Blog

The East Lynn Park Farmers’ market runs every Thursday 3-7, June 5 to October 9. The market is a joint venture between Farmers’ Markets Ontario (in charge of vendors/farmers) and us — the volunteers from the Danforth East Community Association (in charge of kids’ activities, local business/grower popups, community booths, special events like Pride and Bike Day, outreach, social media, and the market volunteer squad that keeps it all running!)

Vendors

Interested in being a vendor at this year’s market?

Click HERE to complete our Vendor Interest Form

Kids’ Activities and Community Booth Signups

We love having local businesses and community organizations incorporated into our local food market!

Click HERE to complete our Community Booth Form if you are a local community-focused organization interested in tabling at the market.

Click HERE to complete our Kids’ Activities Form if you are a local business or organization interested in running a kids’ activity from 4-6:30 on a market day.

Live Music

Every week we have a different musician busking at the market, representing a wide cross-section of musical genres. We pay performers a stipend of $100 and expect you to bring your own amplification. If you are interested in playing at the market, apply here.

Volunteering

We are always looking for volunteers to help with the setup, running, and take-down of the market. Email green@deca.to if you are interested in working with us!

Watch the DECA instagram for weekly updates!

Big Thanks – Kimbourne Brunch

Thank you to all the volunteer cooks and servers who came out last weekend to help DECA serve lunch to the #DanforthEast community! And a BIG THANK YOU to Audrey for organizing it all!

A free community lunch is held the 3rd Sunday of the month at Kimbourne Park United Church and all are welcome! Food is a right and not a privilege. While we cannot solve the larger systemic issues in isolation, small acts of community can build the foundation to grow change.

Join us in Lighting Up East Lynn Park

Our annual tree-lighting and singalong is this Saturday at 4:30 in East Lynn Park. Come and enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies from local businesses while watching musical performances.

Please bring a donation to support Community Fridges – needed donations include both perishable (bread, milk, etc.) and non perishable items (school snacks, pasta, beans, spices, etc.) as well as personal hygiene items

If you’re interested in volunteering to help with set up or tear down, email us at info@deca.to.

In a world of bad news, we are grateful that we can sometimes just look around and find some nearby good news to enjoy. DECA’s got you, east end!

Pumpkin Parade Gratitude

A huge thank you to the volunteers who made the Pumpkin Parade happen on November 1! You can check out the creative pumpkin carvings on display that night on our instagram. And a special shoutout to the 236 Toronto Scouting Group led by Bob Taylor who disposed of those 500 pumpkins into the compost bin in record time at the end of the night.

A New Fridge in the (Nearby) Neighbourhood

There is a new Community Fridge on Queen St East by Carlaw, hosted by Canopy Kids. We’re so happy that they’ve found a new home in the east end! Swing by to take food if you need it, donate some if you’ve got it.

Kimbourne Community Brunch

We have had a great showing of volunteers for the brunch this Sunday November 17 – we are so lucky to have such generous neighbours. If you or someone you know needs a hearty home-cooked meal, come by the church basement on Sunday!

Lighting Up Danforth East

Our annual tree-lighting party is on November 30 in East Lynn Park. This promises to be another fun evening of music and community! If you would like to volunteer for setup, serving hot chocolate or tear-down, shoot us an email at info@deca.to.

Community Meal – November 17

DECA is planning, cooking and serving the monthly community meal at Kimbourne Park United (200 Wolverleigh) on Nov 17! If you’d like to help please send an email to info@deca.ca! Tasks include: cooking and clean up on Saturday the 16th and set up, serving and cleanup on the 17th. Food security is a massive problem we can’t solve on our own, but micro actions like this can be a bridge for many in our community

Pumpkin Parade – November 1

Join us at our annual celebration of jack-o-lanterns the day after Halloween. We are always looking for people to help with the marshalling and lighting of pumpkins and the disposing of them at the end of the night. Email info@deca.to if you can help out!

The lineup this week

In the kids’ tent, we will be making a community thank you banner for the market vendors. Community Fridges will be on hand to collect your donations of fresh produce, nonperishables or cash! And our popups will be Nirvana Juice and Shakes and Mortimer Bakeshop. Our last brewery of the season is Great Lakes Brewery. It’s gonna be a good one!

An early farewell

The frost is literally on the pumpkins so we sadly have to say so long (and hopefully see you next year) to two of our favourite farmers! So long to Son-in-Law Produce and Back 40 Flowers. This year you committed to bringing our little east end of Toronto neighbourhood fresh produce, flowers and eggs! We are so grateful. We know the time and effort, not to mention the costs involved in running a farm, and appreciate everything you do!

Next up: Pumpkin Parade!

Let us know at green@deca.to if you are interested in volunteering for the Pumpkin Parade on November 1.

But we’ve got delicious sausages from Linkhaus, fries from Borrel, beer from Fairweather and smoothies from Nirvana Juice and Shakes at the market this Thursday.

Community Fridges will be at the market this week — please bring donations of canned goods, produce or personal care items.

As always, we will have kids’ activities, live music, and fresh local produce for days!