Week of October 26–November 1, 2026

Hey hi hello, Durham,

Halloween on a Saturday is the dream scenario: no school-night bedtime, no rushing home from work to wrestle a toddler into a pumpkin suit, and a whole afternoon of trick-or-treating before the real thing even starts. And apparently it's the last Saturday Halloween until 2037, so plan accordingly: today's toddlers will be heading to university (or at least too cool to trick-or-treat) next time this happens. Mine will be 18 😱 and 15. Insanity.

Then on Sunday the clocks fall back an hour, which means one extra hour of sleep (ha!) for anyone whose kids aren't coming down from a sugar high at 5am.

Also: today was the final day of voting in the municipal election, and I'm genuinely excited to see how every town shakes out. I'll admit I didn't know until this year just how much conversation happens on the local Reddit threads (if you know, you know). Results should be posted on your town's website if you want to see who's in.

And the second most important poll results are in from my little questionnaire last week: thanks to everyone who tapped their thoughts in. Business and people profiles won by a landslide. So: I’ll be out interviewing the people behind your favourite Durham spots (though it might take me a while, cause, ya know, adulthood), and if there’s someone you think I should talk to, the gems form at the bottom is the perfect place to tell me. (Dinner party people, I see you too.)

Another reader submission came in this week, too: thanks to Meghan for sending us the grand opening of a new wellness clinic in downtown Oshawa. It's in Planning ahead. Keep them coming. I've had so many lovely conversations over email with readers, and so much support already that I'm getting a second wind (even though I'm annoyingly sick this week.)

Here's what's on.

🗓️ This week in Durham

Ajax

• 🎤 Thurs, Oct 29, doors 8pm, show 8:30pm — Ajax Comedy Club: Ronnie Edwards — 60 Randall Dr, $19. Adam Kainn, Ese Omene and Erick Daniel round out the bill.
• 👻 Nightly through Sat, Oct 31 — Spooktacular drive-thru light show — 462 Kingston Rd E. Halloween you can do in pajamas, from the back seat.
• 📸 Sat, Oct 31, noon–3pm — Pay-What-You-Can Halloween Portraits — Cedar Park, from $5. Quick costume portraits from Christella Luna Photo Co.; bring a non-perishable for the food bank if you can.
• 🧠 Thursdays — trivia at Falcon Brewing (most weeks).

Brock

• 🌽 Fri–Sun, Oct 30–Nov 1 — Escape Room Corn Maze — Buzzing Bees Adventure Farm, Sunderland, $10 (under 2 free). Ten acres, eight puzzle stations, and one last weekend of corn.

Clarington

• 🎃 Through Sat, Oct 31 — Halloween house at 58 Freeland Ave, Bowmanville. A drive-by worth the detour.
• 🧠 Mondays — trivia at Chronicle Brewery · Tuesdays at 99 King · Wednesdays at Tilted Glass · Saturdays at Critical Hit Gaming Lounge, Courtice.

Oshawa

• 🎸 Tues, Oct 27, doors 7pm, show 8pm — The Ballad of Dwight Fry: An Evening with Bob Ezrin and Dennis Dunaway — Biltmore Theatre (39 King St E), all ages, seated, $35 advance / $40 at the door. The producer and the founding bassist look back on the Alice Cooper Group's 1970–73 peak, and you can ask them anything.
• 🎶 Wed, Oct 28, doors 7pm, show 8pm — Joel Plaskett with Alexander Gallant — Biltmore Theatre, all ages, from $39.50 advance (floor) or $46.50 (mezzanine), plus fees. I loved "this Nova Scotia songwriter's eclectic body of work reveals a restless and playful spirit" in the description.
• 🎧 Wed, Oct 28, 7–10pm — The Mix Lab — The Local Lounge (44 Bond St E). An open decks night for aspiring, seasoned, and practicing DJs: bring your mix, then DJ Darryl Q closes it out at 9:30.
• 😂 Thurs–Sat, Oct 29–31, 8pm — Yuk Yuk's Oshawa — Amateur Night on Thursday, then Shannon Laverty Friday and Saturday.
• 🛝 Sat, Oct 31 — Easton Community Park reopens — 900 Adelaide Ave E. New junior and senior playgrounds, swings, a splash pad (save that one for June) and a multi-use sport court.
• 🎃 Through Sat, Oct 31 — Halloween house at 757 King St W, with a full musical light show.
• 🧠 Wednesdays — trivia at BOND|ST Snack Bar and Torchbearer Taproom and The Waltzing Weasel · Thursdays at Bollocks Pub.

Pickering

• 👻 Thurs–Sat, Oct 29–31, from 7pm — Pickering Ghost Walk — Pickering Museum Village (2365 Concession Rd 6), ages 12+. The last three nights of the season, with walks starting at 7, 7:15 and 8:15pm.
• 🫖 Sat, Oct 31 — Victorian Gothic Tea — Pickering Museum Village. Halloween, but make it a corset and a scone.
• 🎤 Tuesdays — karaoke at KCR Bar & Grill.

Scugog

• 🎃 Through Sat, Oct 31 — Halloween house on Mikelen Dr, Port Perry. Lights off at 9:30pm, so go early.
• 🧠 Wednesdays, 6:30–8:45pm — trivia at Old Flame Brewery.

Uxbridge

• 🧠 Tuesdays, 7–9pm — trivia at The Second Wedge.

Whitby

• ☕ Daily, 8am–1pm — Christine's Café, the new café inside the Abilities Centre. Full story in the Local Gem below.
• 🕹️ Tues, Oct 27, 7pm & Thurs, Oct 29, 7pm — 8-Bit Beans, 100 Brock St S. Drop-in pinball league Tuesday ($4 plus tokens), then Simpsons Treehouse of Horror trivia Thursday ($5 a person, teams of up to four, costumes strongly encouraged). Through Halloween, beat a high score on the week's featured games and win a mini chocolate bar.
• 🧪 Sat, Oct 31, noon–2pm — STEAM-O-WEEN at IDEA Lab Kids — Whitby (also running at the Pickering location), $40 per child. Drop your kids (4-12yo) for monster slime, spooky plushies and "Frankenstein toothpaste," costumes welcome. Registration required.
• 🍬 Sat, Oct 31, noon–3pm — Downtown Whitby Trick or Treat — free. Trick-or-treat the downtown shops before the neighbourhood rounds.
• 🎃 Through Sat, Oct 31 — Halloween house at John St W & Centre St N. The garage opens only when the owner is out front.
• 🧠 Tuesdays — trivia at Town Brewery and Banter & Co (Brooklin).

Just over the border 👀

• 🏮 Thurs–Sun, through Jan 3 — Glow in the Wild at the Toronto Zoo — 2000 Meadowvale Rd, a few minutes past the Pickering line. The zoo's first-ever after-dark lantern walk: about 1.5 km of handcrafted, glowing animals and nature scenes, including a Blanding's turtle installation made with an Indigenous artist. We went last weekend and I'd happily send you. Book a date and entry time ahead (it can sell out), and know that parking is extra and daytime zoo tickets don't get you in.

Planning ahead?

• ⭐ ODP Physiotherapy & Wellness grand opening, Fri, Nov 6, 11am, 179 King St E, Unit 101, Oshawa. Tour the clinic (physio, massage therapy, holistic nutrition), meet the team, and stay for food and drinks; RSVP through the link in their Instagram bio. Reader pick: Meghan sent this in for the clinic. Thanks, Meghan!
• 🧥 Ajax Comedy Club: "Winter Iz Coming," a kids' winter-coat fundraiser show (Thurs, Nov 12), then Gee Gethiga (Thurs, Nov 26), $19.
• ❄️ Frozen: The Broadway Musical, Nov 12–29 and Dec 3–5, Oshawa Little Theatre (62 Russett Ave), ages 5+.
• 🥍 Oshawa FireWolves vs. Rochester Knighthawks, Sat, Nov 14, exhibition game, Tribute Communities Centre.
• 🎺 The Planet Smashers with K-Man & The 45's and Green Division, Tues, Nov 17, Biltmore Theatre, 19+.
• 🤘 "In the Round" punk show, Sat, Nov 21, doors 7pm, Biltmore x Town Brewery, all ages.
• 🎅 Oshawa Santa Claus Parade of Lights, Sat, Nov 21, downtown Oshawa. Every other town's parade, Nov 15–Dec 5, is in this roundup.
• 🚂 CPKC Holiday Train, Sun, Nov 29, free. Bowmanville 2–2:30pm, Oshawa 3:15–3:45pm.

📍 Local gem: Christine's Café (Whitby)

This one popped up in my Instagram feed last week, and it's the kind of opening that's easy to miss if you don't have a membership card dangling from your keys. Christine's Café had its grand opening last Wednesday inside the Abilities Centre, the big barrier-free community hub beside the Whitby GO station. And it's open to everyone, not just members.

The menu is short and sweet, in both senses. But most interestingly, the café is designed to model inclusive hiring, creating real jobs for people of all abilities, and the space itself was built for everyone who walks up to it, down to counters at adjustable heights and fridge handles custom-made for wheelchair users. It's named for Christine Elliott, one of the community champions who helped bring the Abilities Centre to life in 2012, and CAA backs it: show your CAA card and your 12 oz coffee or tea is on the house, every visit. It's open daily, 8am to 1pm, at 1 Jim Flaherty St.

👨‍👩‍👧 This weekend, with littles

• 🍬 Sat, Oct 31, noon–3pm — Downtown Whitby Trick or Treat. A daytime warm-up lap, free.
• 🧪 Sat, Oct 31, noon–2pm — STEAM-O-WEEN, Whitby and Pickering. Slime and spooky plushies (and two hours for you to finish that costume).
• 👻 Nightly through Sat, Oct 31 — Spooktacular drive-thru light show, Ajax. Perfect for little ones too small for haunted houses.

Before you go — something unique that goes quick!

• 🫧 Now — Deer Creek's winter dining domes in Ajax are booking for Nov 10–Jan 10, and they tend to go fast. If you want a dome for a holiday party, now is the time.

Know a hidden gem (or just an obvious, but well-loved rock) in Durham Region I should feature, profile, or talk to?

Talk soon, Arina from Whitby