Friday at the Honda Indy Markham

Fridays hit better when it's FREE Fan Friday at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham! Enter with a voluntary donation to Make-A-Wish Canada, sit in a grandstand (for free) or find a general admission viewing, use a PRESTO card to see the IndyCar Paddock and visit the vendors in Thunder Alley. Friday Gates open at 8:30am and cars take to the track at 9am. Gates open Saturday are also at 8:30am while on Sunday they open earlier at 8:00am.

Today also has the NTT IndyCar driver autograph session from 12:30 to 1:30pm in the Pan Am Centre. Go early because there are always giant lineups to meet the stars of IndyCar. Track practice and qualifications are almost continuous all day with only a half hour break between sessions. Later in the afternoon IndyCar begins their first practice (3:05 to 4:30pm) followed by NASCAR practice and qualifying (5:00 to 6pm).

The track is quite different than the Toronto setup; Pit Lane is split into two parallel set of pit boxes with the roadway running between them. Turn-5 with its sharp hairpin 180 degree turn will have plenty of action as the cars coming out head into the fastest section of the track. Thunder Alley has less room to spread out than found in Exhibition Place so it might get a little tight in the space. Three corners have run-off sections to contain cars that don't successfully make the 90 or 180 degree turns (Turns 5, 6 and 7). I think the best general admission viewing areas are along Enterprise Boulevard as the road dips under the rail line and bridge and the asphalt curves slightly. 

August 14 ends with Ride the Track where you can ride your bicycles around the track in support of The Children's Breakfast Clubs. The event takes place after the race cars have finished for the day and the bikes take over from 6:30 to 8:00pm.

First day jitters as the planned first race practice, scheduled for 9am, and everything that follows has been deferred. It looks like the track safety apparatus is still being completed. It's almost 4 hours from the planned start and there are still no cars on the track. We have heard that they are still on track for the 3:05pm NTT IndyCar Series first practice.

Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham starts tomorrow

It's the last day before the cars take the track at the Honda Indy at Markham 2026 race and finishing touches have been ongoing as time for preparations quickly runs out. Pedestrian bridges were being completed and advertising banners were starting to be placed as the race festival weekend runs from runs August 14-16.

The Toronto Marriott Markham has an IndyCar near the entrance. Fitting as they were the place to get media credentials for the race and they are just a short walk from the track. This is the 38th edition of the race festival and first for the City of Markham as they moved from Toronto.

Looking towards the hairpin at Turn-5 on the west side of the site.

There are five race series taking part in 2026; NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Canada Series, USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire, USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire and Emzone Radical Cup Canada Presented by Michelin.

IndyCar is of course the premier series taking part throughout the weekend with practices, qualifying with their headlining race on Sunday. NASCAR Canada is our version of the famous stockcar series south of the border and their headlining race is Saturday. Friday is full of practice and/or qualifications for most of the series along with an IndyCar driver autograph session at 12:30pm.

Two of the four IndyCar feeder series will be here (USF2000 and USF Pro 2000) while the Indy NXT, the top feeder for drivers, is sitting it out for the next few weeks.

 

The area is booming and there are a lot of condos under construction near the track. Like Toronto there is a GO station leading into the site (Unionville GO), twelve turns instead of eleven and with a longer track (3.52km to Toronto's 2.87km).

FREE Fan Friday is back on, get into the site with a voluntary donation to Make-A-Wish Canada and sit in the grandstands or along the General Admission viewing sections and watch the action on the track. You can also tour the site, check out the paddocks (with a PRESTO Pass) and wander through Thunder Alley.

Taste of the Danforth back in Toronto again

It has been a wild ride for Taste of  the Danforth but the street festival is back for 2026. The event billed as 'Canada’s Favourite Festival' stretches about 1.6km along Danforth Avenue from Broadview Avenue to Jones Avenue, ran from Friday to Sunday, August 7-9 and had almost two million visitors over the weekend. 

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow meets visitors

The festival started in 1994 to highlight the Greek restaurants of the area, cancelled due to Covid, returned in 2023, then shut down once more in 2024 and 2025, so it was nice to see it return. Attendees experienced the neighbourhoods music, culture and food along the important arterial road which was known as Greektown. "Taste of the Danforth has always been a celebration of Greek heritage. Today, it is also a celebration of Toronto’s diversity and Canada’s multicultural spirit."

This year's TOD had six experience zones and four free entertainment stages; World Stage, RBC Showcase Stage, Greek Stage and the OLG Lets Dance Stage.

Chair Tony Pethakas says: “Greek heritage will always be at the heart of Taste of the Danforth. At the same time, the Danforth has evolved, just as our city, province and country have evolved. Today the Festival reflects a diverse and inclusive Canada—with a dollop of tzatziki on top.”

Toronto Distillery District Country Fest

These boots are made for the Distillery Districts' line dancing and country music during the August 6 to 23, 2026 Toronto Country Fest. YeeHaw!

From their website, "The Distillery District is going country! Grab your cowboy hats and boots! The Distillery is celebrating the best of country culture with Toronto Country Fest. Enjoy Live Music, BBQ, Games, a Mechanical Bull, Line Dancing, and More. The boots keep stompin’ all summer long! While Toronto Country Fest runs August 6–23, the country vibes start early and stay late with live country music daily from July 31 through September 7. Enjoy talented musicians and Nashville-inspired entertainment".

The line dancing lessons happens every Wednesday and Friday from 6 to 8pm. Intermediate is the Wednesday and beginner is on Friday. The event includes games, western food and beverages along with DJs and Nashville Nights (Friday and Saturday from 8:30pm to 10:30pm).

Ontario Honda Dealers Indy 2026 at Markham starts in 1 week

The 'Roar by the Lakeshore' is now 'Rolling Thunder in Unionville' as the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Markham departs Exhibition Place in Toronto for the City of Markham. For 2026, race weekend is August 14 to 16, the first of the current five year contract. FIFA, transit line construction and CNE prep got in the way of Toronto's long run of hosting the Indy and so Markham stepped up and took over the annual high-speed racing weekend.

From the race's website, "The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham festival features world-class racing, international food, beer gardens, live entertainment and activities with lots to see and do for families and festival-goers of all ages. The on-track action for the 38th edition of this Ontario summer festival moving to Downtown Markham for the first time in 2026 features the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Additional races from the NASCAR Canada Series, USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire, USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire, and Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin round out a jam-packed weekend."

A new temporary street course has been built in Downtown Markham, north-east of Highways 407 and 404, right beside the Unionville GO station and near the YMCA and Pan Am Centre. Owners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree of Green Savoree Racing Promotions have constructed a 3.52-kilometre circuit featuring 12 turns (four left and eight right turns), running clockwise through city streets.

Markham features the only 2026 international race in the NTT IndyCar Series. This is 14 of 18 IndyCar races scheduled this year and Sunday's headline event will be a 90-lap, 317km high speed battle beginning with opening ceremonies and driver introductions at 11:30am followed by the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy race starting at 12:22pm.

The entire weekend is chock full of practice, qualifications and racing, mixed with entertainment, driver autographs along with a food and beverage festival. The tradition of Free Fan Fridays sponsored by Ontario Honda Dealers continues in Markham with entrance via a voluntary donation to Make-A-Wish® Canada. Saturday's headline is the NASCAR Canada Series Race followed by The Glorious Sons Live in Concert.

Entrances are near the Unionville GO Station or on the north side of the site near the Pan Am Centre, you can see the 2026 race map at the top of this post, or on their website. Visit Thunder Alley, the paddocks or buy Grandstand, Trackside Suites or General Admission tickets for one or for multiple days. The best travel option is via the the Stouffville Train line to the Unionville GO Station.

Humber Bay Parks along Toronto's waterfront

You got your Humber Bay Park West and you got your Humber Bay Park East, gateways to the bike paths along downtown Toronto's waterfront. This is one of my favourite parks because it is easily accessible off the Gardiner Expressway in the south-west end of Toronto, has reasonable amount of relatively inexpensive parking along with bathroom facilities and avoided all that fifa stuff going on in Exhibition Place. Plus nature and a boat launch.

I watched two families of ducks up close, enjoying the edge of the water, dipping in and out of the water as the parents kept watch on their brood. It was delightful.

From the City's parks website, "Humber Bay Park West is a narrow park jutting out into the water of Lake Ontario in the City's west end. It's an excellent spot for bird watchers hoping to find interesting waterfowl and shorebirds. Along the shores of Humber Bay West, you'll also spot a wide variety of ducks overwintering in Lake Ontario. Combine your walkthrough Humber Bay Park West with a loop around Humber Bay Park East for a great day of hiking. A number of parking lots and paved pathways make this an accessible park." In the east park you can find the Humber Bay Butterfly Habitat.

Then the city with it's bike paths and trails is just open to travel with bicycles. No more parking or traffic jams to bother you along the way. Here is the City's website about Toronto bike paths.

Toronto Aga Khan Museum home of beauty and culture

The stark white, clean exterior of the Aga Khan Museum first welcomes you into their gorgeous courtyard, full of large, raised reflecting ponds, trees squeezed up to a lavender field and the glass pyramid type thing of the adjacent Ismaili Centre. The Museum hopes to foster curiosity of, and also highlight Muslim cultures and their interaction with other societies throughout the many centuries up to now. You can see that cool glass pyramid driving along the Don Valley Parkway. The address of AKM is 77 Wynford Drive, Toronto and there is paid parking on site.

BMO Financial Group has sponsored free admission on Wednesday evenings (4-8pm), "BMO Free Wednesdays provides barrier-free access to the arts, allowing the Museum to remain a welcoming and inclusive environment for all." You can get the free tickets to this BMO event on site without having to pre-register.

Aga Khan has over 1,200 pieces in their permanent collection and the museum also hosts performing arts, educational programming and temporary exhibitions. The works are outstanding and include books, paintings, ceramics, jewelry and much more, originating from the 9th century to current times. 2026 has a number of TD Pop-Up experiences bringing many varieties of music on Wednesdays and weekends.

A fountain sits in the main room of the permanent collection, probably one of the largest pieces

A recent (2014) hanging scroll painting, part of a pair of paintings called Nabog by Havv Kahraman. She painted six figures in the two paintings - all of herself

I liked this all-white installation. It is a simple setup of two chairs facing each other, separated by a table which incorporates a white chessboard, you can even see 64 chess squares along with 32 white chess pieces in their pregame placement. The piece is titled "Play it by Trust" by Yoko Ono (2002, Roskilde version, edition 3 of 6) and I didn't read the plaque until I got home and I'm like is that by the Yoko Ono, famously married to a Beatle and named in a Barenaked Ladies song, and the answer is yes. 

She did a number of these chessboard installations, first shown in 1966, and some are quite large and appearing in a number of museums around the world. Since you have no colour anywhere, you can only play by trusting the other player to remember their own chess pieces, you must also trust yourself to remember yours. All together you must work to complete the game that shows no visible distinction and which Yoko meant as an anti-war metaphor. Both Yoko Ono and John Lennon played a game in their 1972 film "Imagine". Yeah, I was shocked too.

Inside the Museum, permanent collections are well spaced in the relatively small museum, I mean you are not walking through hundreds of rooms in this place, although there is also a large, glassed-in central courtyard and an auditorium. Currently on the second floor is a temporary collection called "Game On! Exhibition", described by the website as "Games transcend borders and generations. As a universal language, they inspire learning, imagination, and global exchange, carrying ideas and traditions across cultures. Whether on a chessboard or a polo field, feel the thrill of strategy, the mastery of skill, and the joy of play, with every game telling a story of human creativity and connection. From board games to daring sports, explore how games connect people, spark creativity, and build communities."

Glorious Bones by Canadian artist Esmaa Mohamoud (2018)

Football helmets on pikes, set on an island of black grit, bring bright colours to the room. The helmets are covered in art reflecting African Kente patterns. She speaks of identity, racism and classification of black bodies.

Later this year the Toronto Biennial of Art will appear at the Aga Khan Museum. The free exhibition will be on from September 26 to December 20, 2026.

Museum Opening Times

Mon: Closed
Tues: 10 am - 5:30 pm
Wed: 10 am - 8 pm
Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun: 10 am - 5:30 pm
Open all statutory holidays, except Dec 25.

Beauty of Lake Superior

We enjoyed a small vacation along the shores of Lake Superior home of clear cold water, forests that are so vast and geology that makes the shoreline a maze of textures, angles and rock types. We also tried panning for gold but found none, so not independently wealthy yet.

On a small island with a glacial pothole

We camped in Lake Superior Provincial Park Agawa Bay on a lot just seperated from a beautiful beach by a small camping road. As Ontario alone is so vast it takes some time to get up to the northern shore of Lake Superior so you need to plan your route and places to stay - it is about 9 hours from Toronto but worth the trip to take in the sights and attractions of Northern Ontario.

This is channel cut out of the rock by glacier water flow, the black rock eroded easier than the Canadian Shield rocks

Looking towards Agawa Rock Pictographs

So glad we brought the kayaks to explore the edges of the great lake, especially around Lake Superior Provincial Park and the Agawa Rock Pictographs. You can see the giant rock faces rise sharply above the lake, rocks that seem to change every twenty feet, going in different directions and crisscrossed with seams of other rocks, some which eroded faster that others showing signs of glacial flows pushing boulders around like nothing and rounding them into smaller rocks and pebbles and eventually down to the familiar granite sand. The water is so clean and with colours of green and blue that are startling beautiful.

A small storm swept through the area, rained bit, blew some stuff around, then had a few lightning bolts that started a in the park. It took them a couple of weeks to get the fire under control.

The smoke made more dramatic sunsets and turned the day's sun orange through the smoke

Looking up the geology of the area I was fascinated to find that the north shore was part of a continental rift that started to split up the North American continent, poured lava from volcanos, then felt the impact of the glaciers scraping the surface, then eroding areas with massive volumes of glacial melt. The ground is still rising every year from the missing weight of the glaciers.

art on the beach

An earlier sunset before the smoke