Toronto in the Time of BTS
I had two days in Toronto prior to the BTS concert I was to attend on August 23rd. The first evening I attended the BTS ARMY Boat Tour - ‘Swim Into the Sun’, which was amazing. I thought I should also talk about my visit to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the Toronto Korean Festival.
I attended the Toronto Korean Festival, which is a 3-day event that took place August 21-23 at Mel Lastman Square in the northern part of the city abutting Yonge Street, which had temporarily been renamed ‘BTS Boulevard’ in honour of their return visit to the city.[1] Of course I had to go to take photos of the street signs!!
The Toronto Korean Festival had four K-pop groups attend: ASC2NT, NouerA, Catch the Young, and GRANADA. Honestly, I don’t know anything about them. As my readers know, my heart and loyalty belongs to BTS! 💜
Ominous skies above the BTS Blvd sign
Highlighting K-pop group NouerA.
I did wander the stalls, and purchase some wonderful seaweed, and then caught a performance of youth drummers playing ‘Dynamite’ by BTS. You can see a short of this performance on my YouTube channel here. Unfortunately, it started to pour so my friend Caroline and I opted to find somewhere to eat.
We found a great Vietnamese restaurant nearby, Pho Anh Vu, which had apparently just opened this past December.[2] I had the Pho Tai and an Iced Coffee. It was very good. The broth was amazing. I would definitely eat here again when I come back to Toronto.
FYI, I also recently attended the Calgary Korean Day Festival which is hosted by the Calgary Korean Association. [3] This year it took place on Saturday, August 8th. I did not, however, take any photos.
2026 Calgary Korean Day Festival Poster
from their IG account.
ROM
I decided to do some ‘Namjooning’ and roamed the Korean rooms to view some of the artifacts they have on display. I will share some that stood out to me below. I was, of course, particularly interested in the ceramics. (Yes, I also visited the Egyptian and Nubian sections, but I will write about that later.)
The Royal Ontario Museum (22/08/2026)
Porcelain, 18-19th centuries, Joseon Dynasty
Porcelain (above): 20 - fan-shaped water dropper with landscape in cobalt underglaze; 21 - water dropper with bamboo and scrolls in cobalt underglaze; 22 - water dropper with Chinese characters in cobalt underglaze; 23 - ink pot with dragon motifs; 24 - ink pot, pine bough and bird in cobalt underglaze.
Both Toronto outings were charming and filled with good food and great vibes! It also allowed me to do some research in advance of my trip to Korea next spring. It was wonderful to be back in TO for a couple of days. I also want to thank Caroline for her company on these adventures!
[1] Lee Yun-ji, Kim Jae-heun (2026) [Exclusive] Toronto council approves BTS Boulevard, asks mayor to proclaim 'BTS Weekend'. The Korea Herald. Posted online August 4, 2026. “The Toronto City Council has approved a plan to temporarily co-name part of Yonge Street in the North York district as "BTS Boulevard," ahead of BTS "Arirang" world tour concerts in the Canadian metropolis later this month, paving the way for one of the largest civic tributes to a K-pop act outside South Korea.”
[2] I had excellent Korean food by Comma, the night before on the tall ship ‘Kajama’.
[3] The Calgary Korean Association website is only in Korean (hangul). You can find information in English on their Instagram account though.
