Kate's 5 fun things to do in and around Waterloo region: March 14 to 16

CBC

14-03-2025

It will feel like a proper spring weekend with rain and warmer temperatures to wrap up March break.
There are many St. Patrick's Day events in local restaurants and bars ahead of the actual celebration on Monday.
Friday night, the Kitchener Rangers will host the North Bay Battalion at The Aud, then hit the road to Owen Sound on Saturday.
WATCH | The Rangers held a fan event this week in downtown Kitchener:
Kitchener Rangers meet the fans at Downtown Showdown
3 days ago
Duration 3:19
The Kitchener Rangers were showing gratitude to fans on Tuesday in downtown Kitchener's Carl Zehr Square. Attendees of the first ever Downtown Showdown had a chance to meet the players, get their merchandise signed and watch the Blueshirts compete in a 3 vs. 3 ball hockey tournament. CBC K-W's Karis Mapp stopped by the event to chat with some of the people there.
The Guelph Storm are home Friday to the Owen Sound Attack, then will be in Erie, P.A., to take on the Otters on Sunday.
The K-W Titans basketball team have a home game Sunday where they'll host the Jamestown Jackals. The game is also a "mismatched sock game" in support of the Waterloo Wellington Down Syndrome Society. The game begins at 2 p.m.
If you need to drive this weekend, here are some local gas prices:
Conestoga Powwow
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Conestoga College, Doon campus, Kitchener
This is the 15th year for the powwow, which is put on by Indigenous Student Services and Indigenous Initiatives.
This year will feature special guest Adriel Harjo, a youth singer and language speaker from Six Nations of the Grand River.
The day will include music and dancing, including head dancers AJ Douglas and Adrian Klein, and drumming groups Little Creek Singers, Old Style Singers, Red Tail Singers, All Nations Juniors, Chippewa Travellers, Old Soul Singers and Snide Creek Singers.
General admission is $5. Entry is free for students with identification and children under five.
Conestoga College event page
College Royal Open House
Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
University of Guelph
The annual College Royal open house means the campus is buzzing with activities planned by students for the community.
Favourites include the pancake flipping, junior tractor rodeo, Old MacDonald's Farm, cat and dog shows, kid's carnival and lots of other activities. Visit the food science building for milkshakes (bring cash).
Irish Real Life Festival
All weekend
Various venues
The Irish Real Life Festival continues this weekend with several events. There are lots of musical performances and workshops, a ceili in the pavilion in Victoria Park in Kitchener, a talk called Diaspora Relationships that looks at the historical relationship between Indigenous people and the Irish.
If you think Irish culture is just green beer and shamrocks...think again. The Irish Real Life Festival wants to show you true Irish culture. And it's happening right now. Festival director, Sue Nally, talks about what's happening in the lead up to St. Patrick's Day.
Keeping Time: Opening Reception
Saturday 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square branch
Keeping Time is an exhibit by Laura Peturson and Andrew Ackerman. It reflects their experience of being parents and, the event page says, "their feelings on the insularity of family and the nature of time, which is often made so evident in the rapid and dramatic changes of children."
Light snacks and refreshments will be served. The exhibit will remain up until May 31.
Cambridge Public Library / Idea Exchange event page
Stitch Social
Saturday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Kitchener Public Library main branch
Bring a project to the library to knit or crochet and sit with others as they work on their projects, get tips from each other in this free, drop-in session for adults. If you can't make it this month, that's OK. The Stitch Social happens each month.