Toronto’s beloved Oktoberfest will not take place this year as organizers confirmed the 2025 edition has been cancelled due to funding restraints. In a statement posted on the festival’s website, they said the pause is necessary to focus on building “an even better festival experience for the future,” while assuring fans the celebration “will definitely be back in 2026.”
Launched in 2012, Toronto Oktoberfest was the city’s first Bavarian-style festival, bringing a taste of Munich to Nathan Phillips Square with lively polka music, folk dancing, traditional foods, and steins of German beer. The two-day event quickly became a fall staple, drawing crowds eager to experience Bavarian culture in the heart of downtown.
The cancellation adds to a growing list of Toronto festivals facing setbacks this year. Earlier this month, Taste of the Danforth — the city’s largest Greek street festival — was also cancelled for the second year in a row, though its organizers have not provided any plans for a comeback. Unlike that event, Toronto Oktoberfest is reassuring its loyal supporters that the festival will return next year with renewed energy and ambition.