Was Church Street too crowded this Halloween?

It was marketed as, quote, Canada's biggest bash, a two-night Halloween celebration along Church Street, the heart of Toronto's 2SLGBTQ plus community. Thank you, Judy. This year, a perfect storm of the holiday falling on a Saturday, combined with mild temperatures, and some 50,000 people showed up. When I visited the street fair, it took about 45 minutes to walk a block, and by the time I reached the next intersection, I was ready to dip. This is an important PSA. Travis Myers is a co-founder of the queer advocacy group Friends of Hanlon's. What we were hearing from the community this year and in previous years was that there was a rash of sexual assaults that were happening in the crowd, people getting groped. Several community members say the event has shifted from its queer roots and the marketing of an all-out party is partly to blame for the overcrowding. It's a tradition that's been going on since the 60s or 70s. It's a really important part of our queer history, comes out of a lot of our activism. Obviously, we've seen over the past weekend and past years, frankly, that it's grown exponentially with a lot more folks coming in, and that's created some real pressures. Toronto police say as attendance increased, additional officers were deployed to support crowd management and public safety. A spokesperson says they're still compiling data, but most calls for service were related to pickpocketing and cell phone theft. We are a city that enjoys street festivals at large, and we've learned over the years that the growth of them is something we need to consider and how we manage them going forward. Mayor Olivia Chow says she'll work with community members to ensure everyone can enjoy the event safely. But do it in a way that is more structured. Possibly more controlled. The chair of the local BIA, which organizes the event, says they don't know what the solution is. The BIA, police and city staff are scheduled to debrief the event in the coming weeks. Dale Manuck, CBC News, Toronto.