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Happy Sunday, Thunder Bay! A mix of sun and cloud, a high of 22°C, and a north wind climbing to 30 km/h and gusting to 50 through the morning. In today's issue: the province is about to tender the first stretch of the expressway rebuild, Lakehead doubles the goal on a program that walks kids to university, Anishinaabe Keeshigun wraps its second day at the Fort, and a car wash that has quietly raised more than $19,000 for diabetes care. Plus eight things to do over the next five days. 🪶
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
Trivia: Sea otters have a loose pouch of skin tucked under each forelimb — what do they keep in there? (Answer at the bottom!)
Thunder Bay Events
Keeshigun's closing day at the Fort, free music in two parks on back-to-back afternoons, and the last week of August arrives with both Ribfest and Harbourfest opening Thursday. ✅ Outdoor events can shift on short notice — confirm with the organizer before you head out, especially with north gusts to 50 km/h Sunday morning.
Sunday, August 23
AUG 23 · Anishinaabe Keeshigun — final day — 11 a.m.–5 p.m. · 📍 Fort William Historical Park, 1350 King Rd. · Free · Day two of the annual celebration of Anishinaabe culture, with regional dancers and drum groups, traditional games, and artisans demonstrating beadwork, quillwork and snowshoe weaving · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 23 · Sundays in the Park Concert Series — 1:30–3:30 p.m. · 📍 Chippewa Park Main Stage, 1735 City Rd. · Free · Bring a lawn chair for an afternoon of local live music north of the Pavilion, run by the Friends of Chippewa Park · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 23 · Young Guns (All Ages Show) — 8–11:30 p.m. · 📍 Black Pirates Pub, 215 Red River Rd. · $15 · An all-ages night on the Red River Road strip, so the under-19 crowd gets a look in too · 📅 Add to Calendar
Monday, August 24
AUG 24 · Monday Evening Concerts at Waverley Park — 6:30–9 p.m. · 📍 Waverley Park, Waverley St. · The Coalition for Waverley Park's summer concert night, and Monday is the sunniest day of the week at 25°C · 📅 Add to Calendar
Tuesday, August 25
AUG 25 · Tai Chi in the Park — 7–8 p.m. · 📍 Tai Chi Pad, Marina Park, Water St. · Free · Drop-in sessions on the waterfront, open to everyone and no experience needed · 📅 Add to Calendar
Wednesday, August 26
AUG 26 · Live on the Waterfront — Summer Send-Off — 6–9 p.m. (also Thursday, 6–10 p.m.) · 📍 Festival Area, Marina Park · Free · The two-night close of the city's summer concert series, with food, vendors and family activities alongside the music · 📅 Add to Calendar
Thursday, August 27
AUG 27 · Ribfest 2026 — opening day — 11 a.m.–9 p.m., through Sunday · 📍 Thunder City Speedway, Lucy Dr. · Four days of barbecue, live bands and beer gardens, with a classic car show on the Saturday · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 27 · Harbourfest — 4–11 p.m. · 📍 100–200 block, Red River Rd. · A 90s downtown festival revived by the Waterfront District BIA, with live music, sidewalk sales, dog contests, a fashion show and local vendors · 📅 Add to Calendar
✅ NO WEATHER ALERTS IN EFFECT
Environment Canada had no watches or warnings posted for Thunder Bay as of Saturday evening. No rain in the Sunday forecast, but the north wind gusts to 50 km/h through the morning — worth a thought if you are heading out on the water or setting up anything light outdoors. Latest alerts at Environment Canada.
⛅ Sunday, August 23 — Thunder Bay
22°C
Overnight low 7°C
Sun and cloud · North wind 30 km/h gusting 50 · No rain expected · UV 6 (high)
A dry day, but a breezy one. Expect a mix of sun and cloud with no measurable rain in the forecast — the shower risk cleared out overnight. The high is 22°C, close to the seasonal normal. The catch is the wind: it turns north at 30 km/h and gusts to 50 through the morning, which will make anywhere open — the Fort, Chippewa, the waterfront — feel cooler than the number suggests, so bring a layer. The UV index is 6, or high, so sunscreen still earns its keep between the clouds. Skies clear in the evening and the low drops to 7°C, chilly for late August. Monday then turns sunny and 25°C before showers return midweek. Full forecast and any new alerts at Environment Canada.
The expressway rebuild goes to tender next month
City councillors came back from the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa with a date attached to a project people here have been complaining about for decades. Coun. Trevor Giertuga, who chairs the city's intergovernmental affairs committee, says the Ministry of Transportation told the delegation it will award the design-build contract next month for 13 kilometres of the Trans-Canada through Thunder Bay — the first step of a $450 million job that eventually replaces six sets of traffic lights with interchanges. Paired with the $33 million Northwest Arterial, the city's pitch is that it finally unclogs the bottleneck at the front door. The delegation met seven provincial representatives over four days, including the ministers of infrastructure and health and the solicitor general, and also came home to a federal-provincial announcement of $1 billion for municipalities that don't charge development fees — a club Thunder Bay is, as Giertuga put it, the only member of above 100,000 people. How much of that lands here, nobody can say yet.
🗳️ Your call: six sets of lights, 13 kilometres, $450 million, and a contract due next month. Worth it?
The province says the first 13 km of the expressway rebuild goes to tender next month, swapping six sets of traffic lights for interchanges. What's your take?
Lakehead doubles the goal on a program that starts in Grade 4
Lakehead University hit its $1 million fundraising target for its achievement program earlier this year, and marked it Friday by launching a campaign for another $2 million — kick-started by a $64,517 gift from the Lakehead University Alumni Association. The program has been running since 2011 and works on a long timeline: kids enrol in Grade 4, and if they hit the requirements year over year, they earn first-year tuition at Lakehead when they finish high school. Roughly 500 students from school boards across Northwestern Ontario took part last year, mostly through athletics and a campus summer camp, and the plan is to grow that to more than 1,400 a year. Program manager Amanda Stefanile says eight participants have now enrolled at Lakehead and two graduated in May — some of whom have come back to work with the next group of kids.
Anishinaabe Keeshigun's second day at the Fort
Anishinaabe Keeshigun runs its closing day at Fort William Historical Park today, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The celebration has been going since 1982, when it was started by Elder Frieda McDonald, and has carried a few names over the years — Ojibwe Days, Ojibwe Keeshigun — before settling on this one. Elliott Cromarty, the park's Indigenous heritage program coordinator, describes it as a showcase of Anishinaabe peoples and culture, and of resilience: “these skills were maintained over the years, through those dark times as well.” Expect a pow wow with regional dancers and drum groups, traditional games including baggataway (lacrosse), and artisans demonstrating snowshoe weaving, quill work, beadwork and beaver hide preparation. There's food too — bannock, wild rice, corn, smoked fish and a strawberry drink.
Five years of suds for diabetes care
It started with one father and one diagnosis. Patrick Simonaitis set up a car wash five years ago after his son was diagnosed with diabetes, then decided it needed something more — so he went and got the fire trucks. “I came in the next day and I said, ‘OK, I have the fire trucks,’” he said. The fifth annual diabetes car wash ran Saturday afternoon in the Intercity Shopping Centre lot, with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue pumpers back again to help. The first year brought in just over $3,000; last year's cleared $7,000, and the first four years together raised more than $19,000 — all of it staying in the city. The money supports diabetes services at St. Joseph's Care Group's Heritage site on Carrie Street, which works with both adults and kids, including counselling and dietary help for families. “There's a lot of stress that comes to families when a child is diagnosed,” said St. Joseph's Foundation CEO Gail Brescia. “So we're there to support them.”
Meme of the Day
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Trivia answer: Groceries — and a favourite rock. The pouch works like a built-in pocket: an otter stuffs it with clams, urchins and crabs while diving, and many hang on to one preferred stone down there to smash the shells open against their chest once they surface.
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