Toronto festivals hope Mother Nature is on their side this weekend amid poor air quality

The organizers of two street festivals planned for Toronto this weekend say they're monitoring the poor air quality stemming from wildfire smoke that's blanketed the city for the past several days.

The chair of the Little Portugal Business Improvement Area (BIA) says they're still assessing the situation when it comes to the popular Dundas Street West street festival, Do West Fest.

"We are extremely hopeful that the air quality will improve," said AnaBela Taborda. "But if it remains as it is [Thursday], for people that feel uncomfortable or that have issues, we would recommend the use of masks." 

The organizers of another street festival set for this weekend says it will look to Toronto Public Health for guidance on any cautionary measures that may be required.

But as of Thursday, the Lakeshore Village BIA's Grilled Cheese Challenge was slated to go ahead Saturday as planned.

CBC's senior meteorologist, Johanna Wagstaffe, said Thursday that people should expect air quality to remain poor until a new weather system arrives in the region Sunday into Monday, bringing rain and winds that should push smoke north.

Taborda says she's praying Mother Nature is on their side 

"This is not an easy thing to plan," she said.

Because the festival is supposed to shut down Dundas Street West from Shaw Street to Lansdowne Avenue from midday Friday to midnight Sunday, she added, "We can't just say, 'Well, we'll do it the following weekend.'" 

Any changes to the festival would be shared by Saturday morning, she said.

For those interested in attending, this summer marks the 10th year of Do West. And this year, the festival has expanded, ending at Shaw Street instead of Ossington Avenue, as it has in past years.

The extra space will be used to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Portuguese immigration to Canada, she says. 

"There'll be Portuguese food, Portuguese music, Portuguese everything," she said. 

The festival will also include the unveiling of a new artwork by the Portuguese artist Artur Bordalo who goes by Bordalo II, who uses discarded material to create sculptures that draw attention to the need for environmental stewardship.