Catch Lord of the Rings in Toronto

Toronto’s cultural scene may have stiff competition from nearby New York, but this autumn the city has a lot of exciting events to entice travellers.

Toronto is one of the major theatre cities of the world, and is currently hosting one of the big-budget theatrical highlights of the year - Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings is not set to arrive in London until May 2007, so anyone visiting the city before September 3rd will get a chance to see the show long before it gets to the UK.

However, if you are not planning to visit Toronto so soon, the city has much more to offer, with its towering skyline, huge Chinatown area, large Greek area and lots of other shows and cultural attractions.

If you want to get a feel for the Far East then the Chinese Lantern Festival, which runs until October 1st 2006, has many displays of work from Chinese craftsmen.

The star of the show is a huge display of 30 illuminated lanterns, created by over 80 Chinese master lantern makers.

Other festivities to see include dancing dragons, Chinese delicacies and bargain handicrafts at the Chinese Marketplace.

For more information see www.chineselanternfestival.ca

Toronto also hosts North America's largest Caribbean festival every summer, featuring parade and steel bands from all over the world, and its numerous air-conditioned shopping areas make it ideal for picking up items at bargain exchange-rate prices.

Two of Canada's most respected cultural attractions are the Royal Ontario Museum, which has an extensive range of artefacts from ancient Egypt and the Art Gallery of Ontario, which has an Andy Warhol exhibition running until October 22nd.

For more information see www.rom.on.ca and www.ago.net

The world renowned Toronto Symphony Orchestra is also based in the city and will be performing symphonies by Beethoven as well as Benjamin Britten's Peter and the Wolf in October. For more information see www.tso.ca.

To get a historical feel for Toronto then head for the shores of Lake Ontario, which is home to the Bradley Museum, an authentic1830's farmhouse, and the Benares Historic House, which reconstructs early 1900s life.

For family fun you can go to the north of the city to Paramount Canada's Wonderland, theme park, which has lots of rides and live performances.

A seven night package deal to Toronto in October starts from £800 per person, including flights departing from London Gatwick and accommodation, via www.bargainholidays.com.
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