👑 One big night downtown

Regina's friendly local roundup | Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Happy Wednesday, Regina! 👋

We're officially into November, the Halloween candy is down to the stuff nobody wants, and the city is already talking holidays. Light the Lights is getting a big downtown makeover this year, and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum has handed the whole month over to the dinosaurs.

Today we've also got a sold-out housing conference, a Pats coach looking for a new mindset and two young Riders linemen signing on for 2027. Let's get into it.

In today's edition:

Regina's holiday kickoff is getting bigger. The City of Regina and the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District are folding their separate seasonal celebrations into one evening, Light the Lights Downtown, on Thursday, November 19 from 5 to 8 p.m. There will be two lighting ceremonies: Victoria Park lights up at 6 p.m., followed by City Hall at 6:30 p.m. Activities and entertainment will be spread across hubs at City Hall, Cornwall Centre, Regina Public Library and the Globe Theatre. Mayor Chad Bachynski said the evening will help show off Regina as a winter city.

Families can look forward to visits with Santa Claus and the Grinch, local performers, a colouring contest and a holiday market with Regina Farmers' Market vendors, and the horse-and-wagon ride is back too. The city's event page adds free hot chocolate to the list. RDBID executive director Judith Veresuk said the two groups work together all year, but lighting up downtown on the very same night is a first for them. Kids 12 and under can already enter the virtual colouring contest, featuring a rabbit drawn by Regina Métis artist Phyllis Poitras-Jarrett, until December 11.

Mark the calendar and dig out the good mittens.

November belongs to the dinosaurs at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. The museum is celebrating Dinovember all month long, with special activities and events alongside Scotty, the world's largest T. rex, and visitors are encouraged to show up in their favourite dinosaur gear. A temporary display is also out just for the month: a Triceratops fossil jacket holding part of a skull found in June 2025 in Grasslands National Park's East Block, which heads back into the museum's collections once Dinovember wraps. Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross said Saskatchewan has an extraordinary fossil record, and the museum plays an important role in preserving and sharing it.

Wild Weekends run November 7-8, 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29, with an interpreter-led Discovery Cart, a "Dinosaur or Not?" scavenger hunt that ends with a prize sticker, and a weekly Star of the Week that earns the youngest visitors a handstamp. Grown-up fans get Jurassic Park: Audience Adventure on Friday, November 20, an interactive screening of the original film with call-and-response cues, themed props and playful science corrections. Before the movie, guests can roam the galleries, mingle with a palaeontologist and make a fossil-in-amber keepsake. Tickets are $25 at royalsaskmuseum.ca.

Dino hoodie optional, but strongly encouraged.

More than 230 people signed up for the second annual Regina Housing Conference, held Tuesday at the Conexus Arts Centre, and the event sold out. The city brought together builders, non-profits, market housing companies and government representatives for networking and professional development on topics like financing, sustainability and innovative development. Keynote speakers Barry Chalifoux, Director of Community Development, and Rebecca Âcikahtê, Director of Business Development for Cowessess First Nation, spoke about building communities and creating opportunities beyond housing. The conference is paid for through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.

Bill Neher, the City of Regina's manager of housing, told CJME the real goal was getting market and non-market housing providers into the same room, since those side conversations can turn into partnerships that move social and transitional housing forward. He described the approach as "all hands on deck." Mayor Chad Bachynski said the conference has grown since its first year, and that last year's edition produced action items now built into the city's housing strategy. 2027 is the final year of Housing Accelerator Fund money, but the mayor said the city will keep looking for ways to hold the event.

Good things happen when the right people share a room.

The Regina Pats are 7-6-0-1 through 14 games, and head coach David Bell wants his team to start thinking about itself differently. After three seasons near the bottom of the standings, Bell told the SportsCage on Monday that opponents are now getting fired up to play Regina, and his group has to be ready for that. "We're not the prey anymore," he said. The Pats opened 6-0 at the Brandt Centre before Lethbridge handed them their first home loss of the season, while their road record sits at 1-5-0-1.

The lineup has also been short-handed. Alternate captain Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue, the WHL's rookie of the month, are each captaining one of Canada's two teams at the under-17 world championship in Oakville, Ont., and have missed the last three games. The Pats are off until Friday, when they host the East Division-leading Brandon Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. It's the first of four games before a six-game British Columbia road trip that starts in Prince George on November 18.

Friday night feels like a good time to start hunting.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders re-signed American offensive linemen Thomas Perry and Jaison Williams on Tuesday, two players who both made their CFL debuts late in the 2026 regular season. Perry, 23, debuted against Montreal on October 12 and started two of his three games at left guard. The 6-foot-3, 312-pound Vermont native joined Saskatchewan in April after attending NFL rookie mini-camps with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025. At Middlebury College, he started at guard in each of his final 30 games and earned Division III All-American honours in 2024.

Williams, 25, signed in February and spent most of the season on the practice roster before making his debut at right tackle on October 24, then starting there again in the regular-season finale against Edmonton. The 6-foot-4, 320-pound lineman went to training camp with the New York Giants after signing as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 NFL Draft. He made 52 starts over six seasons at Youngstown State and has started at every spot on the line except centre. Keeping both gives the Riders young depth with some CFL games under their belts heading into 2027.

Off-season rebuilding always starts in the trenches.

November 4 to 6

🥁 Culture Connect: Indigenous Teachings | Community Commons, Central Library, 2311 12th Avenue | 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM | Free, drop-in, ages 13 and up | Traditional drumming, songs and dance with teachings from Knowledge Keepers.
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🌺 A Beginner Watercolour Workshop: Poppies on the Prairie | Sunrise Branch, Regina Public Library | 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM | See listing | An evening of beginner watercolour painting for adults.
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🧱 LEGO Club | Sherwood Village Branch, Regina Public Library | 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM | See listing | A weekly building session for kids.
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🎓 2026 National 3MT Showcase | Darke Hall | 7:00 PM | Free, registration required | Eight graduate researchers from across Canada get three minutes and one slide each to explain their work, and you vote for the People's Choice Award.
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🎤 Ben Albert: Live in Regina | The Exchange, 2431 8th Avenue | 7:00 PM | See listing | Stand-up comedy presented by Brutal Comedy Productions. All ages and licensed, 18+ content warning.
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🎬 The End of Oak Street | RPL Film Theatre, 2311 12th Avenue | 7:00 PM | See listing | This week's Wednesday feature at the library's cinema. Rated 14A.
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🧠 The Psychology of Cults | Conexus Arts Centre, Capital Auto Theatre, 200 Lakeshore Drive | 7:30 PM, doors 6:30 PM | $48.80 to $71.52 including taxes and fees | Cult investigator Mike King's live show on how cults form, why people join and what it takes to leave.
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🪕 Blue Light Valley | Bushwakker Brewpub, 2206 Dewdney Avenue | 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM | No cover | Wednesday Folk Night with an indie folk, country and roots band known for its vocal harmonies.
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🎸 True Mountain Laurel: Touched by an Angel Tour | The Artesian, 2627 13th Avenue | 8:00 PM | $27.75 | Haley Blais and Sam Lynch team up for folk and country songs from their debut, Angel So Bad.
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🏔️ Everest: The Other Side in IMAX | Kramer IMAX Theatre, 2903 Powerhouse Drive | Final days, playing through November 5, check showtimes | Paid admission | A portrait of love and ambition from Oscar-winning filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.
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🪲 Exhibit: Creepy Crawly Cleaners | Royal Saskatchewan Museum, 2445 Albert Street | 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Wednesday to Friday | Admission by donation | Watch a colony of dermestid beetles clean skulls and skeletons live in the museum lobby.
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📚 Morning Movies and Stories | Central Children's, Central Library, 2311 12th Avenue | 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM | See listing | Storytime plus short films from the RPL collection for kids ages 2 to 5.
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🎬 125, rue des Malaises | RPL Film Theatre, 2311 12th Avenue | 1:00 PM | Free admission | A 2026 Canadian film from director Louis Bélanger. Rated 14A.
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🎲 Community Game Night | Sunrise Branch, Regina Public Library | 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM | See listing | Board games and new friends in a relaxed setting. For adults.
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📖 Eden Robinson: From Storytelling to Screen | Central Library, 2311 12th Avenue | 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM | Registration required | The acclaimed author talks about taking stories rooted in her small village of Kitamaat all the way to the big screen.
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🎖️ 100 Years of Remembrance: Regina's Legion Branch 001 | Royal Canadian Legion Branch 001, 1820 Cornwall Street | 7:00 PM | Free, $10 suggested donation | Heritage Regina hosts historian Kelsey Lonie for a guided look at the artifacts in the branch museum as it marks a century.
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🎬 The Rivals of Amziah King | RPL Film Theatre, 2311 12th Avenue | 7:00 PM | Free admission | A 2026 American feature from director Andrew Patterson. Rated 14A.
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🏒 U of R Cougars Hockey | Co-operators Centre, 1700 Elphinstone Street | Women's game 3:00 PM, men vs. Manitoba Bisons 7:00 PM | Tickets required, see listing | A doubleheader of Canada West hockey at the REAL District.
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🍺 First Firkin Friday | Bushwakker Brewpub, 2206 Dewdney Avenue | 5:30 PM | See listing | A piper from the Regina Police Service Pipes and Drums leads a keg of milk chocolate porter through the pub before a volunteer tries to tap it in one swing.
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🥃 International Whisky Night | Conexus Arts Centre, Theatre Lobby, 200 Lakeshore Drive | 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM | $128.52 to $164.57 including taxes and fees | An evening of tastings with whisky fans and industry experts, open to newcomers and connoisseurs alike.
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🏒 Regina Pats vs. Brandon Wheat Kings | Brandt Centre, 1700 Elphinstone Street | 7:00 PM | Paid admission | The Pats return home to face the East Division leaders.
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🖼️ In Dialogue: Cassils and Jack Halberstam | MacKenzie Art Gallery, Programming Space at Craft Service, T.C. Douglas Building | 7:00 PM | See listing | Presentations and conversation celebrating the exhibition Cassils: Movement, with cultural critic Jack Halberstam, curator Carol Stakenas and the artist.
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🎬 No Other Choice | RPL Film Theatre, 2311 12th Avenue | 7:00 PM | Free admission | Park Chan-wook's 2025 Korean feature. Rated 14A.
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🎶 Dreams and Rumours: The Ultimate Tribute to Fleetwood Mac | Casino Regina Show Lounge | 8:00 PM, doors 7:15 PM | $32 to $39.50 | A tribute band paying homage to Fleetwood Mac.
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🌸 Begonia: The Fantasy Life Tour | The Artesian, 2627 13th Avenue | 8:00 PM | $28 advance, $33 door | The Juno-nominated Winnipeg alt-pop artist brings her Fantasy Life tour to Regina. Friday sold out, so a second show was added Saturday.
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🎄 Light the Lights downtown, every year
🎵 First Christmas song, the second Halloween ends
🦃 Not until December, I have rules
🛍️ When the craft sales start, I'm there

Hit reply and let us know :)

Thanks for reading Queen City Digest. Go say hi to Scotty, cheer on the Pats Friday, and have a great rest of your week, Regina.

🗓️ Next edition: Friday, November 6.

-QCD