In just a few short hours, I'll be heading out to see my first show of this year's Fringe Festival. We got these tickets in advance, but I'm predicting several at-the-door lineups in my very near future...

The Fringe 2011 - Toronto's Theatre Festival

The Toronto Fringe Festival begins today and continues until July 17th. If you've never taken part in the theatrical adventure that is Fringing, have a look at these Tips for Attending the Toronto Fringe Festival to help get you started. If you're already well-versed in how to Fringe and just need to get out there and get going, head straight to FringeToronto.com for the full schedule.

Submit Your Fringe Reviews

If you do take in a Fringe show this year (or a dozen Fringe shows!), you can now submit a star rating and review here on About.com: Toronto! Share what you love (and what you don't-so-much-love) about this year's Fringe and help spread the word about great (and maybe-not-as-great) theatre in the city!

Word Out - Summer Reading for Teens

With the start of July also came the start of the Toronto Public Library's summer reading program for teens, Word Out 2011. Set up as a blog, Word Out invites teens to get involved by submitting written or video book reviews, choosing selections off the group reading list, and interacting with authors. There are opportunities for book loving teens to win prizes, and to get coupons to reduce any fines they may have, urm, accidentally accumulated.

TD Summer Reading Club for Kids

Of course the Toronto Public Library offers a summer reading program for younger kids as well. The theme for the 2011 TD Summer Reading Club is "Splash! Celebrate Summer", and registration is already available at library branches across the city. Some branches also offer special events and recurring activities related to the TD Summer Reading Club, so browse the website or drop into your local branch to see what's on offer in your neighbourhood this summer. Kids in Toronto and across Canada can also get involved in the TD Summer Reading Club Online.

Of course there are plenty of Canada Day Events on this weekend, including fireworks at Ontario Place and Mel Lastman Square, but there are lots of events to keep you going for the rest of the weekend, too.

• Toronto's Pride Week continues through the weekend with the big Pride Parade on Sunday July 3rd.


• Toronto Ribfest runs from June 30th to July 3rd in Centennial Park.


• After Canada Day programming on Friday, the Harbourfront Centre Summer Festival On the Pulse offers "experiential, boundary pushing and unpredictable performance for the whole family" on Saturday and Sunday.


• Admission is free to the Scotiabank CHIN International Picnic, which is on from Friday to Sunday at Exhibition Place.


• Canadian Stage's annual outdoor production of Shakespeare is on now. This year, Dream in High Park presents The Winter's Tale.


• The TD Toronto Jazz Festival continues until July 3rd.


• The annual Corso Italia Festival takes place along St. Clair Avenue West on Saturday and Sunday.


• The Toronto Zoo is celebrating Penguin Books on Saturday and the new movie Zookeeper on Sunday. Plus this weekend marks the beginning of an African Arts & Culture Festival at the Zoo which will continue until September.


• On Saturday the Royal Ontario Museum celebrates the opening of four new permanent galleries with a ROM Family Toga Party, offering crafts, games, a dress up area and special performances.

And from the calendar of User-posted events for July:
• The new Play>Nation exhibition opens at the Design Exchange
• Harlequin Cruises offers a Canada Day dinner and dance cruise aboard the River Gambler
• Canada Day entertainment at Ontario Place includes the Lost Nations Dancers of Six Nations
• The reggae concert "Rockaz Part 3" is on at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Saturday
• And this is Sunday CFI Ontario's monthly Toronto Atheists and Friends meetup

If you're an event planner hosting something this weekend, feel free to tell us about it in the comments section below. For later events, learn how to submit an event listing to About.com: Toronto.

Photo © Marilyn Campbell

So, have you made any special plans for Canada Day on Friday? If you haven't yet decided how to celebrate our country, there are plenty of Canada Day events in Toronto to choose from. Not surprisingly, outdoor events involving some combination of music, food and fireworks are big this weekend, but you can also get some history in, if you like.

The Canada Day Checklist

Over on About.com: Canada Online, Susan Munroe has put together a Canada Day Checklist with the answers to a number of questions that often come up this time of year. Have a look if you want to learn more about our flag, our national anthem, the Fathers of Confederation, fireworks safety, and more.