Kate's 5 fun things to do in and around Waterloo region: May 30 to June 1
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The calendar will turn a page this weekend from May to June with some moderate temperatures in the forecast ahead of what's expected to be a hot week.
Art Market returns to uptown Waterloo Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. This monthly market features handmade goods created by local artists, crafters, and makers and people can also enjoy live music in Waterloo Public Square.
The Treading Theatre Festival has performances Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Schneider Haus in Kitchener. The festival features local and independent artists with a few different productions in different areas of the museum including the attic, kitchen and outside.
Theatre festival featuring independent artists coming to Kitchener
4 days ago
Duration 1:03
There's a new festival in Kitchener this week. The Treading Theatre Festival features plays by local and independent artists. It will transform the Schneider Haus national historic site into a stage. Co-creators Ciarán Myers and Maria Colonescu told CBC K-W's Aastha Shetty more about the festival.
The Fergus Fiber Festival is Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be demonstrations, displays, vendors and live animals including alpacas, sheep and angora rabbits at the event in downtown Fergus.
There's a citywide yard sale in Stratford Saturday morning with people setting up on their front lawns, driveways and trunk sales in parking lots.
The Etsy Waterloo Region Spring Market will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at RIM Park in Waterloo, featuring more than 75 local artisans.
A Bike Month kickoff event is going to be held in Royal City Park near downtown Guelph Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a community ride, a free repair stand plus activities for children.
On Sunday, there's a Writer's Market and Summertime Storytelling Clothesline Art Sale at Homer Watson House and Gallery in Kitchener. Art for sale will include pieces themed primarily around the literary world.
If unique vehicles are your thing, there will be the Downtown Guelph Exotic Car Show Sunday starting at 12 p.m.
The Kitchener Panthers host the Barrie Baycats on Sunday with first pitch at 2 p.m. at Jack Couch Park.
The Guelph Royals have a 1 p.m. game Saturday at home versus the London Majors, then hit the road Sunday to take on Hamilton.
If you need to drive this weekend, here are some local gas prices:
Open Ears
All weekend
Various locations downtown Kitchener
This festival features a mix of local, national and international artists in a variety of unique performances and workshops. The festival plays with sound. That includes an art installation that combines data, sound and light that people can interact with, a synth petting zoo — synthesizers and electronic instruments people can try out — and various performances people can watch and experience.
There are some free events and some are ticketed.
Open Ears website
Pride Eve Party
Saturday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
22 Bridgeport Rd. W., Waterloo
On the eve of Pride month, this all-ages party will have something for everyone. The afternoon begins with a clothing swap, then there's line dancing, an open mic session, live music and a drag show. Throughout the event there will also be vendors and services set up in the hall.
Guelph Dance Festival
All weekend
Various locations
This festival features various dance performances, workshops and a dance party to celebrate.
Workshops and performances in Exhibition Park are pay-what-you-can while there are ticketed events at the River Run Centre and the University of Guelph ImprovLab.
New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale
Friday 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 7:30 a.m. until late afternoon
New Hamburg Arena
This very popular event gets underway Friday night when people can get a preview of the incredible quilts that will be on the auction block on Saturday, listen to music, check out some vendors and take part in the Voices Together Community Hymn Sing in the grandstand.
On Saturday, there's a pancake and sausage breakfast to start the day. A special run will begin at 8 a.m. and then the quilt auction gets underway at 8:30 a.m.
There are family events throughout the day including a kids zone and an outdoor "work and play" auction.
Bee and Pollinator Day
Saturday 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Waterloo Public Library, Eastside Branch
Celebrate bees and other pollinators at this all-ages, drop-in event. People can make a bee house, create pollinator-friendly seed paper and plant flowers using seeds from the seed library.
Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Waterloo Public Library, Eastside Branch
Local author Kate Jenks Landry will be reading from her new picture book A Summer Without Anna. There will also be special activities, songs and crafts.
Kitchener author's new book tells nostalgic story of summers spent in cottage country
2 days ago
Duration 1:32
Kitchener author Kate Jenks Landry has a new children's book out. A Summer Without Anna tells the story of a young Junie who spends the summer with her grandparents because her older sister is sick. While Junie misses her family, she also has little adventures — including looking for an elusive giant turtle. Kate Jenks Landry told CBC K-W's Aastha Shetty more about the new book, which was inspired by the author's own life.
Bonus: Hohner Ave. Porch Party
Saturday 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Hohner Avenue, Kitchener
Bring a lawn chair and some snacks and lawn hop to various concerts in the neighbourhood for this annual porch party. Performers include Michael Bennett, Eric Jackson and the Willow River Band, Silvia Dee and The Boyfriend, Gin Lane, Friday Empire, The Knockoffs and more. The finale will feature Mixology a capella chorus and Onion Honey.
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Kitchener author Kate Jenks Landry new children's book, A Summer Without Anna, tells the story of young Junie who spends the summer with her grandparents because her older sister is sick. While Junie does miss her family, she also has little adventures, including looking for an elusive giant turtle. Landry joined CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris to talk about how she drew inspiration from her own summer experiences. Audio of this interview can be found at the bottom of this story. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Craig Norris: Congratulations on the book! Tell us about Junie? Kate Jenks Landry: Junie is fictional, but the story draws on experiences from my own childhood, so she's sort of an alternate version of me, as I had a similar experience when I was a child. My brother was ill and in the hospital quite a lot and I spent a lot of time with family and friends. My brother was younger than me, not older. So there are differences that drew the character in a slightly different direction. But I think similarly to me, she uses a newfound interest in art. In her case it's photography to kind of make sense of the world around her and the challenges that maybe other kids her age aren't facing. And even though she's being so well cared for and is so loved, she's figuring out all of this stuff that's happening and she's using a camera. For me, it was writing, but I wanted to give her something to help her sort of capture the world around her and tell a story. Norris: And was there a cottage in your past? Jenks Landry: There sure was! Norris: What do you remember when you think of that? What were the sights and smells that you think about? Jenks Landry: My cottage was on Crane Lake, which is near Parry Sound and it belonged to my Nan and Pop, just like Junies Nan and Pop. And it was such a core place in my childhood. It was like a typical kind of Muskoka cottage with the evergreen trees and that black-green water. And there was a turtle, a large ancient turtle. And no one could remember how old, no one remembered it not being there. And once a summer or every few years, you'd see it, there'd be a sighting. In the book, the turtles' name is Edmund. In real life, the turtle didn't have a name, but Edmund was the name of my grandfather who owned the cottage. A really interesting thing I think people don't realize about picture books unless you're the author or illustrator, the illustrator is the one who's comes up with the vision for character design and setting. The illustrator of this book, Risa Hugo, who grew up in Japan and Vancouver. So she has a very different set of references. It wasn't really a Muskoka setting but was her take on a lake cottage. She said she was really inspired by the movie My Neighbor Totoro which was something that when she was Junie's age, she was obsessed with watching over and over again. So she had this kind of idyllic, almost English-looking countryside. So even though it's rooted in those really classic Muskoka cottage memories for me, the kind of alchemy of the illustrator working with my words created something completely different. Kitchener author's new book tells nostalgic story of summers spent in cottage country 4 days ago Duration 1:32 Kitchener author Kate Jenks Landry has a new children's book out. A Summer Without Anna tells the story of a young Junie who spends the summer with her grandparents because her older sister is sick. While Junie misses her family, she also has little adventures — including looking for an elusive giant turtle. Kate Jenks Landry told CBC K-W's Aastha Shetty more about the new book, which was inspired by the author's own life. Norris: Risa Hugo's art is beautiful! Jenks Landry: It really is! Risa has done a lot of really amazing Canadian books. She has another book Metis Like Me that has just been honoured and I'm just so honoured to have worked with her. Norris: What does it do for you to get something out there that's this personal? Jenks Landry: It's really complex. I think I wanted to do something that tapped into an experience that I had that was really challenging, but also very formative for me. I think going through something really challenging when you're young forced me to kind of constantly be in a mode of observing and making sense of the world. That sort of was the origin of my being a writer, and I wanted to tell that story. And I think a lot of kids have similar experiences of having to be away from parents or their bedroom or their home at a time when something difficult is happening in their families. So I wanted it to be personal and drawn those sort of core personal memories. But I also wanted to keep it open enough that kids with maybe similar in some ways, but different versions of that experience could, find something in it. And I, I felt like there wasn't really a ton of stories out there that spoke to what it was to be a sibling or just be a kid who's just kind of off on the side while your parents are off dealing with something else. Norris: That's true. I mean, you think about Junie's trip to the cottage, and in a parent's mind, you're thinking, 'Oh, well, this is beautiful, she's just gonna escape for this summer.' But that doesn't really actually happen. Jenks Landry: No, and I think it's a combination. I really love children's books that are complex and are not just one thing because this experience wasn't just one thing for me. For children, I think that's always the case. So beautiful memories are happening at the same time that really profound challenges are. So for Junie, I think she's having these really poignant memories with her grandfather in their fishing boat. She's being comforted by her grandmother and by the water itself. Swimming in the lake and being submerged in in bodies of water has always been very calming for me. I wanted to kind of think about how immersion in nature and in family is bringing comfort even in the midst of all of these challenges. And for me, I have those memories of the cottage. But also, I had an aunt and uncle that I stayed with that had a backyard pool. And I would just spend eight hours a day in this pool and my aunt would bring me peanut butter sandwiches at the side of the pool because I wouldn't get out.
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2 days ago
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Antoni Cimolino's well-acted Winter's Tale wrestles with oddities in Shakespeare's script
Title: The Winter's Tale Written by: William Shakespeare Performed by: Graham Abbey, Yanna McIntosh, Sara Topham, Austin Eckert, Tom McCamus, Marissa Orjalo, Tom Rooney, André Sills Director: Antoni Cimolino Company: Stratford Festival Venue: Tom Patterson Theatre City: Stratford Year: Until Sep. 27, 2025 'A sad tale's best for winter,' little Mamillius tells his mother when she asks for a story. As if spoken into existence, the events that follow are very sad indeed, with disastrous implications for Mamillius (Philip Myers on opening night of The Winter's Tale), his mother (Sara Topham) and his sister (Marissa Orjalo). When we next see the tiny prince, it's as a memory – a tiny child forever playing in a starlit afterlife. Oft-considered one of Shakespeare's 'problem plays' for its odd structure, The Winter's Tale begins with one of the Bard's more twisted psychological tests: King Leontes (a superb Graham Abbey), out of his mind with doomy rage, accuses his pregnant wife Hermione (Topham) of infidelity with King Polixenes (André Sills). When she denies the accusations, the play turns tragic: Her newborn daughter Perdita (Orjalo) is exiled to the coast of Bohemia, while the mother and her toddling son die of heartbreak. The play, so very dark in its first half, is a brooder that, for a while, rivals King Lear or Romeo and Juliet. But after intermission, the work mutates into a pastoral comedy with a decidedly light ending, and in Stratford Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino's production, those halves never bind together in a way that makes for a satisfying story. Down the street at the Festival Theatre, Chris Abraham helms a pastoral comedy with similarly disparate acts. But in As You Like It, Abraham interrogates the relationship between the genre's form and its content in a way that feels intentional and bold; here, the fault lines in Shakespeare's dramatic structure are left to echo. Cimolino leans hard into each tonal shift – the shimmer of early childhood, the draconian gloom of Leontes's court, the Midsommar-esque merriment of Perdita's newfound clan – and often the production is enjoyable. But the momentum of the first act, led by Abbey in a tour de force performance as the tortured king, fizzles out by the time we get to know Perdita and her adoptive family. And once Perdita's surrogate father (played by Tom McCamus) steps aside for his daughter to rediscover her noble heritage, the play is all but over – an 'all's well that ends well' predicated upon, among other things, a sentient statue. Oddities in the play's dramaturgy aside, Cimolino offers a stylish, well-acted production that goes toe to toe with the heavier hitters being staged in the Avon and Festival theatres. Topham is heartbreaking as Hermione, Orjalo buoyant and jovial as Perdita. McCamus, once more this season sharing the stage with Tom Rooney, is breezy and droll as the pastoral shepherd, and Rooney is similarly amusing, clad in fabulous faux facial hair alongside Sills. Lucy Peacock, costumed in an Angels in America-style set of enormous wings, oversees the whole affair as Time, ushering the mortals in Leontes's orbit through the tribulations that accompany a long life on earth. It's perhaps Francesca Callow's costumes that shine the brightest in Cimolino's production, luminous gowns and flower crowns that suggest a happier, simpler life in the fabled land of Bohemia. A few mismatched hairpieces aside, the fashion of this production is top-notch, as airy as the springtime celebrations that open the play's second half. Other design elements, however, are less impressive. Douglas Paraschuk's sparse set sees lace doilies hung from the ceiling that raise and lower in accordance with Time's demands. There's a neat visual effect that sees the strips of fabric project interesting shadows onto the Tom Patterson Theatre stage, but the choice feels otherwise ungrounded, and strangely minimalistic against Callow's luxurious costumes. And, to address the elephant – or bear – in the room, Shakespeare's most famous stage direction is executed here somewhat disappointingly. 'Exeunt, pursued by a bear' is one of the playwright's wilder directives, and in Cimolino's production, the bear is neither an actor in a suit nor a puppet (nor even a projected beast). No: The bear, in this case, is a sound cue. In a lesser year of Stratford Festival programming, this convincingly-acted Winter's Tale would be a must-see – and indeed, die-hard Bard fans can rest assured Cimolino's production is perfectly fine. But if a dramaturgically rigorous pastoral is what you're after – or theatre tech that briefly makes you forget the constraints of live theatre – I'd suggest checking out the fest's other offerings first.
