For years, youth have been an important part of the annual Cabbagetown Festival. For the first time, youngsters in the community will have a festival to call their own.
The Cabbagetown Youth Street Festival makes its debut Saturday,June 18 with a pair of events to cater to performers and athletes alike.
Organized by the Cabbagetown Youth Centre (CYC), UforChange and the Cabbagetown BIA, the event will include a talent show and a three-on-three basketball tournament.
Sean Roman of UforChange noted the upcoming street festival was driven by the younger element and the young talent in the Cabbagetown, St. James Town and surrounding communities.
He said the idea for a youth-only event arose out of the popular Cabbagetown Festival.
"Last year (at the Cabbagetown Festival) UforChange had a stage, same with the Cabbagetown Youth Centre, same with other youth organizations," he said. "We're lucky to have a lot of great youth organizations and a lot of great youth in the area but we never really get together to celebrate that."
UforChange is heading up the talent show portion of the day, where celebrity judges Zack Werner (Canadian Idol) and Sharon Lee Williams (Musicent Productions) will rate performances by singers, dancers, spoken word artists and others.
"It's a good way to showcase the youth of Cabbagetown and St. James Town," he said. "We'll have kids from about 11 years old to their mid-20s."
Winners in two age groups, as selected by the judges, will win prizes provided by the Cabbagetown BIA.
June Charles, of the CYC, said the Cabbagetown Youth Street Festival was long overdue in a community where youngsters add so much to the vibrancy of the neighbourhood.
"We don't really have a youth festival in Cabbagetown, which is strange because of all the youth here," she said. "This festival gives the youth something to do that's more than just walking around looking at the booths at the Cabbagetown Festival."
Charles noted the three-on-three basketball tournament will be divided into under-16 and 16-and-over groups with winners being crowned in both age groups. Provided this year's event is the success organizers expect, she said, she hopes to see more events added to the street festival.
"Next year, we'll hopefully have an exhibition soccer match or something like that," she said.
Doug Fisher, of the Cabbagetown BIA, said the Cabbagetown Youth Street Festival is replacing the BIA's usual music on the street series, which typically runs in the spring and summer.
He noted, while that series lent an atmosphere to the street at select times, it was a low-key affair compared to the wider-reaching youth street festival.
"If we get good response for (the festival) we can continue and decide whether to spring some more budget to do more music things in the fall," he said.
Local merchants, including the Gourmet Burger Co., will provide food and refreshments for the festival.
The Cabbagetown Youth Street Festival will take place from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Prospect Street will be closed near Parliament to make way for the talent competition, while Winchester Junior and Senior Public School will be home to the basketball tournament.
For more information on the talent show, contact UforChange at 647-348-0901. For more information on the basketball tournament, contact the CYC at 416-960-1032.