Week of September 28–October 4, 2026

Hey hi hello, Durham,

It's officially fall. You can tell because every farm within 40 minutes has put up a corn maze, and every group chat I'm in has had the "which pumpkin patch this year?" debate. (We haven't settled it. We never settle it.)

It's also a week to slow down for a minute: Wednesday is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and Ajax and Oshawa are both holding free community gatherings. They're listed below. After that, the weekend gets busy: a new sports dome in Bowmanville, a K-pop dance party for kids in Oshawa, and the last weekend to dig your own potatoes before the ground gets cold.

Here's what's on.

🗓️ This week in Durham

Ajax

• 🧡 Wed, Sept 30, 6–8pm — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation gathering — Rotary Park Pavilion (177 Lake Driveway W), free, all welcome.
• 🎤 Thurs, Oct 1, doors 8pm, show 8:30pm — Ajax Comedy Club: Kyle Lucey — Lumbini Restaurant's banquet hall (60 Randall Dr), $19. The club says he's a Durham Region original who started doing comedy as a teenager.
• 🧠 Thursdays — trivia at Falcon Brewing Company.
• 🎬 Fri, Oct 2, 7pm — TIFF Film Circuit: Eleanor the Great — Ajax Centre for the Arts, $13. A festival film without driving downtown.
• 🎤 Fridays — Karaoke Fridays with Rob and Lorraine at the Ajax Legion (111 Hunt St)
• 🎃 Sun, Oct 4, 7pm — Halloween Doc Double Bill — Ajax Centre for the Arts, $10. Spooky season, documentary edition.

Brock

• 🏴‍☠️ Fri–Sun — Pirate Puzzle Hunt corn maze at Buzzing Bees Adventure Farm — Sunderland, $10. Full story in the Local Gem below.

Clarington

• 🥔 Sat–Sun, Oct 3–4, 10am–4:30pm — Dig your own potatoes at Bragg Farms — 3048 Concession Rd 3, Bowmanville. No admission; you pay for what you dig ($20 basket, $32 sack; sweet potatoes $23.50/$42). Forks and a farmer's tutorial are included. Last weekend of the season.
• 🏟️ Sat, Oct 3, 1–5pm — Bowmanville Community Complex Open House — 1 West Side Dr. First look inside the new FIFA-sized multi-sport dome, and you can register for fall programs while you're there.
• 🎨 Sun, Oct 4, 10am–2pm — Culture Days Trailside Finale — Soper Creek Park and the Marie Hubbard Trail, Bowmanville, free. Chalk art, 3D installations, live painting, a library story walk, a puppet show, the Clarington Concert Band and food trucks. Park at Bowmanville High School (49 Liberty St N) and take the shuttle.

Oshawa

• 🧡 Wed, Sept 30, noon–4pm — National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at the Oshawa Museum — Robinson House, free, drop-in. The city's Orange Ribbon Memorial runs at five city sites through Oct 9 if you'd like to tie a ribbon.
• 💃 Wed, Sept 30, 7:30pm — Girls Night Out The Show: Wild Nights 2026 Tour — Biltmore Theatre (39 King St E), 19+. This is giving "magic mike"... but in Oshawa.
• 🎸 Fri, Oct 2, doors 7pm, show 8pm — Quicksand & F'd Up with Worlds Worst — Biltmore Theatre, 19+, general admission standing. Loud, and worth it.
• 🏒 Fri, Oct 2, 7:05pm & Sun, Oct 4, 6:05pm — Oshawa Generals vs. Ottawa 67's (Country Night) and Sarnia Sting — Tribute Communities Centre.
• 🪩 Sat, Oct 3, 10:30am — GOLDEN: A K-Pop Kids Party — Biltmore Theatre, from $27.40, under-3s free with a ticketed adult. Costumes encouraged. A Saturday-morning dance party in a real concert venue.
• 🛍️ Sat, Oct 3, 10am–3pm — Fall Fest Vendor Market — Parkwood National Historic Site, free, no tickets needed.
• 🎃 Select weekends through Oct 31 — Pumpkin picking at Linton's Farm Market — $12.50 online / $15 walk-in. Includes a wagon ride to the patch, one pumpkin, and the corn maze. Walk-in spots are limited, so book ahead.

Pickering

• 🎤 Tuesdays — karaoke at KCR Bar & Grill.
• 🌙 Fri, Oct 2, 7–10pm — Myth & Moonlight: An After Dark Experience — Pickering Museum Village. A heritage village after dark.
• 🥐 Now open — Soghaat Sweets & Bakery — 2200 Brock Rd, Unit C6. Its first Durham location (the original is in Mississauga): puff patties, samosas, mithai, falooda, and halwa puri on weekends.

Scugog

• 🧠 Wednesdays — trivia at Old Flame Brewery.
• 🌻 Sat–Sun, 11am–5pm — Fall Fun on the Farm at Applewood Farm Winery — 2055 Saintfield Rd, Seagrave, $13 (ages 3+). A 30-acre corn maze, a sunflower walk, and pick-your-own pumpkins and squash. Wear boots.
• 🎨 Wed, Sept 30, 7–9pm — Paint & Sip: Autumn Pumpkin Stack — 175b Queen St, Port Perry.

Uxbridge

• 🌽 Through Nov 1 — Fall Harvest Fest at Cooper's CSA Farm — Zephyr. A 10-acre corn maze, wagon rides, and a U-pick pumpkin included with admission. Admission is capped per time slot, so it doesn't turn into a lineup.
• 💿 Sat, Oct 3, noon–5pm — Vinyl Day at The Second Wedge, then 🎸 Sun, Oct 4, 3–5pm — Hannah Green live. Trivia there every Tuesday, 7–9pm.

Whitby

• 🧠 Tuesdays — trivia at Town Brewery.
• 🥪 Wed, Sept 30 — Jersey Mike's opens — 80 Thickson Rd S. Its 42nd Canadian location, and the first in Durham.
• ☕ Now open — Chai Patty — inside Fresh Grocery, 1618 Dundas St E. The Brampton-famous patty spot (six kinds, including noodle and tandoori) plus khari, desi ghee biscuits and hot chai. You don't have to drive to Brampton for this anymore.
• 🌿 Sat, Oct 3, 9:30am–12:30pm — Lynde Shores wetland opening — Lynde Shores Conservation Area, free. A first walk on the new boardwalk past three brand-new wetlands, with educational exhibits.
• 🏓 Through Oct 30 — Outdoor pickleball at Fieldgate Sports Complex — free open play with the Whitby-Brooklin Pickleball Association daily, 9–11am, plus $15 skills clinics (Dinking & Kitchen Play, Tues, Sept 29, 4pm; Mastering the Third Drop, Wed, Sept 30, 6pm).

Planning ahead?

• 🎤 Jay Rainville (Oct 8) and Dan Duval (Oct 15) at Ajax Comedy Club.
• 🍽️ Bites & Banter, Oct 15, 5:30–8:30pm, Market at 70 King, Oshawa. Ticket includes the show, a food-hall meal and a drink.
• 🎃 Fall Fling, Oct 17 & 24, 11:30am–3pm, Millennium Square, Pickering. Free train rides, pumpkin painting and costume contests.
• 👻 Hallowe'en Fest, Oct 24–25, Pickering Museum Village.
• 🎮 GTA Radio Live with Double Experience, Oct 29, Biltmore Theatre, 19+.
• 🚗 Free Trunk or Treat, Oct 30, 6:30–8pm, Hope Church (35 Kings Cres), Ajax. No sign-up needed.

📍 Local gem: Buzzing Bees Adventure Farm (Brock)

Brock is the Durham town this newsletter hasn't gotten to yet, and I'd been waiting for a good reason to fix that. It turned up in a local Instagram roundup: a corn maze north of Sunderland that's also an escape room. The farm calls it the Pirate Puzzle Hunt, but "a corn maze with puzzles" undersells it.

Buzzing Bees is run by Rick and Stephanie Smith, who opened it in fall 2020 to get back to their rural Ontario roots. The main event is a 10-acre maze with eight pirate-themed puzzle stations. Solve all eight and you unlock a treasure chest (there are small prizes while they last). The puzzles range from easy to properly hard, so there's something for younger kids and something to keep adults busy. Just getting out takes about 45 minutes; give yourself a couple of hours if you're going for all eight. If someone hits their limit, there are emergency exits throughout the maze. Beyond the maze there's a pedal-kart track, pumpkin bowling, an elastic-band shooting range, U-pick pumpkins in eight varieties, and farm-stand maple syrup, eggs and kettle corn. It's at 1070 Concession Rd 5, Sunderland, open Fridays noon–5pm and weekends 10am–6pm. Admission is $10, and kids under 2 get in free. No dogs in the maze.

💚 Why it's worth the drive: it's ten dollars, it keeps teenagers and grown-ups busy as well as little kids, and it gives you a reason to head north to Brock this fall.

👨‍👩‍👧 This weekend, with littles

• 🪩 Sat, Oct 3, 10:30am — GOLDEN: A K-Pop Kids Party, Biltmore Theatre, Oshawa. Costumes very much encouraged.
• 🥔 Sat–Sun, Oct 3–4 — Dig your own potatoes at Bragg Farms, Bowmanville. Kids ride the tractor free. Last weekend.
• 🏟️ Sat, Oct 3, 1–5pm — Bowmanville Community Complex Open House. Let them run laps in the new dome.
• 🎨 Sun, Oct 4, 10am–2pm — Culture Days Trailside Finale, Bowmanville. Free, with chalk art and a puppet show.
• 🏴‍☠️ Fri–Sun — Pirate Puzzle Hunt at Buzzing Bees, Sunderland. $10, under-2s free.

Before you go — a few things with a deadline

• 🌱 Closes Sat, Oct 10 — Little Shop of Horrors at Oshawa Little Theatre (62 Russett Ave). Two weekends left to see the plant eat everyone.
• 🏀 Fri, Oct 2, 10am — Harlem Globetrotters tickets go on sale for their Jan 30, 2027 Rivalry Tour stop at 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