THE $100
NIGHT OUT

Start with the number everyone in the concert business watches. Pollstar's year-end analysis puts the average ticket for the world's top 100 tours at US$132.62 in 2025.^1,10 In 2019 it was US$96.17.¹¹ It peaked at US$135.92 in 2024 and dipped slightly last year,¹ but the trend line still runs one way: up roughly 38% in six years.

The averages hide where the pain is. Stadium tickets averaged US$216.13 in 2025, up 18.3% in a single year.¹ Even the smallest rooms, venues of 750 people or fewer, rose 11.1% to an average of US$34.74.¹ And that's before fees: a New York ticket-fee report cited in the same roundup put primary-market fees at an average of 28.65% on top of face value.¹

So when you plan December, the Nutcracker, a hockey game, a holiday show, the question isn't whether it's expensive. It's who gets the extra money, and whether anyone is doing anything about it. This year, for the first time in a long time, the answer to the second part is yes.

The verdict

On April 15, a federal jury in Manhattan found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary illegally monopolized major parts of the live music business. Jurors answered yes to every liability question on an 11-page verdict form^5,12 after about four days of deliberation, following a trial of nearly five weeks.^4,13

The jury found fans in 22 states were overcharged by US$1.72 per ticket.^2,4 That sounds small, until you multiply it by the number of tickets Ticketmaster sells. Live Nation's own estimate puts the single-damages figure below US$150 million, which a court would triple.² The company says it has already set aside US$280 million under its separate settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.¹³

What happens next is the important part. Judge Arun Subramanian will decide remedies, and the states that went to trial want structural ones, including separating Ticketmaster from Live Nation.¹² Live Nation says the verdict "is not the last word" and is challenging both liability and damages.¹³ NPR's headline captured the consumer reality: a jury declared a monopoly, but ticket prices aren't dropping just yet.²

That case is American. But Ticketmaster sells a lot of Toronto's tickets too, through Ticketmaster Canada,¹⁴ so what a U.S. judge orders about how the company operates could still reach your seat here.

Ontario's cap

Closer to home, Ontario did something no other province has done. As part of its 2026 budget bill, Bill 97, the province amended the Ticket Sales Act so that a ticket can't be resold for more than the total price paid in the original purchase, including taxes and fees.^3,6 It took effect in late April.^6,14 Fines can reach $250,000.³

This is the second time Ontario has tried. A Liberal government law in 2017 would have capped resale at 50% above face value; the Ford government scrapped that in 2019 before it took effect.^14,15 This time the government went further, and Digital Music News called it the most aggressive resale law in North America.³

The rollout has been messy. Ticketmaster began delisting non-compliant resale listings almost immediately.¹⁴ FIFA pulled Toronto World Cup seats from its resale marketplace.¹⁶ But Global News reported that StubHub kept selling some Ontario tickets above their original price,¹⁷ and by July BNN Bloomberg could find no sign of any fines being issued.⁷ One reason, an expert told BNN: a resale site often can't tell what a ticket originally cost, because it wasn't sold there.⁷

There's also a group the law hurts. Season-ticket holders, who used to resell a few games at a markup to cover the rest, told The Canadian Press they now have to sell at face or take their chances with unprotected sales on social media.^18,19

The holiday maths

Even the free stuff has a price now. The Distillery Winter Village requires tickets at peak times, starting at $16 plus HST and service fees this season.⁹ Last year general admission was $15.²⁰ The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is folding admission to the Royal Horse Show into every Dining Series ticket this year,²¹ which is a nicer way of saying the premium tier got more premium.

None of this is a scandal. It's just how a night out in Toronto adds up: a base price, a fee, a tax, a transit fare, and drinks priced for a city where the Bank of Canada has just raised rates for the first time since 2023.

What you can actually do

• Buy at the source. The Ontario cap protects you best when you buy from the primary seller or from a platform that shows the original price.
• Read the all-in total. Ontario's cap is based on the full original price, fees included, so compare totals, not headline prices.
• Be careful off-platform. The cap pushed some sellers to social media and street sales, where you have no protection if a ticket is fake.
• Report it. If you see an Ontario event listed above its original price, the province says the cap applies to every platform.²² The government has said it will name businesses it fines.²³

It took until 9 p.m. to get the first numbers out of Toronto on Monday, October 26. Long lines at some polling stations held results back, according to CP24 and BNN Bloomberg.²⁶ When the count came, it wasn't close. Olivia Chow won a second term as mayor, and her first full four-year term.

The result

With all the votes counted, Now Toronto reported Chow at 532,201 votes, or 54.2%, against 41.1% for her main challenger²⁴, Ward 19 (Beaches-East York) Councillor Brad Bradford. CTV News put Bradford nearly 130,000 votes behind.²⁵

That's a record. According to Now Toronto, it's the most votes any mayor has ever received in Toronto's history, and nearly double the 269,372 votes Chow won in the 2023 by-election.²⁴ It also reverses a slide in turnout over the previous three mayoral races.²⁴

It's a comfortable margin for a race InSauga described as looking like a toss-up in the days before voting.²⁷ The turnout signals were there early: a record 222,550 people voted in the six advance days from October 6 to 11, compared with 129,745 in 2023.²⁴

What Chow ran on

Her campaign centred on affordability, according to CP24.²⁸ One of her headline promises was expanding the Toronto School Food Program to every public school.²⁹ Chow was first elected in a 2023 by-election after John Tory resigned, so this is the first time she's won a full mandate.²⁹

Bradford conceded on election night.²⁸

How it's being read

Not everyone sees a mandate for more of the same. In a commentary for The Hub, the result was framed as four more years of disorder and decline, pointing to rising property taxes and worsening conditions in the city.³⁰ CTV News' election-night analysis came at it from the other direction, with one observer saying turnout was the first, second and third explanation for Chow's win.²⁵ Both readings will shape how council treats her agenda.

The rest of the GTHA moved too

• Mississauga: Alvin Tedjo defeated incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish.²⁶
• Brampton: Patrick Brown was re-elected.²⁶
• Hamilton: Keanin Loomis won the mayoralty, with incumbent Andrea Horwath finishing third, according to the CP24-CTV election desk.³¹

Why this matters for culture

Municipal elections rarely get talked about as arts stories, but the city is one of the biggest funders of local culture through the Toronto Arts Council, festivals, libraries and permits for everything from Nuit Blanche to your neighbourhood street party. That's why the Toronto Arts Foundation published an open letter about the arts during the campaign and an election toolkit for voters.³² Arts Near You: Toronto also ran an interview in which Chow talked with CANNOPY about what's working in the city's arts scene and what isn't.³³

Here's what to watch for over the next four years:

• The 2027 city budget. It's where arts and festival funding actually gets decided.
• Live music venues. Toronto keeps losing small rooms to rent and redevelopment. Any city action on venue protection or permitting matters.
• School food and the cost of living. Not an arts issue, but it shapes how much families have left over for going out.

November in Toronto has a reputation as the grey month between Halloween and the holidays. It doesn't deserve it. The clocks went back on November 1, the city's biggest fairs and markets open over the next three weeks, and the month's most-hyped release lands mid-week. Here's the plan, in order.

Nov 6–15: The Royal

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair returns to Exhibition Place for ten days, from November 6 to 15.^21,35 It has been held there since 1922,³⁶ and it calls itself the largest combined indoor agricultural fair and international equestrian competition in the world. That's a big claim, but the Exhibition Place listing makes it too.³⁵

This year's official ambassadors are Sugar and Spice, twin Angora goats owned by longtime exhibitor Becky Vissers.²¹ You read that correctly. The Royal Horse Show returns with its entertainment line-up, and the closing day, Sunday November 15, is Western Day with the Royal Rodeo.²¹

The useful change for 2026: every Dining Series ticket now includes admission to the Royal Horse Show.²¹ If you were going to do both, that's the bundle to buy. Exhibition GO station is right there, so skip the parking.

Nov 12: The tree lights up

The Distillery Winter Village, Toronto's original Christmas market, opens for its 17th season on Thursday, November 12.⁸ The Christmas tree lighting is at 6 p.m. on opening night.⁸ It runs every day until January 3, closed Christmas Day.⁸

The new attraction is The Immersive Nutcracker, an indoor experience in the Fermenting Cellar.⁹ Tickets are required during peak periods and start at $16 plus HST and fees;⁹ check the calendar before you go, because weeknights are the easy win. Take the 504A King streetcar to the Distillery Loop.³⁷

Our lead story has more on why going out costs what it does. The short version: book early and read the all-in price.

Nov 19: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto VI launches worldwide on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on Thursday, November 19.³⁸ It's not a Toronto event, but it will empty a few offices and fill a few bars. If you're planning a launch night, Platforms, our games mailer, has the full countdown, the money behind the game and what to expect on day one.

Nov 22: The parade

The Original Santa Claus Parade rolls through downtown on Sunday, November 22.³⁴ This will be its 122nd edition, according to Todocanada's listing,³⁴ which makes it one of the oldest parades of its kind anywhere.³⁹ It's free. The Holly Jolly Fun Run, a festive 5K, kicks things off the same morning.⁴⁰ Pick your spot on the route early, bring a thermos, and check the TTC for diversions.

Book now for December

The National Ballet of Canada's The Nutcracker runs at the Four Seasons Centre from December 5 to 31.⁴¹ James Kudelka's version has been a Toronto tradition since 1995.⁴¹ If it's on your list, this is the month to buy. Remember Ontario's new resale rules: nobody can legally resell you a ticket to an Ontario event for more than its original all-in price.²²

City Hall homework

Olivia Chow's second term now moves from campaign promises to a budget. If you want a say on property taxes and transit spending, watch for the city's 2027 budget consultations. Our feature on the election, Four more years, has what voters asked for.