The weekend's garage sales are down at the bottom. Everything else is up here.

Every other year I go to Supercrawl by myself. It's the one festival where I let myself be exactly that guy, the one who wanders into every booth, every food truck, every vintage rack, with no particular place to be and no clock running. This year I brought my daughter instead.

I thought I was being smart going early, before the street filled in. That part worked. What I didn't account for is that "early and empty" doesn't mean "slow." A stroller through a festival only has one gear. Keep moving, or she wants out.

I made it about halfway through the vendors before she needed an ice cream cone, and that cone turned into a countdown clock. From the second it hit her hand I knew exactly how long I had before it ended up on her fingers, her shirt, and probably a stranger's shoe. Spoiler: not long.

Somewhere around the melting point, walking past booths I recognize every single year, it hit me how much bigger this whole thing could get. James Street started as one small idea, a monthly art night, and it's already spilling past its own borders into other festivals, other neighbourhoods. Good for the artists getting a stage. Good for anyone who likes walking past forty different people's version of "I made this," each one quietly trying to out-weird the last.

She didn't give me much trouble, honestly, outside of the standoff over what was left in the cone. I had more fun than I expected, towing a toddler through a street festival instead of drifting through it solo. I think I'd have even more of it with my son along too, once he's old enough to wander instead of ride. Worth trying next year. Both kids. If I'm brave enough.

Neeks

Still working away at the little project from before. Not ready yet, but I think next week is the week. Lots of little kinks to work out. Kiki has been loving every minute of it, and I cannot wait to show him the punch line. What happens next?

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8 sales across Hamilton this weekend. Most of them Saturday, with a few Sunday stragglers out in Waterdown and Stoney Creek. Stoney Creek and the east end are the busiest pockets, with Dundas and Waterdown rounding it out.

See the full map →

Map is updated every Thursday. Bring a coffee, bring the kids, come home with something you will have to explain.