"Join us for this traditional service to robustly sing the carols with us, to listen to the story told again, unchanged, and to experience in what way you are moved this year by both the mystery and the nostalgia." That is how Sarah Hicks, music director at Grace Church on-the-Hill, describes the church's December 13 service in the Diocese of Toronto's event listing.
That service is one of four public dates at 300 Lonsdale Road between the last Sunday of November and the week before Christmas. Together they set Forest Hill's December calendar. The neighborhood's summer music ran on Saturday afternoons outdoors. Its holiday music is in the evening, indoors, and much of it is choral, a short walk from where the summer stage sits.
The Suydam Park Stage Closed in September
This summer the Forest Hill Village BIA ran its tenth season of Music in Suydam Park. The concerts took place on Saturdays from July 4 to September 26, from 1 to 3 p.m., on the stage near Spadina Road and Coulson Avenue. That series gave the Village a fixed weekly date for three months. In December, the regular dates are at Grace Church.
Four Dates at 300 Lonsdale Road
Grace Church on-the-Hill has scheduled four public occasions between November 29 and December 21, spaced roughly a week apart. They fall on different days and at different times of day.
| Date | Program | Time | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, November 29 | Advent Brunch | 11:30 a.m. | All ages welcome; between the 10 a.m. Eucharist and the 1 p.m. Eucharist in Spanish |
| Saturday, December 5 | Annex Singers, "Joy!" | 7:30 p.m. | Doors at 7 p.m.; in-person and livestream tickets |
| Sunday, December 13 | A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols | 7:30 p.m. | In person and livestreamed; children's choir |
| Monday, December 21 | A John McDermott Family Christmas | 7 p.m. | Doors at 6:30 p.m.; tickets $25 |
The Advent Brunch is the most informal of the four. The church welcomes everyone of all ages. Anyone who wants to bring something to share can sign up on the sheets posted at the church. The same page lists a weekly knitting session on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m. in the reception room. The hats and mittens go to the church's mitten tree. Wool, needles and an easy hat pattern are provided, and pieces knit at home can be dropped off before the new year.
On December 5 the sanctuary hosts a concert. The Annex Singers of Toronto, led by artistic director Maria Case, perform "Joy!", a program of choral music spanning five hundred years. It includes Baroque pieces, modern classics and familiar carols, with works by Charpentier, Durante, Sweelinck, Hassler, Taverner and Quartel. The in-person ticket is for the concert at Grace Church, and a separate livestream ticket is available for anyone watching from home.
The December 13 service is the church's own. Nine Lessons and Carols features the children's choir along with the Advent and Christmas carols, and it streams on the church website and its YouTube channel for anyone who can't attend in person.
The last date is a ticketed concert. A John McDermott Family Christmas brings the Scottish-Canadian singer and his trio to Lonsdale Road on December 21, with Jason Fowler on guitar and Grammy-winning violinist Drew Jurecka. Tickets are $25. Proceeds support the church's ministry and programming, and tickets are not eligible for a tax receipt.
Casa Loma Has Added Choirs Too
Casa Loma, a short way south at 1 Austin Terrace, is also programming choral music this December. BlogTO reports that this year's Christmas at the Castle adds community choirs from local schools, churches and music schools, performing inside the castle every day. "This year, we wanted the castle to feel like a place where the whole community can come together for the holidays," Nick Di Donato, president and CEO of Liberty Entertainment Group, told blogTO.
According to Casa Loma, both programs run on select dates from December 4, 2026 to January 2, 2027. The daytime Christmas at the Castle runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the Great Hall, Jane Lockhart's "A Christmas in Full Bloom" is a traditional red-and-gold tree. Upstairs, Cori Halpern has decorated the Serving Room for both Christmas and Hanukkah, and a Harry Potter-themed tree fills the Mezzanine.
The evening program, Holiday Lights, runs in the gardens. Per blogTO, it opens Friday through Sunday on December 4 to 6 and December 11 to 13, then runs nightly from December 18 through January 2. New this year, classic holiday shorts like Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman play outdoors in front of the pavilion. An outdoor market sells maple syrup and popcorn. Evening hours vary by date, so check the castle's December event calendar before you go.
Admission to either program is $45 per person plus fees. A Christmas at the Castle ticket can be upgraded to include Holiday Lights the same day for $25 on dates up to December 19, or $30 through January 2. Casa Loma lists Santa daily through December 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. during Christmas at the Castle and from 5:30 to 10 p.m. during Holiday Lights.
How the Nights Line Up
Lonsdale Road's calendar, the castle's evening schedule and Forest Hill's newest restaurant overlap on some nights and not others. Here are the four Grace Church dates in order:
- Sunday, November 29. The Advent Brunch takes up late morning. Holiday Lights hasn't opened yet. Woodlyns on Eglinton starts its Sunday dinner service at 4:30 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m.
- Saturday, December 5. This is Holiday Lights' opening weekend at Casa Loma. Doors for the Annex Singers open at 7 p.m. Woodlyns is open Saturdays from 4:30 to 11 p.m., so there's time to eat before the concert or after it.
- Sunday, December 13. Holiday Lights is open, since it's the last night of its second weekend. Nine Lessons and Carols begins at 7:30 p.m. Woodlyns' Sunday hours make dinner before the service the practical choice.
- Monday, December 21. Holiday Lights runs nightly by this point. The McDermott concert starts at 7 p.m. Woodlyns is closed Mondays and Tuesdays on its posted hours, so this night pairs better with the castle.
The New Restaurant on Eglinton
Woodlyns opened for dinner on October 16 at 947 Eglinton Avenue West. It's a Chinese-Jewish restaurant owned by Jeff Goldstein, Josh Ling and Nick Liu, and Ling and Liu run the kitchen.
Toronto Life reports how it started. Goldstein, an expropriation lawyer, was working on cases involving businesses affected by the Eglinton LRT when he decided to bring "a piece of the College Street strip to Eglinton," the stretch he grew up on. He approached Liu, who brought in his sous-chef Ling, who trained in Michelin-starred Hong Kong kitchens, including Vicky Cheng's VEA. Line 5 Eglinton opened to the public in February. Toronto Life writes that the restaurant "could also signal the beginnings of a restaurant revival" on the street.
Toronto Life's menu highlights include a gefilte fish cake with schmaltz-chili mayo for $22, matzo-ball wonton soup for $10, a pastrami sandwich for $30 and baked tapioca pudding for $12. On the cocktail list, the Schmata Sour and the Meshugge-rita are $18 each. Reservations are through OpenTable via the restaurant's website.
A few addresses west, at 955 Eglinton West, is Jerusalem Restaurant, which blogTO lists as a long-running institution on the strip.
If you're thinking about how your own Forest Hill home fits into the neighborhood's next season, we'd be glad to share what we're seeing on these blocks. Revered Residences is happy to talk, quietly and on your schedule. Let's Connect.
