The Toronto Blue Jays can win their first World Series title since 1993 with a victory on Friday night over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers — and all the action will be shown on the big screens at Celebration Square in Mississauga’s downtown core.
The World Series watch party for Game 6 in the best-of-seven series gets underway about an hour before the 8 p.m. game time at the popular outdoor Mississauga venue.
The American League champion Blue Jays lead the series three games to two following a pair of consecutive wins on Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles. The series returns to the Rogers Centre in Toronto for tonight’s game and, if necessary, Game 7 on Saturday night.
If a seventh game is needed, it will also be shown on the screens at Celebration Square starting at 8 p.m.
For those considering attending the World Series watch party in Mississauga, they’ll want to bundle up as Friday night temperatures are expected to be as low as 6 C.
The popular outdoor venue has been dubbed “The Birds’ Nest” by City of Mississauga officials since the Blue Jays’ playoff run began a few weeks ago.
Game time both Friday and Saturday (if necessary) is shortly after 8 p.m. as the National League champion Dodgers visit Toronto for the second consecutive weekend. The teams split games 1 and 2 at the Rogers Centre on Oct. 24 and 25 before the series shifted to Southern California for games three through five.
Los Angeles swept the Milwaukee Brewers in four straight games in the NL championship series to earn a berth in the MLB title series while the Blue Jays got by the Seattle Mariners in a thrilling American League championship tilt that went the full seven games.
In the best-of-five AL division series, Toronto got by the rival New York Yankees three games to one to advance to play the Mariners, who entered Major League Baseball along with the Blue Jays in 1977 as expansion franchises.
Seattle remains the only MLB team to never make it to a World Series. The Jays, on the other hand, won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.
Celebration Square hosts numerous events each year, including summertime movie nights in which popular films for the entire family are shown on the big screens. From time to time, major sporting events are also shown on the screens for people to enjoy. (Photo: City of Mississauga)
Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish and other city officials have been encouraging fans to watch the Jays’ playoff run on the large screens at Celebration Square.
From time to time, the city hosts screenings of key sports events at Celebration Square, including World Cup soccer matches back in late 2022 and the Toronto Raptors’ final-round run to the NBA title in 2019.
Historically, city officials said earlier, they limit such screenings to major international competitions, such as the World Cup, and final playoff rounds of major North American sports leagues given both other bookings at Celebration Square and the high cost of acquiring rights to broadcast the professional sports games.
Big improvements to the square coming in 2026, city says
Looking ahead to early next year, some major improvements are in the works for Mississauga’s most popular downtown entertainment venue.
Celebration Square, the nearly five-acre outdoor public gathering place that attracts some 750,000 visitors annually to numerous festivals and other large-scale events, will be outfitted with bigger and better high-resolution viewing screens and new artificial turf, the city said earlier this year.
In spring 2026, the turf lawn area and surrounding pavement will be closed to the public for four to six weeks while the existing artificial turf is replaced.
When Celebration Square opened in the heart of Mississauga in June 2011, it featured natural grass instead of artificial turf. However, the health of the grass quickly deteriorated due to the large crowds and poor drainage. By 2012, the city had replaced the real grass with artificial turf, which has proven far more practical and cost-effective.