The Big Picnic

Bring your family, friends and a picnic meal and enjoy yourself surrounded by nature and history of Toronto History Museums! Bring your picnic blanket and basket, and participate in a range of historic picnic traditions and activities.

Scarborough Museum

Find out what’s cooking in the historic buildings, go on a scavenger hunt, throw some lawn darts or horseshoes, learn some new old-fashioned dance moves, play giant games, or try your hand at rug hooking. Face painting happening between 3:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Gibson House

Enjoy demonstrations in the historic kitchen where culinary staff will demonstrate preserving techniques commonly used in the 19th century to preserve garden produce from the Gibson House garden. Enjoy games on the lawn, like badminton and croquet, and purchase strawberry ice cream or a raspberry shrub on the side porch.

Mackenzie House

Come and enjoy demonstrations of ice cream making and taste old-fashioned hand cranked ice cream in the Mackenzie House courtyard. Learn about the history of this classic summer treat enjoyed by the Mackenzie family and Torontonians of the late 19th century.

Fort York

Learn about picnic culture and Toronto food history during World War I, with a special focus on 1919 and the post war jubilation. Participate in food demonstrations sample tasty treats and see a display of historic picnic paraphernalia.

Spadina Museum

Get transported back to the 1920s and make ice cream floats typical of the roaring Twenties. Sample tastes of 1920s picnic foods, and play a game of croquet, quoits or badminton. Music in the Orchard also takes place on the grounds from 1:30 to 2:30 pm.

Todmorden Mills
At Todmorden Mills the Mad Hatter has arrived for a whimsical afternoon of tea, outdoor games and crafts! Join the mad cap tea party and sample Alice-inspired treats! Search for the Cheshire Cat, and watch out for the giant game pieces moving across the yard! Create your own fanciful hat or crown to wear, play a game of croquet and snap a storybook selfie.

Colborne Lodge
Picnics in High Park have been a tradition for many Toronto families for generations. Bring your own picnic to enjoy at communal picnic tables set out on the lawn against the beautiful backdrop of Colborne Lodge. Purchase a typical seasonal drink that the original owners, John and Jemima Howard, would have enjoyed – fruit shrub – to accompany your picnic.

Who is it for?
all-ages

Tickets : Free outdoor activity.

Regular Admission applies to Museums
How to get tickets?

At the door

 

• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Gibson House Museum
  5172 Yonge St, North York
• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Scarborough Museum, Thomson Memorial Park, 1007 Brimley Rd, Scarborough
• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Fort York National Historic Site, 250 Fort York Blvd
• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Mackenzie House, 82 Bond St, Toronto
• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Spadina Museum, 285 Spadina Rd, Toronto
• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Rd, Toronto
• July 14, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm @ Colborne Lodge, 11 Colborne Lodge Dr, Toronto