Facebook group Free Attractions and Events, lists Toronto events for fun-seekers on a budget
By Kathryn Stocks
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, there’s a wonderful resource on Facebook called Toronto Free Attractions and Events. Started in March by long-time Centennial resident Tracy Forsyth, the page is filled with events going on across the city and beyond.
Tracy said she started the page because she found there were so many free things to do that people don’t know about “so I figured I would make a group to share.” She said that many group pages show free events but they are rarely kept up to date.
She spends a lot of time searching city websites like BlogTO and Toronto.com for festivals and activities and she has signed up for different business associations. She also searches for events that are listed on Facebook and sometimes people send her ideas.
Every Thursday Tracy makes a list of things that are happening on the weekend, including subway closures. “On a single Saturday there have been 30 items listed,” she said. On Sundays she makes a post for the week ahead from Monday to Sunday and she updates that on a daily basis. She also deletes events that have happened so that all the posts on the page are current or upcoming.
The majority of her posts are free events and activities but sometimes it’s a major attraction with a reduced price or coupon. In other cases, adults have to pay while kids are free. With things like reduced price Argos tickets, she said, “It might be the only way some people get to see an activity.” Since her 1,550 members come from all over, she tries to cover as many events as possible. “One lady from England used the group to find out places to go when she was in Toronto,” Tracy said.
“I wanted to show people that there’s more than just the major attractions in Toronto,” she said. “Everybody knows about the CN Tower, the ROM, Ripley’s and the Science Centre but there’s lots of other things to do that they don’t know about.” Thomson Park in Scarborough, for example, is an active park with different events happening there but they have very little publicity. Tracy doesn’t go to many of the activities she posts but it does get her out more and she is pleased when people thank her for finding something they didn’t know existed, such as Edwards Gardens.
Her Facebook page is a closed group but Tracy is happy to have more people join. If you are interested, do a Facebook search of “groups” using the words Toronto Free Attractions and put in a membership request.