If you’ve walked the downtown strip on Red River Road at all in the past couple of weeks, you would have certainly noticed the newly refurbished exterior of the King’s Block building thanks to the freshly exposed original facade and sophisticated black paint with gold accents. You probably also noticed that brand new sign on the right side of the building for Bloom Bar + Lounge, now open and ready to party. 

Festival-goers in Thunder Bay had the time of their lives at the sixth Wake the Giant music and cultural festival this past weekend. Headlined by the Black Eyed Peas, this year’s festival marked the first-ever Indigenous headliner in addition to its first-ever ticket sell-out as 8,500 people filled Marina Park to participate in this special celebration of diversity, inclusivity, and culture.

Since that first issue, The Walleye has published nearly 200 issues shining a light on all the remarkable people who make Thunder Bay a special place to live. In honour of this milestone anniversary, we’re turning the spotlight on 15 longtime contributors whose voices, passion, and creativity have played an integral role in shaping the magazine.

It's a curtain call for the democracy Canadians built after the world wars. Politics is evolving from an arena where powerbrokers create consensus from disparate viewpoints into a zero-sum game where stakeholders choose loyalties, the victor divides the spoils, and the losers are annihilated. Our partisan choices are either a technocratic centre-right that thinks it knows better or a rules-weary right wing that feigns no moral pretense.

I strut my pot belly full of poetry,

cultivate brain sparks, turn into firewords.

“Photography is a way for me to find those little pieces of joy and vibrancy in the natural world,” says Thunder Bay photographer Sarah Jensen. “I was a kid that spent a tonne of time outside, just looking at every little bug and leaf and flower.”

While Tyler Childers’s past albums each tend to stick to one specific feel, Snipe Hunter is energetic and unexpected in both sound and lyric.

It's hard to believe this is already Wake the Giant’s sixth annual edition, but what’s even more mindblowing is the lineup that’s in store for this September 6: Black Eyed Peas, Prozzäk, Neon Dreams, and Crystal Shawanda are just a few of the acts hitting the stage.

Ever since it began in 2010, Culture Days has attracted millions of people every year to celebrate all things arts and culture at free performances, workshops, and markets across Canada. Each province and territory has its own kick-off event and this year, Thunder Bay has been chosen to get Ontario’s party started.

Close your eyes a moment and visualize a scenario: you’re driving back from a pumpkin picking trip, and you decide you absolutely need a breakfast delight. Then you see a true miracle on Highway 61 in the form of Cottage Time Public House, with their all-day breakfast and the subject of this month’s Off the Menu—the breakfast poutine.

This year’s lineup features a variety of genres such as drama, comedy, documentary, horror, and thriller, with an emphasis on filmmakers from the region. “Our goal is to highlight local films and the local film industry, and we’ve been accomplishing that,” says Harpelle.

Here is a tomato–zucchini tart featuring summer produce and a good amount of Parmesan. If you garden around here, chances are you’ve got more zucchini and tomatoes than you know what to do with—and the neighbours have stopped appreciating “surprise” porch deliveries. This is an easy, good-looking way to use them up.

If it smells like teen spirit, looks like a party, and oinks like a pig, then it might just be the Tumblestone Music & Art Festival.

The XCM Canadian Championships took over Kinsmen Park once again this past weekend for back to back days of cross country marathon madness thanks to hosts Blacksheep Mountain Bike Club.

Artists Nicole Sutherland, Anne Winkworth, and Sue Lewis debut their third art show this month at Co.Lab Gallery. The trio share a love of painting, a background in teaching, and a love for working with colour. 

When Luke Warm and the Cold Ones were set to release their new self-titled album, they wanted a party, a celebration for all they’d accomplished. They wanted all their friends there—but they also wanted their families present, including young kids. The solution was hosting two shows on the same night, with an earlier slot for earlier bedtimes.

The XTERRA Sleeping Giant race showcases the stunning outdoor adventure opportunities in Thunder Bay and its surrounding areas. Situated along the north shore of Lake Superior, Thunder Bay features breathtaking boreal forests, crystal-clear waters, and dramatic cliffs, making it an outdoor sports paradise.

Described as Fargo meets Trailer Park Boys, this dark comedy follows Jason/Tumbleweed (Ben Albert), who dreams of becoming a famous rapper. But, he needs money to get to Sudbury to record his album. With the help of his girlfriend Tiffany (Shaundra Benincasa), they come up with a scheme to blackmail his estranged dad James (Greg Bishop) into giving them the money.

I was ready for the unexpected on my first day as an outreach worker at Elevate NWO. Elevate is a harm reduction organization responding to treatment and prevention of HIV and Hepatitis C in Thunder Bay and the wider region, but also finds itself responding to other emerging issues. In Thunder Bay, that often means advocating for our unhoused neighbours in the fight for housing, not tents.  

All this said, I was nevertheless surprised when all the talk of my first day was about birds!

Aysanabee exploded onto the Canadian music scene to national attention and acclaim in 2022, and his latest album, Edge of the Earth, proves that he has much more to say—and we are eagerly listening.