In Toronto, there appears to be a rise in community-oriented events organized by residents, from coffee parties to a group scream and now talks of a massive picnic, and one expert says it has to do with a strong desire for community.
Over the past few months, residents have been discussing their interests in attending numerous community events, started by other residents. The Coffee Party is one example that has quickly grown in popularity, with hundreds of locals gathering to connect, dance and enjoy a cup of Joe on a weekend morning.
And last month, solo music project City Builders founder Grace Turner also took to TikTok to invite strangers for a liberating Group Scream to let their emotions out together and raise awareness of mental health.
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Now, another Torontonian is pitching another community gathering: a massive picnic in the city. On Wednesday, the resident posted a video on TikTok asking others if they would be interested in a big picnic somewhere in the city. She says she got the idea from a Cake Picnic in San Francisco, CA and decided to try to organize something similar in Toronto.
“Anyone in Toronto down for a picnic? …It could just be a really big picnic of strangers,” she said.
@winniemoments I’ll make a gc if ppl r interested:) UPDATE: GUYS COPY LINK 5 times MAKE THIS VIRALLLL BIG TORONTO PICNIC???#toronto #university #uoft #hinge #waterloo #tmu ♬ original sound – winnie🇨🇦Toronto
The video has since gone viral with over 21,000 likes and thousands of comments from other residents interested in the idea as of publication. Since then, the TikToker created a Discord group chat so they can sort out the details for the event and the creator is now seeking collaboration with Toronto brands for sponsorship.
“We gotta start building community back up honestly. Nobody [is] doing house parties, picnics, late sports games in the parks anymore,” one user said.
“Just name the time and place girl,” another user commented.
“I’m from Niagara but I’ll make the drive,” a different user said.
NEED FOR COMMUNITY
Meanwhile, GTA-based social worker Monique Pitt tells Now Toronto that the need for community is at the root of these activities.
“I think that people see the need for themselves and they see the need for the people around them. I think once you see a need, you can either do two things: you can either jump into something that’s already been built, or you could recognize that there are still some gaps, and because there are gaps, you might want to be the person to fill the gap,” she said.
Pitt is also the founder of her own social group in the city, Gyallivant, an organization that promotes wellness through activities for Black and coloured women.
She says that she got the idea for her group during a mental health walk with a friend in the pandemic, and thought it would be good to invite other coloured women to form connections in the city.
“I was experiencing a lot of isolation and burnouts because I was serving the community as a social worker at that time, and I also recognized that many other people around me, the whole world, were also experiencing a lot of isolation,” she said.
The social worker says that having a community is essential to maintain people’s mental and physical health on check, as connecting with others fosters a sense of belonging, combats feelings of isolation and loneliness, and helps to deal with day-to-day stress.
“We see that they feel seen, that they feel supported, and we know and there’s research that shows that being in community can ease the loneliness that many of us face when we are navigating the wellness space on our own,” she added.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO BUILD COMMUNITY IN TORONTO?
Pitt says that while there are plenty of opportunities in Toronto to connect with others, many people might feel overwhelmed by the amount of social events and groups in the city, and don’t know where to start.
The expert also said that although very necessary, stepping out of their comfort zones and trying to make friends or pushing themselves to fit social events into their busy schedules can feel overwhelming and draining.
“It does take a little bit of sacrifice and vulnerability to get tapped in, right? Because once you’re in those spaces, it does require us to let our guards down and to be a little bit vulnerable and share parts of ourselves that maybe we’re not used to doing,” she said.
“And people are working, and people are really busy and we’re all burnt out. So, with the time that we do have, are we willing to sacrifice that solo time to get into [the] community?”
But Pitt says these recent resident-started social events have a real potential to help residents build connections in the city, pointing out that bigger gatherings also allow people to choose how much they want to put themselves out there and get involved.
On her personal experience with Gyallivant, she says the group has certainly been successful in building meaningful connections within the members.
“We’ve been going for five years now. We have people who are like best friends now, after coming to a paint-and-sit together. We have people who have travelled together. We just did our first international, what we’re calling “gals’ trip” to Bali, and we’re hoping to do an international trip every year,” she added.
