More than 3,000 Ontario festivals and events keep locals and tourists partying year-round. If you’re looking for reasons to celebrate, you’ll find more than enough here to keep you happy.

Some of the biggest festivals happen during the summer, when outdoor events take center stage.

Outdoor summer music festivals are huge. Big ones include the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Sound Festival at Parry Sound, the Sound of Music Festival in Burlington, the Barrie Jazz and Blues Festival, the Sunfest in London and the Festival of Friends in Hamilton. Many of these festivals have free admission or at least offer free concerts along with the paid ones. So they are very easy on your wallet.

Outdoor art festivals in summer are also a big draw when the weather is nice. Free to enter, Toronto’s outdoor art exhibit features more than 500 of Canada’s and world’s best contemporary artists and artisans and attracts approximately 100,000 visitors. Stratford also has craft shows along the river, and Barrie has a great arts and crafts festival called Kempenfest.

Autumn is also packed with festivals. Ontario’s largest fruit crop is grapes, and September is the time of the grape harvest. The Niagara Region toasts the new harvest with the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. Kitchener-Waterloo hosts the biggest Oktoberfest party outside of Germany. The Balls Falls Thanksgiving Festival features crafts, food and family fun. Halloween fans can join the “Howlin’ Hootenany” at Black Creek Pioneer Village, just north of Toronto, for spooky fun and fall treats like pumpkin pies, candied apples and apple cider. Readers and writers will love the free Word on the Street festival in Toronto, where they can meet their favorite authors and hear them read their works. And then there’s the granddaddy of all literary festivals, the Toronto International Festival of Authors. Wait, don’t forget the Toronto International Film Festival! (Are you already running out of weekends?)

Ontario’s festivals and events don’t stop in winter. Ontarians enjoy the cold season with Ottawa’s Winterlude, Toronto’s Wintercity and, of course, New Year’s festivals, including the wacky Polar Bear Dip festival in Oakville. The giant, glowing animated figures at the Niagara Falls Festival of Lights will make you smile and warm up on a frosty winter day. Another safe bet is the Niagara Icewine Festival in the Niagara region.

The spring festivals are the best of all, because they welcome the return of good weather. Some famous Ontario festivals are the Maple Syrup Celebrations that appear throughout Southern Ontario. Bronte Creek in Oakville has a good one with guided tours, syrup and candy samples, a pancake breakfast, etc. The Ottawa Tulip Festival is about more than just flowers. It features concerts, one-of-a-kind crafts, readings, and more (and the outdoor concerts are free). Do you want the true scent of spring? Visit the Festival of Lilacs at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Hamilton and explore the world’s largest and most dizzying valley of lilacs.

If you’re a local, Ontario’s festivals and events are a great way to meet your neighbors. If you’re a tourist, why not plan your visit around one of these events?