Hope you all had a very happy Canada Day! I spent the latter part of the day at Canada’s Wonderland for Celebration Canada and a fireworks spectacular! Despite relatively light crowds, I didn’t go on any rides during this visit due to a recent minor procedure, but I still had a great time!
Celebration Canada
I got to the park shortly after 4:00 p.m. so I missed the Smoke Trail Singers yet again this year… With the heat, I just really couldn’t imagine being at the park longer than that, especially knowing I wouldn’t be riding anything.
As soon as you enter Front Gate you can see some Canada flag bunting on the International Street buildings and some letters standing up behind the floral flag spelling out CANADA. While I’m glad to see some extra decorations, the letters themselves feel a bit tacky to me. I think it’s the placement and the spacing. If they were spread out more and possibly placed in front of the Floral Flag, I think it would make for a better visual. I think having something more specific would also help, like spelling CANADA DAY 2026.
Many rides had Canada flags and bunting which is always great to see!
The main Celebration Canada plaza felt more open than during Brew & BBQ and it took me a while to realize it’s because there were no beer tents (or anything) set up west of the globe. There was a street performer doing some clever glass orb movements and posing for photos with guests. There were also plenty of games to enjoy (including axe-throwing which wasn’t present for Brew & BBQ) and a mural guests could colour in themselves using provided markers.
Unfortunately the event didn’t seem very busy during this walk through, but I think that has a lot to do with the heat and lack of shade in this plaza. The park in general felt very quiet with Behemoth and Leviathan posting five minute wait times for the regular line. Having said that, I’m sure Splash Works was drawing much longer lines and I saw a notable increase in crowds after it closed for the day. With the heat wave continuing throughout Celebration Canada’s run, I really hope the park/company recognizes this factor on attendance and doesn’t shorten Celebration Canada even further next year. Five days isn’t really enough time as it is.
The menu seems more robust than Brew & BBQ with some surprising options. Poutine and flatbreads are to be expected, but the shawarma and fritto misto really round out the options. I’m a little surprised it seems like a bigger menu considering the event runs for fewer days. Still, I picked the two most appealing options to me for my two meals.
Food
Montreal Smoked Meat Shawarma
As a big fan of Montreal smoked meat and shawarma, I was very happy with this item at the media tasting at the end of April. Unfortunately this time around the pita was very crispy and somewhat burnt, but otherwise I thought the flavours worked really well. The tangy pickled turnips complemented the savoury meat very well.
I really wish the portion size was bigger, though. Rather than having small portions at under $15, I’d love a larger portion at the park’s standard $20 per meal. I think this would also encourage more people to try the event offerings as well since it would seem more “worth it.”
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: B
Confit Duck Poutine
This portion was actually great! They used plenty of cheese curds and the park’s usual peppery poutine gravy. The fries were the same as I had from Mess Hall last week which are pretty terrible for poutine, but the duck was cooked to perfection and very tasty!
Toronto Ty Taste Tier: A (The fries easily kept it from S tier.)
The King’s Banquet
It didn’t take long before I was ready to get out of the heat and thankfully Canterbury Theatre has some air conditioning! …oh, and a new show. But seriously, I’ve been very excited for this show since it was announced. A Medieval show in a castle theatre within Medieval Faire? Excellent!
The show has some jesters filling the clown role as you’d expect. I’m sure previous shows had the clowns engaging with the audience before showtime itself, but this year they seem to start right at showtime.
The set design is really great, though the ice blocks lighting the proscenium arch don’t match the castle interior. This is a little disappointing but completely understandable from a budgetary perspective.
The story has a bit more juice to it than most previous shows (with the exception of Tundra) and multiple speaking parts. None of the performers had microphones, but they are skilled enough to ensure the audience can hear them. It’s a clear yet complex story I’d rather not spoil for all of you. I think it’s fun and connects the acts together well, but I do wish the show was a little longer to expand the story a bit more and have some emotional resonance. Also one of the effects is very noticeably lacking which is extra baffling since it happens more than once. More details under the spoiler.
Essentially several characters get zapped by magic and they convey this by playing a electricity sound effect and having the characters stand in place shaking. It’s pretty awkward in my opinion and surprising they incorporated this storyline without having a good way of illustrating this plot point. I’m not sure how else they could convey it without a larger budget and more technology incorporated into the set/stage/lighting, but as is I don’t think it works. Especially because then the characters laugh it off so the audience is left a bit confused. Could we get some green lasers projecting squiggles over their bodies or something? The sound effects for the final moment work a little better since the audience now understands there’s nothing more to the effect.
All the acts were well done, ranging from unicycles and juggling to a cyr wheel and aerials on a chandelier. I don’t want to spoil all the acts because one is intended as a surprise, but there are a couple I’ve never before seen on this stage. The transitions between acts is very well done, working well with the storyline. I was also thrilled to see some sword fighting! I’d love to have even more choreographed fight scenes in future shows!
All in all, it’s a good show and I’m looking forward to seeing it again. I highly encourage you to check it out next time you’re at the park and let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Other Updates
Grande World Eatery is now open for the season! It’s absurd it took so late into the season for it to open and I’m sad there’s no chicken parmigiana back on its menu, but I’m thankful for some added variety. Entree options are beef meatballs, paneer tikki masala, cilantro lime fried seafood, and a pesto chicken caprese sandwich. Side options consist of capellini pasta, vegetable rice biryani, nacho chips, a tomato and cucumber salad, or seasonal fruit. Of course I was focussed on getting the more limited-time Celebration Canada options, but I’ll be sure to get something from Grande World Eatery during my next visit.
I’m honestly so very happy to see the signs outside Grande World Eatery and Carrousel Kitchen now have the restaurant’s hours clearly listed! Yes, hours are subject to change, but this is a huge improvement in clarity for guests to plan out their day!
At Tiny Tom Donuts, a new cartoon has appeared on the wall inside the building, featuring Tiny Tom himself tossing some doughnuts over his head into a bag. Anyone who frequents Tiny Tom Donuts knows seeing the employees scoop, toss, and catch the doughnuts in the bag is part of the fun so this is a great detail! Each of the doughnuts also has a unique design, including a grandma and a pirate!
There’s now a bar inside Maple Park Treehouse, named Maple Park . While it also lists snacks (which seems to just be chips), I’m utterly flabbergasted to see a bar within a playground.
On the note of the kids’ park, KidZville and Planet Snoopy stayed open until 10:00 p.m.. I believe this will be the case for all fireworks nights moving forward.
Sadly a willow snapped and fell into the stream next to KidZville Station. I believe the strong winds from earlier in the evening were responsible.
Over at The DareDeviler, I noticed two more support columns with notches. None of them have been painted yet, but they look pretty clean so I think the hard part is done. Hopefully it’s not too much longer before we can ride this new experience on a legacy attraction! (I guess my phone interpreted the colours differently between these two photos.)
About an hour before the fireworks, I caught the tail end of a street performer set up by the Action Zone washrooms. While I’d appreciate some signage about shows like this including show times, I’m glad to see some extra entertainment popping up!
Fireworks
I can thankfully say this fireworks display was much better than this year’s Victoria Day fireworks. The sound system seemed a little louder (though could still use some extra speakers around Timberwolf Falls’ bridge or Vortex’s brake run), with no noticeable crackling.
The song choices didn’t set the world on fire, mostly composed of older pop music, but still worked well. The fireworks themselves seemed particularly spectacular though, with many excellent moments! Hopefully the new Saturday night fireworks throughout July keeps up this level of quality!
TL;DR
Celebration Canada 2026 is a win, but I do wish it was running longer and that the Smoke Trails Singers performed on more than just Canada Day itself. The food was good with a fairly diverse menu, and really just makes me wish the season-long offerings were as broad as we have at these limited-run events. At least Grande World Eatery is now open for a bit more variety.
The King’s Banquet is a great new show with a suitable theme and story for the themed area. It’s not perfect, but I’m glad the park and production company are leaning more on storytelling and the Medieval theme. Speaking of entertainment, the fireworks were a huge improvement over those on the May long weekend so I have high hopes for the new Saturday night spectaculars throughout July. I can’t make it to the first one, but I’ll check it out soon enough.
Keep checking back for more updates as I check out Retrospect and Watchtower on future visits, plus the new fireworks nights and food from Grande World Eatery!
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