The Easter Bunny has made his way to the Beach and is ready to hop along Queen Street East for this Sunday's 43rd annual Beaches Lions Easter Parade.
This year's event, themed Easter Magic, will kick off at 2 p.m.
The local Easter parade, the largest of its kind in North America, will run westward along Queen Street East from Munro Park Boulevard to Woodbine Avenue.
Each year, an estimated 40,000 people make their way to the Beach for the annual tradition. Attendance is especially high when Mother Nature is in good spirits, said Sharon Ramsden, the parade's chairwoman.
"We're really looking forward to it being plus 10 and sunny. It's going to be a great harbinger of spring," she said.
"It's something people look forward to each year."
Ramsden said nearly 100 floats as well as up to a dozen bands of all descriptions from samba to steel to pipe are set to snake along Queen Street East for the parade.
Malvern Collegiate's marching band is making a return for this year's event. The parade will also feature a Mardi Gras Dixieland-style band as well as antique fire trucks and ambulances.
This year's Grand Marshall will be none other than ex-Beacher, Ted Randall, former owner of Randall's Stationary. Affectionately known as the "King of Kingston Road," the long-time local volunteer and 2003 Beach Citizen of the Year recently moved east of the city with his wife, Barb.
The highlight for the children, laughed Ramsden, will be the free candy. Lindt Chocolate has generously donated thousands of chocolate Easter bunnies for event.
Scores of well-dressed pooches and their owners are equally excited to participate in the third annual Dog Day Parade. Awards will be handed out for the best Easter bonnet worn by a human as well as the best-dressed small, medium and large dogs.
For more information about the Dog Day Parade, including how to register your pooch, contact Nolly Haverhoek at 647-988-7943 or e-mail nolly@rogers.com.
There will also be a special prize awarded to the parade entry that best depicts this year's "Easter Magic" theme.
"The parade is really our opportunity to give back to the community," said Ramsden, who is chairing the event on her own for the first time this year.
For more information about the Toronto Beaches Lions Easter Parade, visit www.beacheslions.com, call Sharon Ramsden at 416-317-3518 or e-mail scramsden@rogers.blackberry.net.