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🌈 I ❤️ YGK From Fort Henry during YGK Craft Beerfest 2026

Local Spotlight

🔦 Several amazing local spotlight articles are coming up soon !

Kingston & Area Local News

🏞️ Free Sport-Equipment Lockers Land in 30 Kingston Parks
🏛️ Mayor for a Day: One Grade 5 Student Gets the Keys (Apply by June 19)

Community Champions

⛵ Kingston's Will Keilty, 15, Becomes the First Canadian to Win an Optimist Championship
🏆 Great Lakes Museum Named Ontario's Top Small Museum
👮 Kingston's Community Volunteers Mark 30 Years of Showing Up

New Events In and Around Kingston

🚒 Pull Together for Epilepsy Fire Truck Pull | Confederation Park | July 19
🕊️ Walter Fenlon Public Celebration of Life | The Grand Theatre | June 20
🪶 National Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration | Confederation Park | June 21
🎬 Movies in the Square Returns for Season 19 | Springer Market Square | June 25
🎨 Artfest Kingston | City Park | June 26-28

Events Calendar

It’s gotten too long to include here in the summary! Click Events Calendar to see so many great events!

👉 Please Share Your Feedback

🎨📸 Are you a local artist or photographer? We'd love to feature your work!

If you've captured Kingston and the surrounding area through your lens or your brushstrokes, we want to hear from you. We're especially looking for seasonal work that shows off the beauty and scenes of our corner of Ontario.

Drop a line at [email protected] with a sample of what you think would be a great fit and a bit about yourself (note: the crops will somehow need to work well at both 1200×630 and 9:16)

Grab a soccer ball, a frisbee, or a set of ping pong paddles at the park, no purchase and no planning required. The City of Kingston, Canadian Tire Jumpstart, and Swiss firm Equip Sport have put free, self-serve sport-equipment lockers in 30 local parks. You open a locker with the free Equip Sport app and borrow gear for up to an hour, with stock that varies by park from volleyballs to footballs to fitness equipment. Jumpstart funds the entire pilot, including any lost or stolen gear, at no cost to the City, and Kingston is just the third Ontario municipality to get the lockers after Toronto and Ottawa. The program launched at Molly McGlynn Park in the east end on Thursday, June 11. As Grade 8 student Meika Sebastian put it, "I don't have to buy a new soccer ball, I can just come and play for free." You can find the full park list on the City's Equip Sport lockers page.

Read the full story at: City of Kingston

One lucky Grade 5 student is about to run Kingston for a day. The City of Kingston's Mayor for a Day program picks one student to shadow Mayor Bryan Paterson, touring City Hall, sitting in the mayor's chair in Council Chambers, joining a meeting and a community event, and sharing lunch. To enter, students submit a short video answering why they want to be mayor, what their first action would be, what they hope to learn, where they would visit, and their favourite thing about Kingston. "Mayor for a Day is a chance for students to get involved, share their ideas, and see firsthand how local decisions are made," Paterson said. Applications close Friday, June 19 at 4 p.m., and the winner needs to bring an adult along for the big day. Apply and learn more at Get Involved Kingston.

Kingston teen Will Keilty just made sailing history. The 15-year-old Kingston Yacht Club sailor became the first Canadian ever to win an International Optimist Dinghy Association championship, taking the 2026 Optimist North American title on Halifax Harbour. He did it the hard way, sitting 41st after the opening race in one of the older charter boats, then reeling off six straight wins to take the title by eight points over American Briggs Kossmann in a 172-boat fleet drawn from across the Americas, the Caribbean, Japan, and Hong Kong. Keilty credited teammate Kai Luther and Team Canada coach Federico Donzino, and he also helped Canada earn bronze in the North American Team Racing Championship.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

More good news for one of our favourite local landmarks. Kingston's Great Lakes Museum, home of the S.S. Keewatin, has been named the Top Small Museum at Attraction Ontario's Ontario Choice Awards, announced at the organization's annual general meeting. It's a well-earned nod for a heritage attraction we've featured before, and a perfect excuse to go aboard the Keewatin this season if you haven't yet.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

For three decades, one of the friendliest faces at Kingston's biggest community events has belonged to a volunteer. The Kingston Police Community Volunteers (KPCV) are celebrating 30 years since they formed in 1996, and these days about 56 trained volunteers give thousands of hours every year. They turn up at the Princess Street Promenade, Queen's Homecoming, Remembrance Day, the Santa Claus Parade, the Teddy Bear Picnic, intercultural festivals, Shop With a Cop, and Cram the Cruiser food drives, and they deliver Meals on Wheels with VON. The group keeps growing, too, with 16 new volunteers in February and three new patrol bikes added last year. "The Kingston Police Community Volunteers have made an extraordinary impact on our community over the past 30 years," said Chief Adam MacIntosh. If you'd like to join them, the KPCV volunteering page has the details.

Read the full story at: Kingston Police

Think your crew can move a fire truck? Epilepsy South Eastern Ontario is rallying teams for the 11th annual Pull Together for Epilepsy Fire Truck Pull, and they reached out hoping Kingston turns out in force. Teams of eight raise a set minimum, then haul a 37,000-pound Kingston Fire & Rescue truck 100 feet, one foot for each of the 1 in 100 people living with epilepsy. Last year eight teams pulled in more than $35,000, and every dollar stays local. It all happens Sunday, July 19 at Confederation Park, in front of City Hall. Round up a team or donate at the Pull Together for Epilepsy page, or call 613-542-6222.

Kingston is invited to honour a man who gave a great deal to this city. A public celebration of life for philanthropist Walter Fenlon, who died May 11 at 93, will be held Saturday, June 20 at The Grand Theatre, 218 Princess St. Fenlon co-chaired the campaign to restore the Grand and served on boards for KGH, Hotel Dieu, the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area, and the Kingston Symphony. Everyone is welcome to attend. You can read more about his remarkable life in Kingstonist’s obituary.

Kingston marks the 30th National Indigenous Peoples Day on Sunday, June 21 with a free, day-long celebration in Confederation Park, across from City Hall. Presented by the Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest with support from the City of Kingston, the day brings drumming, singing, dancing, storytelling, cultural workshops, and community booths, plus Indigenous artisan vendors and a Kids Zone with an inflatable corn maze and face painting. Come hungry, with food such as Momochtli popcorn, and vendors including Adelitaz Kingston (sometimes misspelled as Adelitas?). Read more at the City of Kingston.

Grab a blanket: Downtown Kingston's free outdoor cinema is back. Movies in the Square returns for Season 19 with eight free Thursday films at dusk at Springer Market Square, running June 25 through August 27. Opening night on June 25 is The Greatest Showman, and a Forever Hip sing-along lands on the August 20 bill. Bring your own chairs or blankets, or reserve a spot in the Star Lounge for $10 per person or $40 for a family of five. Details and reserved seating are at Downtown Kingston.

One of Kingston's favourite art weekends is back. Artfest Kingston returns to City Park from Friday to Sunday, June 26 to 28, the weekend before Canada Day. Now run by Kingston Artist Events, the show gathers 200-plus artists and makers from across Canada, with painting, sculpture, photography, pottery, jewellery, glass, wood, and metal, plus food trucks, coffee, poetry, Indigenous Arts, and a kids area. It runs rain or shine. Full details are at Artfest Kingston.

⛳ Sandra Davison Memorial Golf Classic  |  Loyalist Golf & Country Club, Bath  |  June 19

🚤 Rideau Canal Free Lockage Begins  |  Rideau Canal  |  June 19 (through Sept 7)

🎸 Skeleton Park Arts Festival  |  McBurney Park  |  June 19–21

🏞️ South Frontenac Lakes & Trails Festival  |  McMullen Park Beach, Verona  |  June 20

🛍️ Princess Street Promenade  |  Princess Street, Downtown Kingston  |  June 20

🧠 Kingston Brain Tumour Walk  |  Newlands Pavilion, Kingston  |  June 21

🛠️ Makers at the Mill (Father’s Day)  |  Babcock Mill, Odessa  |  June 21

⚽ FIFA World Cup Fan Zone  |  Springer Market Square, Kingston  |  June 27

🎸 Line Spike Frontenac  |  Natural amphitheatre, Harrowsmith  |  June 27–28

🐾 Puppies + Jazz  |  The Caesar Company  |  June 28

🥩 Schnitzel Fundraiser Dinner  |  Golden Links Hall, Harrowsmith  |  July 18

🛍️ Princess Street Promenade  |  Princess Street, Downtown Kingston  |  August 1

🛶 Rideau Canal Lock & Paddle  |  Rideau Canal  |  August 15

⚔️ Ironwood Fantasy Fair  |  The Spire, Kingston  |  August 15

Ongoing Events

🎭 Very Heaven  |  Domino Theatre, 52 Church St  |  through June 20

🚢 S.S. Keewatin Tours  |  Great Lakes Museum  |  Season open

Ongoing Markets

🥕 Kingston Public Market  |  Springer Market Square, downtown  |  Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays

🥬 Memorial Centre Farmers’ Market  |  303 York St  |  Sundays

🎪 Gananoque Farmers’ Market  |  Town Hall Square, 30 King St E  |  Thursdays

🛠️ Makers at the Mill  |  Babcock Mill, Odessa  |  Sundays (through Oct 18)

🪶 Katarokwi Indigenous Market  |  Springer Market Square  |  Monthly Sundays (June–Sept)

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