Holidays in Durham Region, 2026: Santa parades, markets, lights and ways to give, by town
Every Santa Claus parade, holiday market, light show and toy drive across Durham's eight towns, from now until the new year.
Week of November 2–8, 2026
Durham Region this week: Oshawa’s own rock heroes Crown Lands play a hometown show, the season’s last pumpkins meet a very dramatic end, Santa clocks in suspiciously early in Whitby, and a Brooklin juice bar turns lemonade an unreasonable shade of blue.
Week of October 26–November 1, 2026
Durham Region this week: Halloween lands on a Saturday and the whole region comes out in costume, an Alice Cooper legend spills studio secrets at the Biltmore, and a new café inside Whitby's Abilities Centre pours coffee with a purpose.
Week of October 19–25, 2026
Durham Region this week: a reader sends us to a pinball café in downtown Whitby, Oshawa's Food Truck Corral spins up the midway one last time, and Saturday turns into a region-wide Halloween dress rehearsal.
Week of October 12–18, 2026
Durham Region this week: Saturday crams four free fall festivals into a single day, a horror-themed café in Courtice settles into its favourite month, and the Ajax Comedy Club reopens after a week off for construction.
Week of October 5–11, 2026
Durham Region this week: a Whitby dance studio throws in six nights of free group classes, Ajax serves Saturday-morning cartoons with a cereal buffet, and chinook salmon climb a fish ladder in Bowmanville.
Week of September 28–October 4, 2026
Durham Region this week: Bowmanville opens the doors on its giant new sports dome, a Brock farm hides eight pirate puzzles in ten acres of corn, and Culture Days wraps up with chalk art and a puppet show along the Marie Hubbard Trail.
Your Durham Election Cheat Sheet for 2026
Durham Region this week: eight towns pick their next councils on October 26, the Regional Chair quietly drops off your ballot, and we finally sort out who actually fixes your pothole.
Week of September 21-27, 2026
Durham Region this week: a cult-classic musical comedy claws its way onto an Oshawa stage, a dessert shop I already can't stop ordering from opens its first Durham storefront in Ajax, and Clarington's arborists show you how pruning is really done.
Week of September 14–20, 2026
Durham Region this week: Oshawa's brand-new festival wins a provincial award before its second run, Port Perry's arena turns 50, and a free Mr. Dress-Up exhibit counts down its last days in Pickering.
Week of September 7-13, 2026
Durham Region this week: a $155-million sports complex swings open in Whitby, fall fair season peaks in Uxbridge and Orono, and a comedy club keeps doing its quiet, excellent thing in an Ajax banquet hall.
Week of August 24-30, 2026
The end of August in Durham Region, Ontario: A car show takes over Uxbridge, comedy night's back in a banquet hall, and a countdown to school.