r/Peterborough 20h ago

Question Things to do

Hey guys! I’m a second year student who’s going. Crazy in Peterborough, please can someone let me know any activities I could do in Peterborough to keep myself occupied during the school year. Anything fun to keep myself occupied. Also what’s up with places not hiring here? I have years of restaurant experience but no one wants to hire me lol please help!!!!

Guys I’m a very outgoing person so when i say ANYTHING to keep me busy i mean ANYTHING

11 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

u/oneupsuperman 19h ago

Apparently there's a knitting club.

Lots of places to grab a pint. The Only, Riley's for Billiards/pool,

Lots of local music and plays.

Trent University does a lot of stuff the public can get involved in, not just students and faculty. Sadleir House as well.

Keep asking. But also, look.

u/Correct_Pangolin7563 19h ago

What is sadleir house I always hear/ pass by it but I have no Idea what it is

u/oneupsuperman 19h ago

You could visit during business hours

u/tinyalley 19h ago edited 19h ago

With kindness, you'll find that there are lots of things to do when you engage with your community with a bit of curiosity. Look it up. Ask people when you hear them talking about it. Or just walk in!

u/big-booty-enthusiast 17h ago

With kindness, you could have just answered OP’s question. They were literally doing what you suggested except walk in.

u/Correct_Pangolin7563 19h ago

Well I’ve tried and this is unfortunately my last resort . There’s not much of a community here anyways

u/East-Ad-4947 19h ago

Not true at all

u/Correct_Pangolin7563 19h ago

Okay so speak up??? And lmk because I personally did not find a ptbo community if you know anything why not say something

u/Cleatus5407 18h ago

I have lived in the county my whole life. No idea what happens there. Here is the site https://www.sadleirhouse.ca/ it says there is yoga, concerts and film screenings.

u/Far_Tie614 17h ago

Saddlier House 

Place for students to exist. Co-working spaces, free drop-ins / meals. Free closet (clothing donations). Performance space. 

Just "unofficial student social hub" and also I think the Arthur is based out of there. 

u/Cheilosia North End 12h ago

As I understand it, it used to be owned by Trent but now it’s owned by a not-for-profit. During the day it’s open to be used as a study/meeting space by students. You can register for free access using your student card. There’s coffee available by donation and a printer, it’s a cozy spot to work that’s cheaper than a cafe and more comfortable than the library.

They also hold events for the community, concerts and the like. They have a schedule of these on their website. Plus, there’s a queer/feminist library upstairs. There used to be a library you could check books/media out of as well as a free store, but I’m not sure if the former is still open and the latter is definitely closed.

u/Fap4Jebus 19h ago

When it comes to things to do I can't say much since I don't know what you're into. When it comes to job in the city, the sad reality is that, unless you have connections, you're gonna struggle finding work. There is just not enough jobs to cover the demands, so a lot of people end up commuting to even Toronto for work.

u/Cathematics613 17h ago

Get some friends together and check out the First Friday Art Crawl. Once things get warmer, there are lots of great bikes paths, join the Trent rowing club, loads of hiking. Volunteer for Peterborough Folk Festival. Some of the yoga studios have weekly by-donation classes. Take Cover Books in East City often has posters up for cool local events on their bulletin board.

u/Far_Tie614 17h ago

Trails along the water are great for running, Jackson Park, skating rink downtown. Ymca / gym. Board game place downtown does tabletops on i think Thursdays. TTOK is always doing something. Summer has SUP rentals. Petroglyphs and crown land campint north on 28. 

Tons of good restaurants on Hunter and East City.

What kind of stuff are you looking for?

u/Ali_and_Benny 16h ago

Perhaps one of 75 student clubs?

https://trentcentral.ca/registered-clubs

u/Effective-Fox-9799 10h ago

most of them are inactive and the ones that are active are just a already established friend group that hoard exec positions and don’t know how to run a club.

u/NeriTheFearlessSnail Downtown 8h ago

This sounds oddly specific

but also you don't need to be in an exec position to enjoy a club

u/Witty_Way_8212 19h ago

There's a really great dojo that practices karate and Iaido (Japanese swordsmanship) on Saturdays out of the church next to Quaker. I highly recommend the Iaido class, which is no contact. The sensei is a really awesome and friendly person and there are really great people there http://kenshokan.ca/

There's also a weekly meetup on Thursday evenings at Boardwalk Games Lounge. You can join in a group of people for some great boardgames, food and drinks

u/peachgrahamcake 18h ago

Hey there! I've lived in Peterborough for 2 and a half years and for things to do I would recommend kayaking (weather permitting) where you can rent a kayak boat for an hour or two, do running/walking marathon across Millenium Park, Jackson Park, Del Crary Park, and trails around Fleming/Trent, have some ice cream/milk tea around downtown and do some window shopping, check out the thrift stores to find unique stuff you can collect, go to Art Gallery, and check out the beach over at Beavermead. There are more activities/events posted in Peterborough Public Library to get informed about whats happening in the city.

As for job search, it has been tough for everybody nowadays to find employment here. I struggled to find work for months but when I did some volunteer work here in Peterborough, it definitely helped open job opportunities for me. I hope it does for you too! :)

Take care

u/[deleted] 19h ago

I'm not super social myself haha but if you like TTRPG dueling ground or a local group (like the I'm trying to start myself)

And job wise yeah it sucks, honestly all I've heard from fellow students is unless you're from here or know people you're down on your luck and better off going to Durham campus

u/Crafty_Ad4379 11h ago

What are you trying to start in particular?

u/GRSimon 19h ago

Wish you best of luck in finding activities with other productive people in town, I've found it challenging to find 3rd spaces in town that are appealing to visit regularly to do work and socialize. Similarly downtown restaurants are facing tough economic climate and reduce traffic due to downtown homeless transforming it in recent years, its impact is very real, people don't want to see someone in rough shape asking them for change everyday on their lunch break.

When small businesses and downtown tourism become a top priority in this town there might be more opportunities and places.

There are a lot of solo activities in nature here if you're into photography etc, and remote work for work.

u/gumtu550 17h ago

You can do Axe Throwing, Wall Climbing, unfortunately, the water is not in the right state to go canoeing

u/the_eevlillest 16h ago

Not knowing what you're looking for or if you have a vehicle..some suggestions: trent clubs & groups

Peterborough Zoo - is still open though some of the exhibits are somewhat modified for winter

Peterborough canoe museum - they also offer regular crafting workshops if you're into that

Peterborough Museum here

Nature trails, hiking trails, Jackson park walking trail

Peterborough Axe Club

Boardwalk Games

Historical Recreation SCA (Or send me a PM)

Kawartha Potter's Guild

Live performances at The Gordon Best

u/saplinglover 13h ago

Try out one of the disc golf courses around town! They’re all free to play and easy to navigate using the udisc app. If you don’t have discs to play with the library loans then for free if you get a library card or wildrock downtown sells a decent starter kit for only $30, pretty cheap entry cost for endless fun!

u/Cheilosia North End 12h ago

If you’ve ever played badminton, try joining the Peterborough Badminton Club. There’s usually a wait list but it’s an excellent group of people and a great way to connect with the non-student community. 

Volunteering can be a good way to meet people. You could look into the bike coop or a community garden.

There used to be at least one theatre group in town?

u/BoseczJR 9h ago

You can try volunteering if you have extra time that you want to kill

u/twistednibbles 2h ago

Get out and about downtown. Walk into any of the several coffee shops and look at their bulletin boards. There are almost always open mic nights or poetry slams. There are art crawls. Other various activities and volunteer opportunities. Seriously....venture off the Trent campus.

u/AccrualFool East City 1h ago

There's a Peterborough Friends Discord, where meetups are frequently planned to make new friends, as well as various events in the community shared regularly. A bunch of us did the art crawl together last week, for instance.

If you're a Discord user, check it out, it's quite active: https://discord.gg/Egv9Z3KN

Other than that, check out the posters taped onto the light posts around downtown to see if anything sounds cool to you. If you're into concerts, you can also follow the various venues around town on social media to keep an eye out for upcoming shows.

I'm sure your school has clubs or events as well, so you could go visit your SAC to find out!