Kate's 5 fun things to do in and around Waterloo region: April 11 to 13
The forecast looks really nice for this weekend, with sun and warmer temperatures expected.
The first Guelph Beer Bus run of the season is on Saturday. The breweries in the city have teamed up to provide transportation between their sites each month. The theme for this month is All Out 90s.
It's April Pools Month in Kitchener. Proceeds from public swims at Forest Heights Pool, Breithaupt Centre and Grand River Recreation Complex will go to support Water Smart programs. These swims happen on weekends all this month.
There's a Two Of A Kind Market Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kitchener's city hall to benefit Volunteer Waterloo Region and the MS Society of Canada.
Rihab Azar, virtuoso of the Oud, will be performing in Stratford on Sunday and Monday at two different locations. These concerts, called From Distant Shores, are being presented by INNERChamber Ensemble.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)(Revised)(Again) is on stage at the Guelph Little Theatre all weekend, too.
Note: The Kitchener Rangers are in round two of the playoffs, facing the Windsor Spitfires. There are no home games this weekend. The Rangers will host the Spitfires Monday and Wednesday next week.
(Another note: We're less than a month from local baseball season! Mark your calendars: Kitchener Panthers start their season May 11 in Toronto, while the Guelph Royals begin their season in London on May 16.)
If you're driving this weekend, here are some local gas prices:
K-W Titans vs. Windsor Express
Friday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Aud, Kitchener
In basketball action, the Titans are in the semi-finals and taking on the Windsor Express. Two home games are at The Aud this weekend.
Get there early for pre-game activities and stay afterwards to get autographs from the players.
K-W Titans website
Kidchella
Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
TheMuseum, downtown Kitchener
This kid-sized music festival will feature musicians Randi and Sharon Hampson, The Peanut Butter Jams and Erick Traplin. There will also be a temporary tattoo station, VIP badgets, DIY flower crowns and bracelet making.
TheMuseum event page
Easter Egg-stravaganza
Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Schneider Haus, 466 Queen St. S., Kitchener
Learn how to use natural dyes on your Easter eggs, plant a seed to take home and visit with baby chicks at the museum. There will also be other springtime-themed crafts and people can take part in games like the carrot toss and mini egg hunt.
Tickets are required.
Can't make it this weekend? The museum is also hosting a Hoppy Easter event with baby chicks over the long weekend.
Schneider Haus event page
Bonus: Hespeler Optimist Children's Easter Party
Saturday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Hespeler Memorial Arena
Families are invited for face painting, live entertainment, crafts and, of course, an egg hunt.
Facebook event page
Preserving care for old black walnut tree
Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Woodlawn Memorial Park, Guelph
The Guelph Tree Trust is organizing an event where people can watch specially trained arborists care for an old black walnut tree. The arborists will be pruning the tree, one of the talest deciduous trees in the cemetery.
There will also be a tree tour of the park and the tree trust will talk more about the work they do to preserve old trees in the city.
Tree Trust event page
Soup and Stroll
Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
McDougall Cottage, Cambridge
Take a walking tour of Galt's industrial history and then stay for some Scotch Broth soup. Organizers say it's the perfect blend of history, heritage and relaxed comfort.
Dress for the weather and wear good walking shoes. Pre-registration is required.
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Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
It's a Thunder rule: To work in OKC, you must learn about OKC and what the bombing meant to the city
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The Province
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- The Province
What is a Labubu? And where can you buy one in Metro Vancouver?
Labubu, the trending toy, has become a 'global sensation' and caught the attention of fans young and old, including K-pop superstar Lisa of Blackpink. One place where Canadians can get their hands on an authentic Labubu is through the store Showcase. Photo by Handout Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. There's a new toy craze sweeping social media. It's called Labubu. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors A character pulled from the pages of a picture book series called The Monsters by artist Kasing Lung, the Pop Mart toys are causing a sensation online — and in stores. First released in 2015, the plush toys catapulted into viral territory after fans spotted K-pop superstar Lisa of Blackpink with one of the characters dangling from her bag. In a recent interview with Variety magazine, the Thai singer-actor noted the popularity of the toys has made them even difficult for her to get a hold of. 'I can't stop talking about Labubus. I've been going crazy for them for almost a year, but now I can't really get new Labubus. They're really hard to find. I'm kind of sad,' she said. Trending toys are nothing new. The global toy sales reached $108.7 billion in 2023, according to the Toy Association. And many of those sales are prompted by toy fans eager to collect specific characters and figurines. But, every once in a while, a toy transcends the kid-adult collector line. Similar to the Ty Beanie Babies craze in the late '90s, Labubus are proving popular with a wide variety of toy fans. A recent article in Forbes noted the Beijing-based company's chairman and CEO, Wang Ning, became $1.6 billion richer in a single day thanks to app downloads due to the 'company's surging popularity in the U.S.' And it's making them hard to get a hold of. During the recent launch of the new Big Into Energy collection, the Canadian Pop Mart website appeared to get bogged down with the traffic as fans flooded the site to purchase the products. Disappointed Labubu fans took to the company's social media account to share their frustration at being unable to purchase one of the new figurines. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While the Chinese company has a Canadian website, it does not currently operate Pop Mart stores in the country. A spokesperson for Pop Mart Canada shared in an email to Postmedia that Pop Mart is planning to open 1-2 stores in Canada later in 2025. The company noted it is 'not quite ready' to release more information about the store locations or other opening plans at this time. One place where Canadians can get their hands on an authentic Labubu is through the store Showcase. The trending toys can also be found at select resellers such as Binggo in Richmond and Token Studio in Calgary. Founded in Edmonton in 1994 by Amin Jivraj, Showcase was originally created as an outpost for 'unique gadgets and gizmos in the mall where customers could try it before they buy it,' according to CEO Samir Kulkarni. The company has grown to include 150 stores across Canada and the U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. These days, they're all about viral online trends spanning toys and fan merchandise to novelty foods like Dubai chocolate, specifically targeting the Gen Z consumer. 'We are a data business at our core. We happen to manifest as a retailer, but we are a technology and data company, and so we are tracking data, billions of data points on any given day to try to understand the demand in the marketplace so that we can catch the next big thing,' Kulkarni explains. 'So, over the last 30 years, we've been the first retailer to launch everything from memory foam bedding 20 years ago, before memory foam bedding was a thing, to remote control helicopters, to weighted blankets, to the latest toy sensation or beauty sensation.' Using artificial intelligence to comb social media platforms for up-and-coming trends, Kulkarni says they're now able to 'catch trends' faster than ever. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That approach is what allowed Showcase to jump on the Labubu trend early through its ongoing toy partnership with Pop Mart. 'We are the main retailer of Pop Mart products, which include Labubu in Canada,' he says. One place where Canadians can get their hands on an authentic Labubu is through the store Showcase. Photo by Showcase The Labubu toys at Showcase are priced higher than on the Pop Mart website (in stock for $129.99 on Showcase for the new Big Into Energy Labubu versus sold out and $37.99 on the Pop Mart website). The price increase, according to Kulkarni, is due to the demand and shipping costs. 'We're doing everything we can to try to keep costs reasonable. But it is a difficult environment.' The Showcase executive says new launches appear on their site about two weeks after they launch — and invariably sell out in minutes — on the Pop Mart site. ' But the easiest way that we would recommend to our customers is to go to the local store and see what's available there, because the store receives new stock almost every day,' Kulkarni says. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Facebook Marketplace is another hub for Labubu resale. A search of the term yields dozens of resale posts ranging in price from $20 for a 'Lafufu' — the name bestowed on the fake versions of the trending toy — to $300 for a full set of six Labubu Big Into Energy toys. As the hype around Labubus continues to grow — Kulkarni refers to the toys as a 'global sensation' — the demand for the products seems to show no sign of slowing down. 'It rivals the biggest trends in toys over the past 30 years that we've seen,' he says. 'Whether it's Cabbage Patch Kids or Webkinz or Beanie Babies or Shopkins back in the day, or even Disney Frozen was a giant trend for us. 'It's definitely up there with the big ones, for sure.' Aharris@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks News CFL
CTV News
26-04-2025
- CTV News
Windsor Express to play deciding game five of championship finals
The Windsor Express survived Game 4 of the 2025 Basketball Super League Championship Finals. The best-of-five series against the Sudbury Five is now tied 2-2, after Windsor won 85-79 at the WFCU Centre Friday night. The Express lost Game 1 in overtime 103-100. The team then won Game 2 in Sudbury 104-87. When the series shifted to Windsor on Wednesday night, the Express fell 95-88. Game 5 shifts the action back to Sudbury on Tuesday, April 29 for a winner takes all game. - by AM800's Dustin Coffman
