The first round of news focuses on bars and restaurants, reflecting where Torontonians spend their time in the winter.

We may have been the first to note the opening of restaurant Yours Truly, but we are not the last. Many are lauding the food and the men behind it, and liking the bar scene – check it out yourself at 229 Ossington.

Singer Emily Haines listed The Dakota Tavern as her favorite go-to for live music in Toronto.

Blogto has been profiling bartenders, starting in our area with The Garrison and The Ossington.

We were there when they were, and now you can read and watch a behind-the-scenes look at new GlobalTV series Bomb Girls when they were on location at The Dakota Tavern last fall.

Soon-to-open new restaurant The Grove, next to Churchill on Dundas at Lakeview, is already getting preview attention for its English menu.

The local art scene is also getting some coverage, starting with a story about art which mentions some street art on Queen near Ossington. It’s a cool picture – definitely want to check it out!

Liss Platt’s exhibit at MKG127 just opened and received a nice write-up for her photography in constant.

Last week, Toronto Life recommended Pinkalicious, the children-targeted musical which has been running every Sunday at Lower Ossington Theatre.

 Did we miss any news about the neighborhood? Let us know in the comments.

The year in festivals kicked off in January with a dance festival called Connect TO at Lower Ossington Theatre, which is a prime festival location.

The music festival season began with the Canadian Music Festival in March. Musicians and bands performed at local venues including The Painted Lady, The Garrison and The Dakota Tavern.  Juno Fest also hit Toronto, and Ossington, in March, with Canadian musicians featured at The Garrison and The Dakota Tavern.

The music came back with the return of NXNE in June, and we saw some amazing shows right here in Ossington Village. This July, the Painted Lady created a new festival to coincide with the Toronto Jazz and Fringe Festivals. Maybe next year, we’ll see more venues join the fun.

The Contact Photography Festival covered art galleries for the entire month of May, and didn’t miss Ossington, with exhibits at The Painted Lady, Angell Gallery, Brockton General and Levack Block.

Jane’s Walks, which take place all over the globe on a May weekend, were also led in our neighborhood. Maybe next year you’ll see an Ossington Village Jane’s Walk instead of “the Hipster’s Guide to Ossington!”

Summerworks returned in August, bringing music and theatre to Lower Ossington Theatre and other local venues. The hugely popular Havana Cultura returned for it’s second year in August, with Cuban music, art and food on offer at almost every spot on the street. Who can forget the cigar roller surrounded by scantily clad women? Another returning event was Queen West Music Fest, which celebrated it’s third year this summer in Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Some was sipped, and some was likely chugged, but either way, Toronto Beer Week also returned to Ossington in 2011, with tastings and pairings at local restaurants and bars. Ossington also saw the return of TO Sketch Fest, with lots of comedic troupes taking to the stage at LOT this past November.

Bohmer Restaurant is holding a Speakeasy New Year’s Eve, with a 5 course tasting menu with a glass of bubbly, for $75 pp.

At this year’s Dakota Tavern New Year’s party, CATL will have everyone dancing with a show starting at 10PM.

The Painted Lady sticks to what it does best, with music by Salazar and burlesque from Anastasia Burlesque.

The Ossington is planning an 80s boogie funk New Year with “Love Handle NYE Edition” with DJs starting at 10PM.

Opera Bob’s is hosting their 3rd Annual New Year’s Eve-Stravaganza, with live music from The Unknown Culprits and guests. Admission is $20 but go buy tickets in advance as they sold out well before the big night last year.

The Garrison‘s Annual New Year’s Eve party features Chronologic and Shit la Merde and tickets are available at Soundscapes and Rotate This for $20.

Lower Ossington Theatre‘s new event space, LOT, is hosting a New Year’s party for $10 with dancing all night. Tickets on sale now and the party starts at 10p.

UPDATE: Fishbar has announced their dinner menu for New Year’s (scroll down) and for $55 pp they are offering a 4 course meal, drinks not included.

People will be dancing at Levack Block. Featuring DJ Dougie Boom in the backroom with special guests in the front. Entry is $20 in advance, $30 at the door, plus there’s a $40 VIP wristband = entry to second floor & champagne toast at midnite. Doors open @ 10pm, serving till 3AM.
Tickets available at the bar from Thursday to Saturday from 5pm or through PayPal via levackblock@yahoo.com

We’ll keep updating this post as we learn of more happenings in the neighborhood.

The Toronto Zombie Walk kicks Halloween off early when it returns to Trinity Bellwoods Park on Saturday, October 22. The 2011 9th Annual Zombie Walk is open to everybody who wants to dress up and participate, and if you have been there or read about it, you know people dress up! The walk begins at 3pm, but go early to see the crowd and enjoy the Zombie Wedding!

Reposado is planning a Halloween bash on Saturday, October 29 with prizes for best costume, live music and Duggan’s Beer.

Last year’s show must have been a success, because Lower Ossington Theatre is encoring the Rocky Horror Picture Show this October. The show runs Thursday, October 20 – Monday, October 31, with a sing-along edition on the 27th. Tickets here.

The Garrison is holding a Halloween House of Horrors on Saturday, October 29, with a $5 cover with costume, or $8 without. DJs Shit la Merde, Scott Cudmore and Jilly Botting will be entertaining party-goers starting at 9:30PM.

Also in the Halloween spirit, Crafted is running a “Best Costume Idea” contest and offering a pound of coffee free to the winner. Check into the shop for more information and/or to enter.

Additional parties announced: Levack Block is hosting a Halloween party weekend with DJs and costumes Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9PM. On Friday night, head over to Watusi for a Halloween Dance Party with DJs and a prize at midnight for the best costume. Opera Bob’s is having a party on Saturday night after 9:30PM and giving out some good prizes for costumes: $60 Opera Bob’s gift certificate for best group costume, $30 for best individual costume.

Please check our calendar for these and other upcoming events.

Many of the local bars and restaurants are participating in some way in this year’s celebration of craft brewing.

To launch the week off right, The Garrison tweeted:

TheGarrisonTOSep 13, 2:07pm via Twitter for iPhone

Free Show / Beer Week Festival Opener Party! Foxfire-OPOPO-Mamabolo-Pants & Tie-Shit la Merde This Friday-The Garrison

Other local participants are listed on the Beer Week website. Some are offering beer specials, food and beer pairings, or something else. Keep your eye out for the beer week specials on Ossington, and enjoy the craft brews!

Eagle’s Nest is on the south side at 1199 Dundas Street W, just next door to The Garrison, and serves coffee and espresso drinks, pastries, and ice cream. As it was the morning, we had some coffee and pain au chocolat. The pastries come from Circles and Squares, which supplies a lot of the fine coffee shops in Toronto with tasty treats, and they were tasty!

There were at least 12 flavors of ice cream available for scooping into sugar or wafer cones, including Caribou Tracks, Heavenly Hash and Espresso Robusto. It’s the perfect time of year for ice cream, and not a lot of places to get it nearby. Stop in and say hello to friendly owner, Claudio, and try some for yourself!

As in previous years, the organizers of NXNE haven’t mastered good web servers or set-ups, so it’s difficult to search the schedule right now, but I recommend looking by date and venue, then you can see who’s playing at each venue on each day. When NXNE launches, you’ll be able to get a program and printed schedules in the free weeklies.

As more music venues pop up in our neighborhood, so do more opportunities for us to see NXNE acts. Remember to check our calendar for these and all event listings!

For those of you who haven’t experienced NXNE before, here are a few notes and tips:

• * Shows start on time. The band scheduled to play at 8PM will most likely be off stage by 8:50PM and the next artist will start playing at 9PM. Stick to the schedule, because the bands and venues will.
• * Wear comfortable shoes
• * If there is a band or artist you really want to see, get to that venue as early as you possibly can. For more well-known and/or smaller venues (ie, the Dakota Tavern) and for well known or hyped bands, there will be a line-up and you might not get in
• * Have a back-up plan.  You may not get in to see your first choice

Anyway, on to the shows! As always, The Dakota Tavern is open every night with full sets of performers: Wednesday from 9PM – 2AM, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8PM – 3AM. Horse Feathers out of Portland, ORE, plays Saturday at 11PM.

The Garrison, at 1197 Dundas, has shows Wednesday 9P-2A, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9P-3A, and Sunday night 10P-12A. Performers include Canada’s own Handsome Furs Saturday night at 1AM as part of the You Look Death.ly showcase

There are NXNE shows at The Painted Lady Wednesday-Friday 8P-2A, and Saturday til 3A.

Trinity Bellwoods Park is even a venue for several afternoons, so let’s hope it doesn’t rain! Called the Live in Bellwoods series, the concerts run every day starting Thursday, June 16 from 2p-5p, with stripped down acoustic sets every half hour. The shows are happening just west and north of the kids park (D5, D6 of the map). These shows are free, so bring a blanket and a picnic and listen to some tunes in the park.

Other relatively close venues include The Great Hall, The Mod Club on College, and the Drake and Gladstone Hotels. As usual, there will be free concerts at Dundas Square, including Men Without Hats and Stars this year.

The Dakota and The Garrison are two of the local spots hosting musical performances, including Juno nominee Julie Doiron, at The Garrison Saturday, March 26.

All shows are $17.50 a ticket, or wristbands will get you into all venues both nights and cost $30. They are only advertising them as available through Ticketmaster, but if you don’t want to pay those fees, check out Rotate This and Soundscapes.

Some of the businesses on Ossington are well connected to social media including our Dani Elwell of Jaiden’s Petals, who blogs from her site and is very active on Twitter. Opera Bobs keeps people up to date on Facebook. And don’t forget to be tempted by the tweets from Pizzaria Libretto, Union Restaurant and Bohmer who let everyone know their specials in the twitter stream. Want Tattoo advice? There’s even Imperial Tattoo on Twitter. There’s lots more examples on our street and you can check out our Ossington Places twitter stream here. But there are places on Ossington that don’t even have a website including the Crooked Stars and Sweaty Bettys. Are they losing out?

Luckily, without leaving our home of Ossington we can find out, or at least have a good discussion about, the efficacy of the medium. HomeStars (disclosure – my employer – and no, it wasn’t by coincidence it is hosted here – Thanks Shaun!), a social media site designed for contractors and homeowners looking for those contractors, is hosting an event for Social Media Week called Is Social Media Your Prize Winning Pig – Think Again where we’ll debate the effectiveness of social media. It should be entertaining, and could even get hostile.   The event will be tomorrow, Tuesday, night from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Garrison, on Dundas just west of Ossington. If there are tickets still available you can register on the Social Media Week site here. Or you can just come by and see whether you can slip in and get on a side of this debate. Because the week may be full of people who are ‘social media strategists’ it’ll be good to have some social media cynics. Are you one? Want to share your opinion? Come out and have some fun, get in on the debate, and join in this global conference on the future of social media.

Take a look through the entire schedule of Social Media Week and try and check out some of the other events. The week will end at a great event close by at the Gladstone Hotel where there will be an evening of Powerpoint Karaoke, which if you’ve never seen, definitely has to be experienced.

With big names like Melissa Etheridge and Janet Jackson, and a Big Sugar reunion, the CMF is a industry event. But it’s not all name brand entertainment – you will also be able to hear some new and undiscovered, or just barely discovered, talent too, especially in the local vicinity.

I browsed briefly through the schedule, and, as of now, The Painted Lady offers 2 nights of CMW music, The Garrison 4 nights, including a Manitoba music showcase, and the Dakota offers 4 nights of a “Factor Breakthrough Series” headlined twice by The Schomberg Fair.

Other spots in our extended neighborhood also featuring CMF bands include The Great Hall, The Mod Club and The Gladstone. Dates are Wednesday, March 9 – Sunday, March 13. You can buy wristbands to access most shows, or individual tickets are also available.