Toronto Tea Festival — Local services in Toronto

This was my first time attending this event. I was extremely disappointed because on paper this sounds like an absolutely lovely event. In reality it was anything but! The space is incredibly small for the amount of people tickets are sold to. At one point after entry to the second level event, we were on the first floor attending a seminar and because the space where the vendors were was “to capacity” and a fire code issue, we had to wait in line to renter the festival. The limited, cramped space where the tea vendors were was beyond annoying and claustrophobic. Not only was it unfair to the people who purchased tickets, but the vendors also. The tea ceremony was over crowded and unless you were able to secure seats in the front of the room, not only were you unable to see, but the noise coming from the vendor area in the back of the room was a constant irritant. The one lecture on the first floor was the highlight of the tea festival for me. The room had several close circuit screens to afford those in the back of the room the same access to the material being presented as those in the front. However, even that lecture was constantly being interrupted by late comers trying to enter a door that was locked by excessive pulling causing a disruption every few minutes. A volunteer should have been available to circumvent this interruption. I had purchased a ticket for my daughter-she was running late and as soon as I arrived and experienced the unpleasant atmosphere I told her not to come. It was truly disappointing. If done right, tickets limited to timed admission, use of larger space, rooms that have doors and close circuit monitors/screens, staff to monitor activity and vendors that are accessible for the enjoyment of all attendees (not just those that yield the most push ahead power), thenit is an event worthy to attend. I truly wanted to spend the entire day there before I arrived; once there I couldn’t wait to leave. Please work out the obvious and unnecessary problems and create a festival worth the time and money. Could be a...

Really nice event at the Toronto Reference Library, on the 2nd floor. Parking was difficult to find. Had to park in public parking garage down the street, right across from the fire station. Parking was $15 for 2.5 hours. Arrived around 3:00pm, and the main event space was very crowded. Bought my 3 year old son with me, and he had fun, but no vendors or presentations were geared towards children. Even a little pretend tea party set would have been a cute touch. Tried to sit to watch a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony presentation, and it was slightly interesting, but very slow paced and somewhat boring. Would have preferred vendors to be more approachable, perhaps standing in front of their tables. Loved the little glass cups to use for samples. We got to keep the cups and a purple tote bag to take home. Would be interested to know what the $16.95 entrance fee goes towards. Would suggest an outdoor event in early Fall. More space and less crowded feel. Entrance fee should be no...

It's always great to see so many vendors and I adore being able to try so much tea, however in recent years it's clear that they're always operating at a capacity that exceeds what the library space can hold. It's a fight to see a vendor at any booth and it's so overwhelming with so many people crammed into the space. They really need to start selling timed tickets or restricting the ticket sales amount more appropriately

My friends and I tried to watch one of the demonstrations (a few times) and we couldn't see anything either time, and we were only able to go to about a third of the vendor booths because there was such a massive crowd. It's absolutely ridiculous and does a disservice to the vendors and to...