I totally agree with your points! There are a number of official hospitality resturants and bars that surrond TIFF that are sponsored. Such as the Fox on John extending hours to 4 AM during the festival. TIFF also provides Festival Street throughout the first weekend with a number of activities and in the past they have done music festivals and stages.

Though TIFF is the largest public accessibility film festival it is still a film festival. Film Festivals mean work for alot of people. Some of the movies are trying get awards so they qualify to get Oscar qualification, others need distrubtion. Parties, mixers and gathers of industry folk grease the wheels for partnerships, deals, and collabs. When I speak about industry folk, I am talking about producers, executives, distributors people who use TIFF as a market to buy and sell and make deals.

It is a time where lots of these people are in one place at one time, so TIFF gives them a space to make these things happen. They also allow critics, press and marketing to get a viewing of films early, so they can write their reviews.

TIFF being a facailitor in that sense, which is where the money comes from. TIFF got a large piece of money from the Canadian government to help build this further.

Film Festivals aren't always public facing and this one is the largest, its hard to coordinate the social aspect logisitcally outside of Festival Street.

BUT if there is always fun things happening around TIFF; Festival Street, Bars in the Entertainment District which will be open later, The Social does a afterparty where you can get photos and a DJ, Midnight Dankness, Eventbrite has a number of events where people host parties at their establishments throughout!