Kensington Market

Kensington Market is a compact, multicultural neighbourhood in Toronto's Downtown West, centred on Kensington Avenue and Augusta Avenue and designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Its streets of narrow Victorian rowhouses have been converted into vintage clothing stores, produce stalls, cheese and spice shops, record stores, cafes and small restaurants. The area grew through successive waves of immigration, first Jewish, then Portuguese, Caribbean, Latin American and East Asian communities, and that mix remains visible in its food, from empanadas and tacos to Jamaican patties and dim sum nearby on Spadina Avenue. Murals and street art cover many walls, and the character is deliberately unpolished and independent, with few chain stores. There is no admission, and most shops are open from about 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM daily. A visit generally takes one and a half to two hours, longer for those who stop for food. On the last Sunday of the month from May to October, Pedestrian Sundays close the streets to cars and fill them with music, performers and vendors, which is the liveliest time to visit and also the most crowded. Weekend afternoons are busy generally, while weekday mornings give a calmer look at the shops and murals. Good photography angles include the colourful storefronts on Augusta Avenue and the lanes with murals off Baldwin Street. The market is reached by the 505 Dundas or 510 Spadina streetcars, and the nearby AGO, Chinatown and Graffiti Alley can be combined into a single walking route through downtown Toronto, Ontario. Visitors are advised to carry some cash for smaller vendors.