Prestigious Canadian harness racing awards head to London in 2026

The 37th O’Brien Awards Weekend will bring a major celebration of Canadian harness racing to London, Ontario, from January 30 to February 1, 2026. This event, organized by Standardbred Canada, is known for honouring the best achievements in the sport, and its arrival in London highlights the city’s growing role in the racing community.

The weekend begins on January 30 with Standardbred Canada’s annual Board Meeting and All Members Meeting. Later in the evening, guests will enjoy live racing at The Raceway, offering an exciting start to the celebration.

“We are very excited that the 37th O’Brien Awards will be hosted in London, Ont.,” said Darryl Kaplan, President & CEO of Standardbred Canada. “With the support of our outstanding partners at Western Fair District and access to world-class facilities, we hope guests and finalists from across North America will bring family and friends to join us for an unforgettable celebration of Canadian harness racing.”

The highlight of the weekend will take place on January 31, when the Black Tie Gala is held at the newly rebranded J-AAR Expo Centre at Western Fair District. The elegant venue, formerly known as the Agriplex, will be transformed into a stunning setting for the ceremony. Its large lobby will serve as the stage for the Red Carpet Show and the cocktail reception, adding glamour to the night.

“The O’Brien Awards are the pinnacle of our sport in Canada and our organization is tremendously excited to host this event for the first time. We look forward to welcoming guests to London and celebrating the very best in Canadian harness racing,” said Greg Blanchard, Director of Equine Programming at The Raceway at Western Fair District.

Guests will stay at the new Hard Rock Hotel London, located within the 100 Kellogg Lane entertainment district. With bold design, premium amenities, and direct tunnel access to attractions such as The Factory, the Children’s Museum, and The Club House sports simulators, visitors will enjoy a complete experience.

Hosting the event in London is expected to support the local economy and strengthen ties between the city and its agricultural heritage. The 37th O’Brien Awards Weekend will celebrate excellence, community spirit, and the vibrant culture of Canadian harness racing.

Photo Credit: ob_trophy

I would like the Ground to Freeze!

Video: I would like the Ground to Freeze!

Swath Grazing! Burning Brush Piles! Almost got Stuck!

The London, Ont., team has fixed church windows across the province

The craftsmen at Sunrise Stained Glass in London, Ont., have made the difficult decision to close shop after years of making and restoring coloured glass across Ontario.

For nearly half a century, the Wharncliffe Road shop has been a place where the ancient art has been taught to hundreds of students interested in stained glass, and where the most delicate window panels have found new life.

But now, a 'for sale' sign stands outside the business as the owner makes plans to close at the end of the month.

While stained glass started as a simple hobby for Roger Chapman, who opened the store in 1979, he went on to design and craft windows at private residences and completed major restoration projects for hundreds of churches from Windsor to Kingston to Sudbury.

“I’ve loved it,” he said, calling the process of rebuilding a window that is falling apart is "rewarding."

Londoners may recognize some of Chapman’s local work. Since the late 1980s, Sunrise has restored nearly every window in St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London, he said, including the three rose windows, as well as most of the windows at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church.

Sunrise took part in the restoration of the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Guelph, Ont., the shop's largest project to date with over 550 stained glass panels, which won an award of excellence from the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals.

Chapman and his partners' other restoration works across Ontario has included windows at St. Mary's Pro Cathedral in Hamilton, the Central Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, as well as both Queen's University and the Royal Military College in Kingston.

The shop has also provided the stained glass hobbyist community with all their supplies and even offered classes for beginners, running continuously since the shop opened, Chapman said.

Chapman and his two partners felt they had gotten too old to keep going with the business, he explained, and the shop is set to close around the end of December.

From wicker to stained glass

The first item Chapman ever crafted out of stained glass was an ashtray he made for his wife, he recalled. He still has it, he added, joking that his first attempt “haunts” him to this day.

His love of stained glass began while he was running his old wicker store in the 1970s. A stained glass artist worked above his shop, he said, until one day the man disappeared, leaving behind all of his materials.

“I thought, well, that looked easy from what I've watched,” he said. “So, I read a book and I used his tools and I started making things myself. And that was the start of it.”

It quickly became a bigger part of his life than the retail sale of wicker furniture and seemed like a more interesting direction to take, he explained.

He brought two new partners on board, one who had extensive experience restoring church windows and the other with a talent for painting, he said, helping the shop broaden into the restoration work they went on to complete across the province.

Why is stained glass so common in London?

London is a lucky place to be for a stained glass enthusiast, said Chapman.

Around the turn of the 20th century, a company in London called Hobbs Manufacturing — “the Home Depot of their times,” he said — supplied everything needed to build a home including a stained glass studio where people could pick out windows.

“That's why, if you walk around London now, you see a lot of stained glass in the residential houses,” he said. “Because it was so easy to add that bit when you were building a house.”

Many of those windows were replaced with clear glass in the mid 1900s as they reached the end of their lifespan, he said, but Sunrise has gotten many requests over the years from the owners of these old homes for new stained glass, as restoring houses to their original style becomes more popular, he said.

As more works of stained glass reach the point of needing restoration work, Chapman is confident that new professionals will emerge who are up to the task, he said.

“There are still a lot of people that are interested in getting into it the same way I did, as a hobby,” he said. “I’m thinking that the restoration part of the business is so interesting and rewarding, I think those people will get into it as well.”

As for Chapman, he hopes to continue crafting stained glass in his spare time, he said, but he will be enjoying his retirement, keeping busy as he tends to his horses on his farm outside Goderich.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jack joined CBC London after graduating from Fanshawe College in 2025. He previously studied political science and Russian studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. You can contact him at jack.sutton@cbc.ca.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Monday confirmed five outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on commercial turkey farms in the municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc. Here’s what to know about how federal officials respond when bird flu hits farms.

The CFIA said all five infected premises are commercial turkey farms in Strathroy-Caradoc. The affected flocks include approximately 33,000, 15,700, 15,500, 15,700 and 15,200 turkeys, the agency said in an email statement.

The outbreaks were declared on Nov. 14, Nov. 22, Nov. 26, Nov. 28 and Nov. 29, respectively.

These are the first outbreaks in the region since February, when a Middlesex Centre farm tested positive. Before then, seven farms in the London area were hit between Dec. 14 and Jan. 3.

After receiving a “sick bird call,” the CFIA collects samples from up to 10 birds per premises, including the most recently deceased birds when possible.

If fewer than five dead birds are available and results come back negative, the agency will follow up and reassess. When no dead birds are present, swabs are taken from live birds.

One of the primary testing tools is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, described by the CFIA as “highly accurate” with “high sensitivity and specificity.” It can detect low viral loads and is considered the “gold standard” for early diagnosis in poultry, wild birds and mammals, and is unlikely to produce false positives.

PCR testing is a “very” accurate method of testing for bird flu, said Scott Weese, an infectious diseases veterinarian and professor at the Ontario Veterinary College at Guelph University.

When birds test positive for avian influenza, the CFIA said it takes immediate disease-control actions, which may include:

The CFIA said it uses internationally recognized, humane methods, noting that affected birds in Strathroy-Caradoc were euthanized using carbon dioxide gas.

LONDON, Ont. – For the fourth consecutive season, and sixth time in tour history, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada’s elite Cup Series will buck into London, Ontario, holding the PBR London Classic at Canada Life Place on June 5, 2026.

The PBR Ottawa Classic will have added significance as one of just three PBR Canada Cup Series events in Ontario during the 2026 individual season.

PBR Canada’s Cup Series, which set tour records in eleven cities in 2025, welcoming more than 75,000 fans, regularly features Canada’s best riders alongside some of the organization’s top international athletes, squaring off against the rankest bucking bulls from across the nation.

For one night only, fans will witness exhilarating 8-second rides and wrecks throughout the unpredictable, action-packed event as the PBR’s courageous bull-riding athletes face off against their 1,800-pound opponents born to buck.

The PBR London Classic will mark the fifth event of the 2026 regular season for PBR Canada’s premier Cup Series.

When the Cup Series last travelled to London in June 2025, welcoming a record-setting, sold-out crowd, Dakota Buttar (Eatonia, Saskatchewan) showed up and showed out, going a perfect 3-for-3 to win the event and overtake the No. 1 rank in the national standings.

Buttar got off to a quick start in Round 1, delivering the top score when he covered Kryptonite (Vold Rodeo) for 88.5 points. The reserved veteran then remained atop the leaderboard following Round 2 when he outlasted Red Rust (Vold Rodeo) for 87.5 points.

With the first pick in the championship round bull draft, Buttar elected to go head-to-head with More or Less (Thompson Rodeo Livestock). Nodding with confidence, Buttar repeated his past success, dominating the bovine athlete for 89 points to clinch his second Cup Series win of the season.

Buttar earned a crucial 251 points for the victory. While he travelled to London 151 points behind No. 1 Jake Gardner (Fort St. John, British Columbia), the win allowed Buttar to overtake the lead in Canada, by a then 100 points ahead of No. 2 Gardner.

Other past PBR Canada Cup Series event winners in London are: Cody Coverchuk (2024 – Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan); Daylon Swearingen (2023, 2019 – Piffard, New York); and Reese Cates (2016 – Ocala, Florida).

The bull riding action for 2026 PBR Canada Cup Series’ London Classic, begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 5.

Tickets for the event go on sale Friday, November 21 at 10:00 a.m. EST, and start at $33.25, standard ticketing fees may apply, and can be purchased at the Canada Life Place Gate 1 Box Office and online at Ticketmaster.ca.

Stay tuned in to PBRCanada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), X (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest results, news, stats and more.

Rock the Park has announced another headliner for its 2026 lineup.

Grammy-nominated The Lumineers will play on Wednesday July 15, alongside special guests Dylan Gossett, Michael Marcagi and others yet to be announced.

The multi-day music festival – which brings thousands to downtown London’s Harris Park every year – runs from July 15 to 18.

“We’re incredibly grateful and beyond excited to bring The Lumineers, one of the biggest and most beloved acts in modern folk and indie music, to London, Ontario,” Brad Jones, the event’s organizer, said in a statement.

The Lumineers have risen to become “one of the most successful and influential bands of their generation, blending alternative rock, Americana, and heartfelt storytelling,” Jones said.

Organizers have so far lined up performers for three nights:

Davis, an American country singer with five No. 1 hits, performed at the CFL’s Grey Cup halftime show in 2022 alongside Josh Ross, a former Western Mustangs football player who is now a country performer.

2026 will mark the 22nd edition of Rock the Park.

The 2025 event sponsored the Children’s Health Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Anita May Music & Mental Health Fund, organizers said. Rock the Park started two decades ago as a classic rock-themed event, originally as a fundraiser for Bethany’s Hope – which supports research for metachromatic leukodystrophy.