Convergence festival returns to Oshawa’s downtown Saturday

Convergence may only be in its second year but Oshawa has already signed off on the music and arts festival as a signature event for the city.

The 2024 Convergence Music & Art Festival will take over the city’s downtown streets Saturday, with an eclectic lineup of events and activities for all ages, from pro wrestling and a punk rock flea market to ArtBlock, Nerd Alley and all the street food you can possibly imagine.

Oh, and there’s music too, with more than a dozen performers on three stages, headlined by JUNO-winning TALK! on the Cosmic Main Stage to close out the event.

And it’s all free.

Besides TALK!, the 2024 Juno Awards Breakthrough Artist of the Year, musical performances at the all-day event include Oshawa’s own Dizzy (A JUNO winner in their own right), Excuses Excuses, Contour and the Anti Queens and a dozen or so other free shows on the main stage, the Anti Gravity State and the Rising Star Stage.

Photo Kyle Kornic

There are also healthy dollops of street entertainment that will include wrestling shows from Pro Wrestling Eclipse (1-3) and Destiny World Wrestling (5-7), as well as Vital! Contemporary Circus; and ArtBlock, an art-centred Zone showcasing local artistic talent that will feature a public art exhibition at the former Oshawa GO Bus terminal.

The closed-off downtown will also include a Family Zone; the Punk Rock Flea Market with more than 50 vendors in the Marketplace Zone; and a Nerd Alley with everything from a Super Zooka horror shop and Get Cozy knick-knacks to local stars such as the Livingroom Community Art Studio, World’s Collide comic shop, Brew Wizards Board Game Café and artist Dani Crosby, who will be on hand with ‘The Spud’ selling prints of her ‘Turning the Wheel’ mural, with all proceeds to benefit the Simcoe Hall Settlement House.

Shakespeare in the street

There will also be a Tech Deck skating competition, performances from the Durham Shoestring Performers, a parking lot party at the BOND|ST Event Centre, displays from Reptilia, a bingo and panel discussions hosted by the Durham Region Film Festival at the Biltmore Theatre.

(And if you want to continue the good times after the free shows end, the Biltmore is offering an after-party featuring the Professors of Funk, a ticketed event that starts at 9 p.m.)

And the food, oh my. From Sumo Seafood and Lowlands Fire Food to Street Momo and Zombie Dawgz n Conez (and Sugar and Crumbs and Eat My Shortbread for the sweet tooth) – nearly two dozen in all – there is surely a culinary choice to suit every palate.

Is the former motor city now the music, art and culture capital of Durham Region? The 2024 Convergence Music & Art Festival is the place to find out.

Photo Glenn Hendry