Also it's the only one I'll see this year that was free, so perhaps I should cut it some slack, but overall when it comes to the Distillery District in December, I just don't get the hype.
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