Thousands of Western University and Fanshawe College students and their families will flock to London's downtown over the next two weeks for convocation ceremonies, with some nearby businesses hopeful for an uptick in sales.

From June 9 to 13, Western will hold its spring convocation ceremony at Canada Life Place for the first time, a shift from the typical celebrations at Alumni Hall on campus. The following week, from June 16 to 19, Fanshawe's ceremony will return to the venue for its third year.

"We've already planned to have extra staff here for both the lunchtime rush and dinner," said Nick Philavong, who owns Thaifoon, a restaurant just steps away from Canada Life Place's back gates.

"Last year, we actually did see quite a big spike in guests coming in unannounced – groups of 14 o

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