Next weekend, the Danforth BIA is shutting down the Bloor Viaduct Bridge for food, fundraising and Pan Am Games fanfare.
The sixth annual Thrill of the Grill event, raising money for kidney cancer, will feature ribs made by seven Danforth-area chefs (from Allen’s, The Combine Eatery, Das Gasthaus, Factory Girl, Globe Bistro, Tapas At Embrujo and The Meat Department) on July 4. Together, the restaurants will make 2,700 ribs with their own special recipes. Vegetarians: there’ll be eats for you too, in the form of seasoned grilled corn.
“I’m very excited to be doing this this year,” says Susan Puff, executive director of the BIA. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you get to come and enjoy food on a bridge and be part of history.”
That history will be the illumination of the top side of the Bloor Viaduct’s Luminous Veil. The Veil was built as a suicide barrier in 2003, but the original design included lights that were ditched because of cost. Now, with the help of some funding from the Pan Am Games, the original vision is finally being realized. (Well, almost — lights on the underside of the bridge will be added later if enough funding is found.)
Around 10 pm, when everyone’s satisfyingly stuffed with ribs, the Veil installation will spring to life and stay on 24/7 going forward.
Jennifer Jones, the vice-chair of the BIA’s board and the lead on the bridge lighting committee, says that the lights will look like “poetry in movement,” a “magical cascade of lights” that will breathe and move along with the wind.
While it’s still possible to see the bridge light up from the west side of the bridge — the City is hosting part of the Pan Am torch relay with a performance from a so-far undisclosed band — buying a ticket to Thrill of the Grill is the best way to have a guaranteed spot to see it, while keeping your stomach happy at the same time.
July 4, 6:30-10:30 pm. $20 with ribs, $10 without. Buy tickets here.
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