In the courtyard behind 1313 Queen Street West, two heart-shaped neon signs flash "open," then "nope," then "open" again. The piece is Gary MacLeod's OPEN/NOPE HEARTS, two 24-by-24-inch neon window signs he made in 2010. Since Wednesday night they have been on view in Gallery 1313's Window Box Gallery. About two hundred steps east are four storefronts flying Hidden Patio feather flags. A purchase at any one of them gets a sticker in a passport.
So two local groups are focused on the same kilometer and a half of Queen West this week, and both have City of Toronto money behind them. One is rewarding the businesses that are open. The other is asking what happens to the ones that close. Both land on the same weekend, and in the second half of November the street they're focused on is expected to start carrying a second streetcar route.
Two programs aimed at the same storefronts
The Parkdale Village BIA launched Hidden Patios of Parkdale on September 26 as a new fall campaign along Queen between Dufferin and Roncesvalles, with support from the City of Toronto and FedDev Ontario. It ends Sunday, November 8.
The Parkdale Residents Association and Gallery 1313 organized the Pretty Vacant Spotlight. It opened November 4 and runs until December 6, funded by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Arts Council. The association's announcement opens with this line:
What's been here. What's disappearing. What comes next.
That announcement explains the neon signs too. MacLeod's hearts "reflect the tenuous state many businesses face," pointing to both redevelopment pressure and how uncertain shoppers' spending has become. The spotlight is a preview of a bigger show. In May 2027, the full PRETTY VACANT exhibition plans to use empty storefronts and underused spaces in Parkdale as temporary public art venues.
The gallery hosting all this is a Queen West institution. Gallery 1313 is a not-for-profit, charitable, artist-run center with four exhibition spaces. Its history page traces it to the Parkdale Village Arts Collective, co-founded in 1994 and incorporated as a non-profit in 1997. The collective became Gallery 1313 at this address in 1998. The neon signs are asking whether storefronts will stay open, and the place showing them has been open on this block for 28 years.
The passport closes Sunday, and its eight stops sit in two clusters
The rules are simple. Pick up a passport at any of the eight participating businesses and make any purchase to get that business's sticker. There's no minimum, and each business gives one sticker per passport. Then submit the BIA's online form. Two stickers earn a Parkdale canvas tote, four add a coffee tumbler, and seven add a fur blanket. The prizes stack, and they're available while supplies last. After you submit, the BIA says to allow up to two business days for an email confirming pickup or delivery.
On a map, the eight stops split into two groups, one near each end of a natural Saturday walk:
| Cluster | Business | Address |
|---|---|---|
| East, near Gallery 1313 | Molkagtez Mexican Cuisine | 1263 Queen St W |
| East, near Gallery 1313 | Nuna Kitchen & Bar | 1265 Queen St W |
| East, near Gallery 1313 | Rustic Cosmo Café | 1278 Queen St W |
| East, near Gallery 1313 | The Parkdale Drink | 1292 Queen St W |
| West, near The Parkdale Hall | Afrobeat Kitchen & Bar | 1510 Queen St W |
| West, near The Parkdale Hall | Lali Gurans | 1544 Queen St W |
| West, near The Parkdale Hall | The Mezz | 1546 Queen St W |
| West, near The Parkdale Hall | Food and Liquor | 1610 Queen St W |
The east four get you the tumbler. Three of the west four get you to seven stickers and the blanket. Stickers are given out during each business's own hours, so the timing of a Saturday stop is up to each kitchen.
Saturday follows the same route west
The Parkdale Arts Walk runs on that same stretch of Queen. It starts at Gallery 1313 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, and runs about two hours. It's free, but you need to reserve a spot on Eventbrite. MacLeod starts by talking about his work in the courtyard. The group then heads west along Queen, stopping at artworks, artist spaces and places tied to the area's cultural history. The residents association describes MacLeod's work as copying the look of street signs, commercial signage and advertising. His studio biography says he is from Moncton and that his street-sign and sticker interventions have appeared in Toronto and other cities.
Because the walk starts at the east cluster and heads west, the rest of the day fits around it:
- Before 2 p.m.: Lunch or coffee among the east-cluster patios at 1263 to 1292 Queen. Inside Gallery 1313, Gabriella Gerbasi's Under (Re)Construction, curated by former Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto director David Liss, is in its last weekend. It closes November 8. Gerbasi's oil paintings rework vintage magazine advertisements.
- 2 to 4 p.m.: The Arts Walk, heading west.
- After 4 p.m.: The west-cluster patios, plus the 2026 Fall Toronto Stationery Show at The Parkdale Hall, 1605 Queen St W. It's free and runs until 5 p.m. Food and Liquor at 1610 is right across the street.
The Parkdale Hall keeps going after dark. Shararas & Scotch: Diwali Edition, presented by The Desi Troop, runs from 10 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday and is 19+. On Sunday the Hall's calendar lists Cold Warz VIII, and the patio passport makes its last stamps.
What changes on Queen when the 504 arrives
This is the last weekend of the passport, and probably one of the last before the street changes too. The City and TTC are resuming coordinated work on King Street West. It starts with replacing a pair of 139-year-old watermains, followed by streetcar track renewal. One of the four work zones runs from Dufferin Street to Close Avenue, along Parkdale's eastern edge. According to the City's project page, work on that stretch is expected to start in early November and wrap up in August 2027. Watermain work is generally scheduled for weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and track work runs around the clock, with some rail installed overnight.
For Queen West, the main effect is transit. Per the TTC's project page:
- In Phase 1, which has no confirmed start date yet, 504 King streetcars run as a single branch between Broadview and Dundas West stations, detouring along Queen between Shaw and Roncesvalles.
- Phase 2, starting as early as mid-November, extends that detour east to Spadina.
- 504C replacement buses cover King between the Distillery District and Roncesvalles. 503 Kingston Rd buses extend west to Dufferin Gate Loop.
- 508 Lake Shore streetcars are suspended.
With both the 501 and the 504 on Queen between Spadina and Roncesvalles, the City is adding temporary transit priority measures. These include extended no-stopping rules on both sides of Queen and new turn restrictions at six intersections. The TTC says the measures come off once King is finished and the 504 goes back to its usual route. All eight passport stops, Gallery 1313 and The Parkdale Hall sit on that stretch. Visits that once meant pulling up at the curb for a few minutes may now mean walking from a side street or riding in on a busier Queen line. The City's virtual information meeting was set for November 4. The City and TTC pages are where updated start dates will be posted.
The art stays up after the passport ends
The passport ends Sunday, but the neon hearts stay lit in the courtyard through December 6, well into the expected detour period. Inside, Gallery 1313 moves on to Someone, Somewhere We Call Home, featuring Adil Amin, Amara King and Hans Poppe, from November 11 to 22.
The Parkdale Hall's November calendar is just as full at the west end:
- November 14: Paskuhan Village: Filipino Christmas Market, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, no registration. Organized by Kain Tayo.
- November 15: Toronto Sunday Market: Nerdvember.
- November 22: The Parkdale Hall Roadshow II antique market, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., free.
- November 28 to 29: TLALLI Festival 2026: Voices for Freedom, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., with Aysanabee, Logan Staats and Ahmed Moneka among the listed artists.
- November 29: Toronto Sunday Market: Winter Warmth.
Every one of these events depends on people reaching a storefront on Queen West during a month when getting there is expected to change. The BIA's flags come down Sunday, and the residents association's neon stays lit into December. When the full PRETTY VACANT exhibition opens in May 2027, it plans to put art in Parkdale's empty storefronts.
Our team at Kim Kehoe follows Queen West through Parkdale closely, and we'll keep an eye on how the 504 detour settles in on the strip. If you have questions about what the King Street work means for your corner of Parkdale, or you'd like our list of favorite stops between 1263 and 1610 Queen, please reach out. We're always happy to talk about this part of the city.
