With businesses slowly reopening after the January shutdown, many will be cautiously returning to in-person events. Whether you want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, distract yourself from Valentine’s Day or just get out of your house for the first time in a month, Waterloo will be home to several events in which you can participate.
Monarch Woods Loop — Monarch Woods Park, Kitchener
Saturday, Feb. 5, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
If you’re looking to get outside or to do some self-reflection in these winter months, this Forest Walk Contemplation offers a chance to do so in a way that is structured and guided. Hosted by SoulSigma Holistic Therapeutics, a practice combining “therap[y] [and] psycho-spiritual educat[ion],” these walks are a series of “interactive meditative journeys exploring local trails, where we will directly interact with Nature in the outer landscapes and Soul in the inner landscapes.”
The experience takes place entirely outdoors, so dress accordingly. The event is free to attend, but an RSVP is required, as the facilitator likes to tailor the experience to participants’ needs. If you are interested, you can send your RSVP to the host’s email, which is available on the event’s Facebook page.
Identifying & Uprooting Internalized Racism – Student Workshop
Note — this is a closed workshop for students who are Black, Indigenous or racialized
Online
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
If you are a racialized student who is “grieving the racism in the world” and wants to “investigate [their] own internalized racism,” this interactive lecture and discussion might be for you. The event is hosted by the University of Waterloo’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism and facilitated by folk artist Janice Jo Lee. The content is considered to be intermediate level, so participants are expected to have “a basic understanding of the history of global colonialism and systemic oppression,” to have “begun their learning about equity and anti-oppression frameworks” and to want “to further their knowledge and investigate their personal relationship to anti-oppression.”
The event is free to attend, but participants must pre-register. Given the limited spaces, it is requested that, if you elect not to attend, you unregister yourself so another person may take your place.
Descendants Beer & Beverage Co., 319 Victoria Street North, Kitchener, ON
Saturday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
From Make it Revaine Productions, this 19+ “anti-Valentine’s drag show,” is the perfect Valentine’s weekend outing, whether you are alone, with your galantines or even with your partner. This show is hosted by Karma Revaine and Kasha Czech and features the wonderful talents of MissConduct, Malakai Batz, Molly Kewl and Melody Bijou.
Tickets are $11.62 and are non-refundable, but will be honoured if the event is rescheduled. Also, be sure to check out Make It Revaine’s other productions, which will be happening throughout the month.
Waterloo Public Library – Main Library
35 Albert Street, ON, N2L 5E2
Monday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Waterloo Public Library, in partnership with local 2SLGBTQ+ organization Spectrum, will be holding monthly discussions of books by and about 2SLGBTQ+ people and the 2SLGBTQ+ experience for adults aged 19 and above.
This February, the book under discussion will be We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib, an “honest and revealing coming-of-age memoir of a queer Muslim woman’s struggle with identity, faith and family.” The book was a national bestseller and the winner of both Canada Reads 2020 and the 2020 Lambda Literary Award.
The event is currently in-person. While you must pre-register on the event’s webpage, as there are limited seats, the event is free to attend and does not require a library card.
