ARC WORLD 2026 Homecoming in Markham

Asian Roots Collective hosts ARC WORLD presented by Google Pixel Saturday, September 12, 2026. The main festival runs at Hilton Toronto/Markham Suites Conference Centre, 8500 Warden Avenue, Markham. ARC Hoops, the signature celebrity basketball game co-organized by Simu Liu and Jeremy Lin, moves to Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, 875 Morningside Avenue, Scarborough.

ARC WORLD is a one-day pan-Asian convention built from five zones. ARC Eats is a curated food hall with chefs including Trevor Lui, MasterChef Canada winner Christopher Siu, and PAI's Nuit Regular. ARC Market, presented by TurboTax Canada, spotlights Asian-owned vendors and makers. ARC NEXT, presented by TD, is a variety showcase with dance crews and musicians. ARC TALKS brings leaders on stage for panels on representation and career paths. ARC Hoops closes the night with a charity celebrity game benefiting ARC and the Jeremy Lin Foundation.

Tickets are on sale at asianrootscollective.org/arcworld. ARC World Pass is $18.88 for adults and $8.88 for kids ages 5–12; children under 5 enter free. That tier covers Eats, Market, Talks, and Next at Hilton Markham but not Hoops. Combined ARC World + Hoops general admission is $65; courtside assigned seats are $125. All sales are final.

The homecoming matters because ARC began in Markham. Founded in 1995 as the Chinese Canadian Youth Athletic Association, the volunteer-run nonprofit now operates as Asian Roots Collective with a Markham athletics centre and programs across sports, food, arts, and youth. Last year's inaugural ARC WORLD drew downtown crowds to Toronto Metropolitan University; the 2026 edition returns to the 905 to dodge downtown traffic and reconnect with the founding community.

Who this is for: Markham and Scarborough families who want a ticketed pan-Asian festival with celebrity hoops, and diaspora readers who followed the CCYAA Celebrity Classic era. Skip it if you need a free street fair; Mississauga Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival is the open-admission mall version earlier in September.

Plan two venues if you buy Hoops access. Hilton Markham sits on the Warden corridor near Highway 7; Pan Am Sports Centre is on Morningside in Scarborough near UTSC. Celebrity lineups beyond Liu and Lin were still rolling out in late summer; watch ARC social channels for door times and wristband pickup rules.

The festival stacks between Labour Day lantern fairs and Fête Chinoise on September 26. ARC Eats is the easiest entry if you only want food and market browsing without the evening game commute.

Our take: buy the Hilton-only pass for a daytime food-and-market loop, then add Hoops only if you will actually make the Scarborough trip before doors close.

When: Saturday, September 12, 2026
Where: Hilton Markham, 8500 Warden Ave, Markham, ON (festival); Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, 875 Morningside Ave, Scarborough, ON (ARC Hoops)

Tickets and programming on asianrootscollective.org/arcworld.