There is no question that Canada is a north country and that our winters here in Toronto can at times be a little cruel. But that is no reason to hold any person back from getting out there and enjoying the town to the fullest. The WinterCity Holiday is a city-wide party of Toronto's culinary offerings ( the preferred Winterlicious cafe promotion ), a good spread of free entertainment events and a showcase of Toronto's colourful humanities scene, featuring music, dance, theatre, vision shows, rink-side concerts and even aerial acrobatic performances. I had an opportunity to speak to Grant Ramsey from the Town of Toronto who is among the key folk behind WinterCity and he's providing a far more detailed top level view of all of the specialised activities, inventive and culinary treats on offer. Chuck in a considerable number of child-friendly events, and WinterCity has something for everybody in the family. It is celebrated each year on the full moon day of the Hindu month called 'Shravan ' ( 'Shravan Poornima' ) which sometimes falls in the month of Aug. It is just called 'Rakhi Festival'.

At first this holiday was celebrated in the north and west parts of India, later it spread across the nation. It is a good holiday in India for love. Such cruel associations were sadly passed on to magicians at this time also, as it became the time of the year when they were to be seen on their way to conferences with other malicious beings! But because of the heady and beguiling draw of the hot nights, Litha is naturally a time for fertility rites. So Litha, with Beltane, became an extremely popular occasion for marriages ( known as hand fasting ) and for celebrating new life. At this time the Goddess is recently with kid, having united and become married to the Sun God at Beltane. This is among the unusual occasions that one can see these dazzling creatures in their own environment and realize the amazement of their existence. Whale Sharks are solitary creatures. However for one or two years now they have come to the northerly end of the Yucatan Headland to feed and pal in the months of May thru to October. Ask around at the docks or downtown Isla Mujeres, for a local fisherman to take you on a ship trip to see the Whale Sharks, be ready to spend 5 - 6 hours viewing these fantastic mammals.