​With summer almost wrapping over and fall just around the corner, don’t miss out on the last few weeks to cherish the sun. No matter what, Toronto doesn’t seize to surprise so check out these FOUR festivals in the city during August.

​World Population Day focuses on the importance of population issues such as improving the health of mothers, newborns, and children. These are priorities for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), along with reducing the number of preventable deaths. For example, more than 7.6 million children pass away before their fifth birthday.

In mid-20th Century Quebec, Canada, a culinary revolution began: cheese curds on French fries. Like peanut butter and chocolate, the odd combination of cheese curds and French fries became a crowd pleaser. The cheesy goodness item was called 50-50: a mixture of 50% cheese curds and 50% fries. But something was missing, a sauce to hold everything together. Gravy answered the call, and the new name for this concoction was called “mixte” (French for “mixed”). Popularity ensued, and when large restaurant chains sold this hot commodity, the menu name was changed to “poutine”.

Photography as an industry is not a new concept, as the idea of photography dates all the way back to the time of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle, with Joseph Niepce creating the first photograph in 1827. The contemporary forms of photography that we’re all familiar with came about in the form of instant photography in 1948, when the Polaroid camera was introduced to the world. Since the mid-to-late 1980s, the pronounced growth and advancements in technology has further changed the photography industry. Digital photography was introduced during the late 1990s, and cellphones have also evolved to feature digital photography and videography capabilities.

​Over the last few years, we have noticed that some print publications, including the Queer and Alternative magazines, have moved into the digital world to stay relevant. On the contrary, some, which have decided against adapting to the digital media era, have vanished. Fortunately, there is still good off and on line Queer publications whose content is a gold mine of stories and knowledge about the LGBTQ+ Community.