Recently Toronto slipped to eighth place in the 'World's Most Livable City' ranking. Hongkong topped the list. The reasons apparently were 1) not easily accessible by public transportation (true) and 2) lacking cultural activities (false). Vancouver the only other comparable Canadian city which usually also features, did not make this year's list at all. While in winter, though mostly but not completely, the city takes a break from outdoor entertainment, it more than makes up for that in summer. Outdoor restaurant patios are reopened giving the city a bistro look, fairs come into town, the Canadian National Exhibition sets up shop, street festivals make their appearance, Niagara Falls and that town take a carnival look, Orchestras and Bands perform at the Harbor Front and a host of other entertainment activities are organized. The last weekend we decided to go for a Swing Band free outdoor show along the Harbor and it was well worth it. There were full rhythm, brass and wind sections and 6 crooners, 3 male, 3 female. All the singers and band members were under 25 with the pianist only 15 years old. It was a marvelous performance with an extensive Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and boogie-woogie repertoire. Both performance and showmanship were remarkable. All the more because this was the music of the times of the performers' grandparents. Comparable to such free entertainment is the Bayshore area in Miami city though the emphasis there is on Cuban and Latin music. Toronto too has its Salsa Street Festival where Latin music abounds, but this is for a week while in Miami it is almost year-round. If you are visiting and your hosts spend too much of your holiday by tending to take you to visit more than a few friends or relatives rather than free outdoor fun occasions, point them to www.toronto.com Roland Francis 416-453-3371 roland.fran...@gmail.com