One person’s festival is another’s inconvenience.

Such is the case again as the Toronto International Film Festival begins with the closure of King St. between Peter St. and University Ave. until Sept. 9. Like all cities worth living in, Toronto often closes its streets for festivals, parades, marathons and, in this case, a celebration of film. It’s civilized, but certainly causes some disruption.

There’s a kind of social contract at work here though, where we all, hopefully, have a few events dear to us and tolerate those that are enjoyed by other people. You hear that, Taste of the Danforth haters?

The difference with the King closure is it affects one of the busiest public transit lines in North America. The King Street Transit Priority Corridor, once a pilot but now permanent, was also a hard won success, with an average of 84,000 boardings a day. Closing it affects the commutes of tens of thousands of people and the reaction to it from many quarters is, justifiably, an emotional one: it’s hard to get around Toronto on a good day and this makes it worse.

In recent years, the festival zone has been fun to visit. Lots of people were there checking out the outdoor cinema and other attractions including a very Instagrammable TIFF sign. Some have griped that the space has been littered with corporate displays that have little to do with film but, presumably, they pay some of TIFFs bills. Historically known as the “People’s Festival,” the closure does indeed create space for the people of Toronto.

The biggest crowds come out for the red carpet events. In theory, I’m not much of a stargazer as being in the presence of celebrity makes it almost hard to breath, as if they suck up all the oxygen for themselves. Yet being among the crowds is infectious and my neck cranes and phone rises like everyone else’s. Was that Benedict Cumberbatch? Yes it was, and I have a very blurry picture to prove it.

Toronto is not chill when it comes to celebrity. It’s said that a reason John Lennon lived in New York is that he didn’t have to be a prisoner of his celebrity as aloof New Yorkers gave him space. Torontonians aren’t so aloof: look at how the city stalked Kawhi Leonard in the weeks after the Raptors victory. King St. during TIFF is where aspirational Toronto is at its most honest and obsessively star struck.

The crowds are so great at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre on Yonge St., which does not close down as King St. does, that this year Toronto Police Services asked the city to install a temporary concrete and steel barrier along that block of Yonge in the interest of public safety. It’s formidable though and rather ugly, but given the rate at which drivers hit pedestrians and cyclists in this city, regularly mounting sidewalks, I wouldn’t mind if they forget to take it down until we come up with a better designed solution.

The voracious red carpet crowds are where those of us who aren’t in the movie business can get a sense of just how much of a big deal TIFF is for Toronto and why the city’s rerouting the King streetcar is justified despite TTC objections.

It’s some diversion too. The TTC produced a map of the changes to the various 504 King routes with colourful lines that look like the extensive subway map of some lucky city that doesn’t have dysfunctional transit politics. Still, perhaps there could be more compromise.

Stars tend to arrive at their gala premieres in large black SUVs, usually supplied by the automotive sponsor of TIFF. Think Cadillac Escalades and their hulking equivalents. Old-school limousines, the long and sleek ones, seem to be out of style. Imagine if celebs arrived in one of the new, long and sleek, King streetcars. Or better, one of the older Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (CLRVs) that are rapidly being retired. Riding high as they do, the old cars would give more people a glimpse of the stars’ shine, and there’s even more room for their entourages in the “people’s limousines.”

What a statement to the world of how much public transit matters to this city. Year around, the King transit priority corridor makes getting to events at the TIFF Bell Lightbox easy and predictable, and celebrities concerned with climate change could demonstrate their support of greener transit technologies.

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In European cities like Amsterdam and Helsinki, long streetcar trams such as Toronto’s easily pass through busy pedestrian-only streets and plazas. A new concept here, but people could learn to coexist, and during the red carpet events we civilians are kept behind barriers anyway.

Imagine catching a glimpse of a star from a passing streetcar. It’s the kind of cinematic thing you could make a movie about.

Shawn Micallef is a Toronto-based writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @shawnmicallef