It’s hoping to operate as usual.
One of Toronto’s most thrilling summer attractions is planning on making a comeback this year.
After a 2-year hiatus, the 2022 Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is officially getting ready to open in August. With 18 fun-filled days of all-new features and returning events expected to attract more than 1.4 million visitors through the iconic Princes’ Gates.
Aug 19 – Sept 5
EVENT DATES
The Canadian National Exhibition is Canada’s largest community event and one of the top 10 agricultural exhibitions in North America. Founded in 1879, the CNE generates an economic impact of approximately $93.1. million for the Greater Toronto Area and $128.3 million for the Province of Ontario each year (when in operation). It is celebrated as one of the “greenest” fairs in North America and attracted 1.4 million visitors over 18 days in 2019.
The fair was cancelled for the first time since World War II in 2020 due to the pandemic.
This year, the CNE has raised the bar sky-high (literally) with a dazzling nightly Drone Show, created for the EX, featuring 100 drones that will light up the night with precise formations and colourful images. Drones also play a role in the CNE’s new multimedia show, NEVAEH and the NorthStar, presented by VinFast, that merges the most cutting-edge theatrical technology, pyrotechnics, and augmented reality to take audiences on an immersive odyssey through time, land, sea and galaxies.
Festival season culminates at the CNE with special events including a Mardi Gras Food Truck Festival (Aug. 20 to 23, evenings), Food Truck Frenzy and Craft Beer Fest (Aug. 25 to 28), and new Celtic Food Truck Festival (Sept. 1 to 5) celebrating Celtic heritage, music and food.
Fan favourites return with new twists such as a new SuperDogs show, Pawvengers, the 2022 Canadian International Air Show featuring the Canadian Armed Forces Parachute Team and Canadian Forces Snowbirds, and Gaming Garage Powered by AMD is back for all 18 days of the fair in a new, expanded location inside Hall B of the Enercare Centre with more tournaments, prizes, and free-play games. The Celebrity Kitchen Stage is also back for the first time since 2017, to dish up some inspiring meal ideas from chefs Claudio Aprile (MasterChef Canada), Corbin Tomaszeski (Dinner Party Wars), Bob Blumer (The Surreal Gourmet), and Matt Dean Pettit (Rock Lobster Food Co.) to name a few.
Related Article: How To Talk To Canadians the right way
2022 CNE Tickets – Prices and Promos
When: August 19 – September 5, 2022
Address: 210 Princes Blvd., Toronto, ON
Ticket Pricing:
- $20: Advance tickets (purchased before Aug. 18)
- $25: General admission (14 to 64 years)
- $20: Adults 65 and better
- $20: Children (ages 5 to 13)
- Free: Children four and under
- $75: CNE Family Pass (two adults and two children or one adult and three children)
Why You Need To Go: The iconic fair is planning to reopen in the city this summer.
Last CNE Summer Exhibition before the Pandemic
Here is the actual video of the last CNE summer exhibition in Toronto before the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic strike.
This is How Lively the Toronto Life Before the Pandemic
CNE 2022 Rides and Activities Highlights
Nightly Drone Show – New
ap off a fun-filled day at the fair with a colourfully dynamic drone show featuring 100 drones that will illuminate the night with an array of stunning images. The show is designed by Canadian company and leading drone formation specialists North Star Entertainment, who have wowed audiences at major events for the NFL, NBA and NASCAR. (Aug. 19 to Sept. 4, at 10:45 p.m. above the Food Building.)
NEVAEH and the NorthStar presented by VinFast – New
Making its stunning debut at this year’s CNE, NEVAEH and her trusty drone, NorthStar, embark on a never-before-seen odyssey through time and space featuring groundbreaking projection mapping, augmented reality, laser, pyrotechnics and indoor drones. Cutting-edge theatrical technology takes audiences on an epic journey in this spectacular new multimedia show. (three shows daily, at Coca-Cola Coliseum.)
Celtic Food Truck Festival – New
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, a new festival takes over Princes’ Boulevard for a rousing weekend that celebrates Celtic culture with music, entertainment and food. (Sept. 1 to 5, Princes’ Boulevard.)
Super Dogs
Get ready for a paw-some good time with the SuperDogs. Celebrating their 40th anniversary, these incredible canines will unleash their super powers in a high-energy, high-flying adventure show, Pawvengers. (Daily, Enercare Centre Hall D.)
Kids’ World
Families can enjoy the mini-midway for kids, interactive programs such as the Pizza Nova pizza-making shop, and plenty of entertainment on the Kids’ World stage from characters such as Bob the Builder, Dorothy and Wags from The Wiggles, and more. New this year in Kids’ World is a topsy-turvy cirque-tacular show, Cirque Wonderland, a Dino Dig, where aspiring paleontologists can dig for prehistoric artifacts, and Chalkmaster Dave, who will be creating amazing chalk art in Kids’ World.
Fourth Annual Gaming Garage powered by AMD
Back by popular demand, the CNE’s Gaming Garage powered by AMD and Innovation Garage are bigger and better than ever. New this year, the gaming extravaganza will run throughout all 18 days of the fair featuring everything from e-sports and pinball tournaments to Dungeons and Dragons, board games, VR, Video Game Dance Floor, and more. As well, the Emerging Innovators Pitch Competition takes place Aug. 28, convening Canada’s brightest innovators to pitch their inventions and compete for cash prizes; and a robotics competition takes place Sept. 2 to 4, where contestants and their creators will spar head-to-head to determine which bot will take the crown. (Daily, 2 and 5 p.m., Enercare Centre Hall B.)
Celebrity Kitchen Stage
Celebrity chefs are back for the first time since 2017. The CNE’s Celebrity Kitchen Stage will feature a roster of renowned chefs, Canadian culinarians, and mixologists such as MasterChef Canada’s Claudio Aprile, Corbin Tomaszeski of Dinner Party Wars, and Food Network star Bob Blumer. Get inspiring meal ideas with Caribbean-inspired flavours from La-Toya Fagon or learn how to properly cook with seafood from Rock Lobster’s Matt Dean Pettit. (Daily, Enercare Centre Hall A.)
Celebrating CNE heritage
Step into Doorways to the Past displayed throughout the grounds for an interactive journey of the EX through the eras; travel back in time and walk through the iconic history of the CNE and its storied grounds with the CNE Heritage Immersive Experience (Enercare Centre Heritage Court Gallery) or join the CNE Ghost Walks to learn about the fair’s haunted history and legendary spirits.
And many more…
- CNE Bandshell
- National Geographic’s The Greatest Wildlife Photos Exhibit
- Charles Pachter (a.k.a. Johnnie at the Fair) Exhibit: A Romance with Canada
- Voitek Pendrak Immersive Projections
- The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Exhibit
