Three days, one square, and a festival that keeps growing: North York Diwali Fest is back at Mel Lastman Square.

The festival is presented by Youth For Change, a Toronto-based youth and community organization, and is billed on its Eventbrite listing as "Toronto's biggest Diwali festival." Every day is free to attend, and the organizer describes the event as family-friendly with "all are welcome."

Programming for a free outdoor community festival can shift in the final weeks — a headline act gets added, a workshop time moves by an hour. Treat the table above as the confirmed baseline as of late September, and check northyorkdiwali.com or the festival's Eventbrite page the week of the event for any last-minute changes.

The festival doesn't charge admission, but Eventbrite listings sometimes include optional paid add-ons (VIP seating, food vouchers) alongside the free general-entry ticket — the free option is what most attendees select.

Diwali — the Hindu, Sikh and Jain festival of lights — follows the lunar Hindu calendar, so its Gregorian date shifts every year. In 2026, the main day, Lakshmi Puja, falls on Sunday, November 8. The five-day observance around it runs roughly November 6-10.

North York Diwali Fest doesn't try to land on that date. Youth For Change schedules the public festival on whichever October weekend works logistically — likely to land before the weather turns and to avoid competing with the holiday's own home and temple observances. That gap has moved around: the first edition landed on November 11, 2023 (after Diwali that year), while 2024, 2025 and 2026 have all run in October, ahead of the holiday.

Neither approach is "more correct" — it's simply a scheduling choice for a large outdoor civic event, separate from when families mark the holiday itself at home or at a temple.

Mel Lastman Square sits at 5100 Yonge St, directly above North York Centre station on TTC Line 1 (Yonge-University) — about 25 minutes from Union Station, and one stop south of Finch Station. Exit at North York Centre and the square is at street level, steps from the exit.

Driving in, paid parking is available at the North York Civic Centre parking garage on the same block, with additional metered street parking along the surrounding blocks of Yonge St and Park Home Ave. Expect the garage to fill up on Saturday afternoon and evening, the festival's likely busiest window.

• By subway — Line 1 to North York Centre station; the square is at street level.
• By car — North York Civic Centre parking garage, or metered street parking nearby.
• On foot — the square is an open civic plaza with step-free access throughout.

• Mithas Indian Food & Sweets — 1300 Finch Ave W, Unit 33, North York. Rated 4.6 (244 Google reviews). Full sweets counter alongside its regular menu; already one of our top picks on the North York Indian restaurants guide.
• Bengali Sweets & Restaurant — 12 Milvan Dr, North York (west end, near Weston Rd & Finch). Rated 3.9 (469 Google reviews). A long-running Toronto mithai chain with a North York location.
• Gerrard India Bazaar Diwali Mela — a secondary, Toronto-wide call-out: this free street festival on Gerrard St E has run its own one-night Diwali Mela in recent years (2025's ran October 18, 6-10 p.m.). As of this writing, a 2026 date hasn't been announced — treat the October 18-ish window as last year's pattern, not a confirmed 2026 date, and check the Gerrard India Bazaar BIA's events page before planning around it.

Both North York sweet shops were verified open via Google Places on September 26, 2026. Both are well outside walking distance of Mel Lastman Square, so plan them as a separate stop rather than a same-trip pairing.