Dek, Sept. 23 -- Street beats, midnight sweets, and a neighborhood that treats culture like a daily ritual-this is the east-end pocket where weeknights flirt with weekend energy.

On a warm evening, hand drums thrum from shopfront speakers, the scent of frying pakoras skates down the sidewalk, and a canopy of bulbs throws a soft glow over the crowd. Vendors call, families wander, and the soundtrack barely dips between one song and the next. The mood isn't a once-a-year phenomenon; it's a neighborhood habit.

What began as a cluster of grocers, sweet shops, fabric stores, and cinemas grew into a cross-generational meeting place where new arrivals and longtime residents blend tastes and traditions. Programming now stretches across the calen...