Yonge Street won't be closed for Thornhill Festival

This is festival's 40th anniversary

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 30, 2016
By Simone Joseph

You won't have to worry about avoiding Yonge Street during the Thornhill Village Festival this September.

The street won't be closed for the annual event, which may be good news for drivers but bad news for Robb Stitt, the festival’s chair and entertainment coordinator.

"We can't seem to get through the red tape with York Region," he said.

York Region is just one of several levels of government festival organizers deal with while preparing for the two-day event, slated for Sept. 17 and 18. The festival has also traditionally been celebrated in both Markham and Vaughan municipalities.

However, every year, there are more regulations and more red tape to contend with from the municipalities, he said.

It is difficult to get Yonge Street closed because it causes problems for drivers and there are seven bus routes that use the part of Yonge Street between Center and John streets, usually slated to be closed during the festival, Stitt said.

In the past, York Region contacts always found a way to work through Ontario guidelines on closing roads, Stitt said.

But this year, there are new staff at both cities and the region, and they are following the guidelines by the book, he said.

Stitt does not totally blame York Region for making it difficult to close Yonge Street.

One major challenge is dealing with and wading through lengthy provincial guidelines for closing major roads, outlined in a 300-page document, he said.

Yet keeping Yonge Street open negatively impacts the festival, Stitt said.

Anything events or activities that were supposed to take place on Yonge Street had to be cancelled, he said, including a main stage musical event to have taken place on the street Saturday.

The festival will still close streets on the Markham side of Yonge Street, Stitt said.
"Markham is more understanding (than York Region) and there are not as many guidelines," Stitt said.

In Vaughan, closing streets is expensive because organizers would need to bring in a professional company to erect barriers, an expense organizers can’t afford, Stitt said.

"It costs a whole pile of money," Stitt said. "We are not having an easy time. This is the most difficult festival we have tried to mount."