Week of September 14–20, 2026

Hey neighbour,

Two weeks into the school year and the backpacks have officially lost that new-backpack smell. A little depressing, but September's paying us back this week — Oshawa's brand-new music and art festival just won a provincial award before it's even had its second run, Port Perry's arena is throwing itself a 50th birthday party, and there's a free CBC-nostalgia exhibit in Pickering quietly counting down its final days.

Fair season's officially done (RIP, Uxbridge and Orono) — festival season's just getting started. Here's what's on.

🗓️ This week in Durham

Ajax

• 💼 Wed, Sept 16, 8:30am–3:30pm — Ontario Business Summit & Expo — Computek College, $35.
• 🎤 Thurs, Sept 17, 8:30pm — Ajax Comedy Club: Habib Siam — Lumbini Restaurant's banquet hall, 60 Randall Dr. Next up after this one: Ben Albert (Sept 24).
• 🥞 Ontario's first combined Applebee's/IHOP just opened at 155 Kingston Rd E — free pancakes for the first 100 customers at the ribbon-cutting, and a partnership with Feed the Need Durham, per WhatNow and Insauga.

Clarington

• 🧠 Thursdays — trivia — The Royal Crown, Bowmanville, weekly.
• 🐘 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20 — Claringtoncha Raja, a Ganesh Chaturthi celebration — Bowmanville, free with registration.

Oshawa

• 🎨 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20 — Convergence — downtown Oshawa, free entry — just won Festival & Events Ontario's "Best New Festival" award for 2026. Sunday brings the Mix Lab Stage to Ontario St (between King & Bond) — six hours of back-to-back DJs, 1–7pm.
• 🎸 Fri–Sat, Sept 18–19 — live music at Atria Bar & Grill (19+) — Autopilot on the 18th, Thunder Glove on the 19th.
• 🏒 Sun, Sept 20 — Oshawa Generals home opener vs. North Bay IceDogs — Tribute Communities Centre.

Pickering

• 👻 Thursdays through October, 9:15–10:15pm — Paranormal Waterfront Tours — Millennium Square, $25.52. Next one's the 17th.
• 📍 More on Pickering below — don't miss the Local Gem.

Scugog

• 🎉 Sat, Sept 19 — Scugog Community Recreation Centre's 50th Anniversary — Port Perry — open house and dance marking five decades of the arena.
• 🎨 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20 — Culture Days Scugog — free arts and culture programming, township-wide.
• 🥕 Thurs, Sept 17, 12:30–2pm — Scugog Mobile Food Market — Township office, Port Perry — last stop at this location, so swing by if you use it.

Uxbridge

• 🎨 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20, 10am–6pm Sat / 10am–5pm Sun — Uxbridge Studio Tour — free, self-guided tour through 21 working studios across town and the surrounding countryside, 50+ artists working in painting, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and woodworking. No set route (but some recommended ones at the link) — go wherever looks good. If my kids and I aren't wiped from back-to-back weddings this weekend, this is where we'll be.

Whitby

• 🧽 Invest Whitby's September business of the month: RotoStatic Durham — a 37-year-old local cleaning franchise, now under owner Aaron Brooks.
• 🧠 Tuesdays — trivia — Kings Tavern, weekly.

📍 Local gem: Mr. Dress-Up exhibit (Pickering)

Free, and quietly on its way out: the Dorsay Community & Heritage Centre has a Mr. Dress-Up exhibit up through September 25, then it's gone for good. No admission, no gimmick — just a genuine piece of Canadian childhood tucked into a heritage centre most people drive past without a second look.

If you grew up on Ernie Coombs pulling something unexpected out of the Tickle Trunk, it's worth the twenty minutes. If you've got a kid who's never heard of it, even better — this is basically the show that invented CBC children's TV, and it holds up. Worth calling ahead to check the centre's hours before you go, since it's a small venue and I don't have posted times to confirm.

💚 Why it's worth the drive: it's free, it's disappearing in ten days, and Durham Region doesn't get many chances to send you somewhere this specifically nostalgic.

👨‍👩‍👧 This weekend, with littles

• 🎨 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20 — Convergence, Oshawa — free, all-ages, downtown, and it just won an actual award.
• 🎉 Sat, Sept 19 — Scugog Community Recreation Centre's 50th Anniversary, Port Perry — open house and dance.
• 🎨 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20 — Culture Days Scugog — free, township-wide.
• 🐘 Sat–Sun, Sept 19–20 — Claringtoncha Raja, Bowmanville — free with registration.
• 🏒 Sun, Sept 20 — Oshawa Generals home opener, Tribute Communities Centre.

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