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🌌 Kingston's Accidental Dark Sky

Kingston & Area Local News

🛼 19 Years on Gardiners Road: Linda and Warren Cavalier Are Hanging Up Their Skates
🏆 Kingston Wants Your Vote on the City's Best New Spaces

Community Champions

🎬 A Standing Ovation for Kingston's School Food Documentary
🩺 KHSC Names Its 2026 Exceptional Healer Award Recipients
🍪 Smile Cookie Breaks Kingston Records: $232,286 for the Inclusive Play Project

New Events In and Around Kingston

🤝 United Way KFL&A Day of Caring | Citywide | June 5
🎣 Red Canoefest | Seeley's Bay Docks | June 6
🇮🇹 Italia Day | Italo-Canadian Club of Kingston | June 7
🏳️‍🌈 Kingston Pride Parade | Memorial Centre to Confederation Park | June 13
🎸 Skeleton Park Arts Festival | McBurney Park | June 19–21
🛍️ Princess Street Promenade | Princess Street, Downtown Kingston | June 20

Events Calendar

It’s gotten too long to include here in the summary! Click Events Calendar to see our list for the next few days.

👉 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)

Since 2007, Play It Again Sports on Gardiners Road has been the place Kingston families turn when a kid shoots up two sizes over the summer and suddenly needs new hockey gear before tryouts. Linda and Warren Cavalier built that into 19 years of business — and as of June 1, the store has new owners. The Cavaliers stayed on for a transition week, long enough to hear a lot of "congratulations" and reminisce about the generations of local athletes who came through their doors. Bittersweet, but well-earned.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

If you've walked past a building, park, or public space in the last couple of years and thought "that's actually really nice" — now's your chance to say so officially. The City of Kingston isaccepting nominations for the 2026 Livable City Design Awards, recognizing buildings, parks, and public spaces completed between 2023 and 2025. Nominations close June 30, with a public People's Choice vote to follow later this year. Worth a few minutes if you have a favourite.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

On May 28, a 35-minute documentary called Before the Bell Rings premiered at Théâtre Le Sésame, and the audience stood up at the end. The film tells the story of the Food Sharing Project, which has been quietly delivering food to 88 schools across KFL&A since the mid-1980s, reaching roughly 16,000 students (about half the region's school population) through 12,000-plus meals and snacks each week, almost entirely run by volunteers. The spark was a conversation at aquafit. The filmmaker, Elie Azzam, arrived from Lebanon about a year ago and made this his first major project in Canada. "I wanted to stand up for my dreams here in Canada," he said. He turned the lens toward the volunteers, not just the kids they feed.

The film comes as Kingston city council declared food insecurity an emergency back in January 2025, with roughly one in three households in the region struggling. A new hot-meals kitchen program opened at Regiopolis-Notre Dame in April, and executive director Andy Mills is retiring after seven years. Chair Brenda Moore put it simply: "We need to do more for our kids. Maybe tonight, you're thinking about how you can be part of that."

Read the full story at: Kingston Whig-Standard

For the 9th year running, Kingston Health Sciences Centre's Patient and Family Advisory Council has handed out its Exceptional Healer Awards, and this year's recipients are a reminder that great care often comes down to presence and follow-through. Cardiologist Dr. Peggy DeJong was recognized for making patients feel genuinely informed during complex cardiac care. Gastroenterology nurse practitioner Chao Zhu was honoured for the kind of continuity and compassion that "could be as simple as a phone call a week after an appointment," as Zhu put it. Both were nominated from a pool of 30 submissions from patients, families, and health-care colleagues.

Read the full story at: Kingstonist

Kingston's Tim Hortons locations raised $232,286.23 through this year's 30th-anniversary Smile Cookie campaign, a new Kingston record. Every dollar stays local: the funds go to the Jumpstart Inclusive Playground at Shannon Park, which is on track to open by September 2026. We covered the campaign launch back in April; this is the result Kingston actually delivered. Not bad for a decorated cookie.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

This Friday, teams from local workplaces fan out across Kingston for United Way KFL&A's annual Day of Caring: painting, gardening, and light maintenance for under-resourced agencies across the city. The day kicks off with a 7:30 am send-off at the Community Food Redistribution Warehouse on Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd, projects run from 9 am to 1 pm, and everyone wraps up with a thank-you BBQ at Lake Ontario Park. Register at dayofcaringkfla.ca.

The Seeley's Bay Area Residents Association is hosting its free family Red Canoefest at the Seeley's Bay Docks this Saturday morning. "Big" Jim McLaughlin and fellow anglers will be on hand for fishing, there are prizes, and snacks are provided. New this year: a Red Canoe Hunt with hidden treasures around the dock area. Kids need to come with an adult; limited gear and life jackets will be available on site.

Read the full story at: Kingston Daily

The Italo-Canadian Club of Kingston is throwing a free family afternoon this Sunday celebrating Italian culture: a Nonne cooking demo, kids activities, BBQ, and beer and wine for purchase. It runs 11 am to 3 pm at 1174 Italia Lane. Details and registration at icckingston.com.

Kingston Pride Week is coming up, and the parade lands on Saturday, June 13, stepping off at noon from the Memorial Centre and rolling through to Confederation Basin for a Community Fair. It's the centrepiece of the Kingston Pride 2026 calendar. Good one to get on the schedule now.

The 21st edition of the Skeleton Park Arts Festival takes over McBurney Park June 19 to 21: free, outdoors, and packed with local, national, and international acts, food vendors, and community booths. The fan-favourite Sunday Porch Jazz Parade is back. Three days, no cover.

On Saturday, June 20, Princess Street closes to traffic for the annual Princess Street Promenade: 100-plus local businesses and community groups, live music, giveaways, free samples, and family activities, all from 10 am to 5 pm. Organized by the Downtown Kingston BIA and sponsored by Amex Canada as part of the #ShopSmall campaign. A great excuse to spend a Saturday on the street.

🎭Finnegans Wake: A Dream Play  |  Kingston Grand Baby Grand  |  May 21–June 7

🎭Very Heaven Domino Theatre  |  52 Church St  |  June 4–20

🤝United Way KFL&A Day of Caring  |  Citywide  |  June 5

🦋Butterfly Release  |  Glenhaven Memorial Gardens, 2563 Perth Rd, Glenburnie  |  June 6

🎣Red Canoefest  |  Seeley's Bay Docks  |  June 6

🚗Martha's Table Carwash Fundraiser  |  BMW Kingston, 1412 Bath Rd  |  June 6

📚Isabel Turner Branch Grand Re-Opening  |  Isabel Turner Branch  |  June 6

🎶Cantabile Choirs: Sunrise Mass  |  Isabel Bader Centre, 390 King St W  |  June 6–7

🍝Italia Day  |  Italo-Canadian Club of Kingston  |  June 7

🌻Lviv, Ukraine Folklore Festival  |  Regiopolis Notre Dame High School  |  June 13–14

🏳️‍🌈Kingston Pride Parade  |  Memorial Centre to Confederation Park  |  June 13

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

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

🎬Movies in the Square (Season 19)  |  Springer Market Square  |  June 25–Aug 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

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