Week of Zain

I turn 40 this October, and I'm marking it by bringing back something that was invented in theatre school.

At the University of Windsor, we started the Week of Zain: seven days of ribbon cuttings, torch runs, original songs, events, activities, calendars, and general nonsense, built around a birthday that did not remotely justify the scale of it. It ran every year for four years. It was absurd. It also worked, because it gave a lot of people a standing reason to be in the same room.

Then everyone graduated and scattered, which is what happens. Life happens.

This year is is coming back! October 24–30, 2026, a week of events across Toronto with one night in Guelph.

Here's the part I care about. The barrier to entry is intentionally as low as we can make it. Nobody has to drink. Nobody needs to have been there the first time or understand a single inside joke. Anyone and everyone is welcome, and you can come as you are. Every decision we're making is aimed at lowering the cost of walking through the door, in money and in nerve. The barrier for entry should be extremely low. 

The older I get, the clearer it gets that most people aren't short on affection for each other. They're short on occasions.

That's also why we're raising money for CAMH. Mental illness and addiction isolate people, and CAMH does the work of making sure they aren't left to face it alone. A week of made-up reasons to gather is a small version of the same idea, and I'd rather it point at something that matters than just at me.

Every dollar donated on this page goes directly to CAMH. Our costs are covered separately. If you can give, thank you. If you can only show up, that is genuinely the same gift.

Come for one day. Come for all seven. Come one for event. Come for them all. All options are the correct answer. 

Come as you are.