More Ottawa Festivals

Canadian Tulip Festival
This event occurs every year in May, when millions of tulips blossom throughout the city. It includes several official locations and attraction sites. Toronto folk-rock band the Skydiggers play an annual show here, and have been named the official band of the festival. How cool is that? 567-4447 or 1-800-66-TULIP

During World War II, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, along with her daughter Princess Juliana and her children, lived at Stornoway House in Rockcliffe Park during the time of their exile (some considered this an act of cowardice, leaving the Dutch people to suffer Nazi wrath). During her time in Ottawa, where few people recognized her, Princess Juliana sent her two daughters to public school, did her own grocery shopping, and even went to the movies unescorted. In 1945, Princess Juliana returned to the Netherlands with her mother to set up a temporary Dutch government, becoming Queen Juliana three years later. Once home, she expressed her gratitude to Canada, specifically to the City of Ottawa and its people, by sending the city 100,000 tulip bulbs. The following year, she sent another 20,500 bulbs, with the request that a portion of these be planted at the grounds of the Ottawa Civic Hospital where she had given birth to Princess Margriet in 1943. (The Parliament of Canada passed a special law at the time temporarily declaring the delivery room Dutch soil to ensure that the Princess was born in the Netherlands.) Queen Juliana promised Ottawa an annual gift of tulips during her lifetime to show her lasting appreciation for Canada’s wartime hospitality. Out of these donations, Ottawa has held its first annual Canadian Tulip Festival in May since 1953, and the 1967 festival was opened by Queen Juliana herself.

Ladyfest Ottawa

This event is (according to the website) a “non-profit, primarily women-organized music and arts festival that is open to everyone.” The festival originated in Olympia, Washington, in 2000, along with other Canadian cities such as Toronto, Guelph, and Halifax; it first came to Ottawa in 2001. As well as their annual festival of music shows, craft fairs, and DIY workshops, they hold various events throughout the year. A magnificent mixture of kick-ass, no bullshit, and health-wise attitudes. Check out their website for more information.

Ottawa Pride

Celebrating the LGBT community in both Ottawa and Gatineau every year, its highlight, course, is the parade, which usually runs along Somerset Street West from Elgin Street heading west, before turning south on Bank Street.

Ottawa Festivals

Perhaps Ottawa should be dubbed the “City of Festivals,” given the numerous events held here per season. To name just a few of them, there is Winterlude, the Ottawa Fringe Festival, West Fest, and the Ottawa Greek Fest.

There are well over 45 festivals, special events, and fairs that take place in Ottawa annually, with a variety that is sure to provide something for everyone.

Winterlude

Staged over three consecutive weekends in February, the annual Winterlude festival consists of more than 120 indoor and outdoor activities, which, after 20 years, attract over 1.2 million visitors to the Ottawa region annually. Events include: live music shows, professional figure skating performances, snow sculpting and ice carving competitions, the world’s largest skate-a-thon, and a bed race that draws crowds from miles around. In Gatineau, Jacques Cartier Park is transformed into a winter wonderland, the world’s largest children’s snow playground. Another feature is the downhill and cross-country skiing, including the Winterman and Winterwoman Sports Weekend, the 21-kilometre (13-mi) run that follows “Canadas discovery route” (Confederation Boulevard). World renowned, the event also is part of the prestigious world loppett (cross-country ski race) circuit. And, of course, always a highlight of Winterlude is skating on the Rideau Canal, featuring a “rink’ that stretches 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) from the Chateau Laurier to Dow’s Lake.

Ottawa Fringe Festival

This annual festival in June showcases local, national, and international performers and playwrights, some with shows touring other Fringe Festivals across Canada.

Ottawa Greek Fest

Every August, spend a few weeks of living “the Greek way.”

Ottawa International Animation Fest

The largest event of its kind in North America, this competitive festival showcases the best of cutting-edge, trend-setting animation as well as industry standards.

Ottawa International Busker Festival

Showcasing “five days of unorthodox entertainment,” the Busker Festival has some of the best musicians, jugglers, fire-eaters, storytellers, comedians, magicians, and mimes from Canada and around the world.

Ottawa Lumiere Festival

Ottawa’s nighttime festival, celebrating “the magic and mystical beauty of light” in New Edinburgh, with dance, music, poetry, and thousands of lantern.

West Fest

Westfest is Ottawa’s newest large-scale festival, a diverse celebration that includes, multidisciplinary arts, including music, performance art, literature, spoken word, media art, visual art, dance, theatre, and live animation. Starting Friday, June 12 through Sunday, June 14 an estimated 100,000 people will stroll through the community of Westboro Village in Ottawa. Join us on Richmond Road, between Golden Avenue and Island Park Drive. West Fest takes place on Richmond Road in Westboro, and shockingly enough, it is FREE.

For more information, see westfest.ca.

Ottawa’s Carnegie Library

Library books were circulated in Ottawa as early as 1871, but the town had no building for that purpose until the early 1900s (before that, it was host to a number of reading rooms in hotel lobbies, as well as some “small fee-based libraries for working men”). In 1897, citizens formed the Public Library Board in order to persuade the city council to free funds to build a library. Eventually, Mayor William Morris wrote to American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (who, in the end, helped fund libraries around the world) soliciting funds for the proposed library. Carnegie donated $100,000 toward the building, provided the city would donate the land and $7,500 annually for upkeep. Although more than generous, many city councillors voted against the offer, believing their part of the bargain too expensive. But public opinion prevailed; the city purchased land at the corner of Metcalf and Laurier Streets, and construction began in 1905. Carnegie arrived in May 1906 to officially open the building, which was named the Carnegie Library in honour of his generosity.

University of Ottawa

You shouldn’t confuse our University of Ottawa with Ottawa University in Kansas. The University of Ottawa, one of the city’s main post-secondary attractions, is as old as the city itself and is home to the only fully bilingual university press in Canada. Founded in 1848 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, within a year it was known as the College of Bytown. By 1861 it was the University of Ottawa, and over the following decades, it became a secular institute offering parallel courses in both official languages. Still, while Carleton University may have the art gallery, the University of Ottawa is the one with the Fine Arts program. (Does that make sense to anyone?) Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas (the town was founded in the middle of Ottawa Indian territory in 1864), is almost as old as ours, and was founded by Baptist missionaries working with the Native American population as an ecumenical college in 1865. So be careful where you send in your application for admission.

Ottawa Skateparks

Ottawa is home to a number of skateboard parks, including a variety of great outdoor parks open in the summer: Blackburn Park, 200-202 Glen Park Drive; Andy Shields Park, 1448 Meadow Drive; Orléans Recreation Complex, 1490 Youville Drive; Malvern Park, 100 Malvern Drive; Centennial Park, 5572 Doctor Leach Drive; Osgoode Community
Centre, 5660 Osgoode Main Street; Splash Wave Pool and Park, 2040 Ogilvie Road; Stittsville Arena, 10 Warner Colpitts Street; Walter Baker park, 100 Walter Baker Place; Centrepointe at “The fountain,” Woodroffe west of Baseline Road. And check out the indoor spots at Stittsville Arena, 10 Warner-Colpitts Street, and Mcnabb Park, 435 Bronson Avenue. They may not all be downtown, but you might have less chance of being hassled by city bylaw enforcers.

Ottawa Cultural Centres

One of the most active community centres in the downtown core is the Glebe Community Centre. Originally called Abbotsford House, built in 1867 by Alexander Mutchmor, it had a few incarnations as a church before finally being sold to the City in 1974 to become the Glebe Community Centre. A centerpiece of the family-oriented neighbourhood, the main hall is a great place for kids and offers child-related
events throughout the week during the day (including a small kitchen for lunches) and a series of community and craft fairs on the weekends. The entire building was closed for renovation for a year and reopened again in 2005, and you can easily get lost in the maze of stairs and little tiny rooms throughout. 175 Third Ave., 564-1058

Centres of Culture

A highlight of Chinatown (or “Somerset Heights”) is the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre (381 Kent St., 235-1032), established in 1975 to advance the social and economic integration of people of Chinese descent into the mainstream society in Ottawa. The facility assists with settlement, counselling, language training, and community development.
Other community centres in Ottawa providing similar services for other communities across the region include the Italian Canadian Community Centre of the National Capital Region (101-865 Gladstone Ave., 567-4532), the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (21 Nadolny Sachs Private, 798-9818), the Ottawa Hungarian Community Centre (43 Capital Dr., Nepean, 225-8754), and the Somali Centre for Family Services (1719 Bank St., 526-2075). Not exactly a community centre, but along the same lines, there’s always the Irish Society of the National Capital Region, providing information on scholarships, genealogy, and various cultural events, including its annual Irish Week in March, when it hosts of the St Patrick’s Day parade.

Fifth Avenue Court, Convent Sun Dials, Pubs

At the corner of Sussex Drive and Bruyère Street, on the Mother House of the Grey Nuns of the Cross (the current Elizabeth Bruyère Health Centre), check out the sundials just overhead. Erected in 1851 (at just about the second-storey line at the corner), the vertical sundials were designed by Père Allard, geometry teacher to the nuns.

A Hidden Retreat

Even though it earned an award for excellence for the developers who created it in 1980, the Fifth Avenue Court at Bank Street and Fifth Avenue is almost completely empty most of the time. It’s a quiet place with indoor patios for the businesses that surround the fountain and courtyard, including the British-style pub, the Arrow & the Loon. They’ve been known to host the National Arts Centre Orchestra in their courtyard from time to time.

Ottawa Inter-Faith

To connect with the Buddhist community in Ottawa, look into any of these organizations: the Ottawa Buddhist Society, the Ottawa Shambhala Meditation Centre (984 Wellington St. W., 725-9321, or the Buddhism in the national Capital of Canada website. The Joyful Land Buddhist Centre in Chinatown (879 Somerset St. W., 234-4347 has its own bookstore, located at the back.

For the Muslim community, there is a particularly attractive building in the Parkdale area known as the Ottawa Mosque (251 Northwestern Ave., 722-8763.

If you drive a motorcycle, there’s the Capital City Bikers’ Church
at Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church (225 McClellan Rd., Nepean. Founded in 2002, it promotes itself as having “a desire to share the message of God’s unconditional love and His amazing grace with the motorcycle community of the National Capital Region.”

Other Churches in the Ottawa Area

Ottawa Cemetaries

The most famous eternal resting place in Ottawa is Beechwood Cemetery (280 Beechwood Ave., 741-9530). Established in 1873 as a Protestant counterpart to nearby Notre Dame cemetery, Beechwood is a National Historic Site, and only one of four cemeteries in the country to be designated as such. Have a look at the sections where veterans from the Northwest Rebellion (1885), World War II, and recent United Nations campaigns rest in peace. Also interred here are our eighth prime minister (and the handsome fellow on our $100 bill), Sir Robert Borden (1854-1937); the father of Canada’s Medicare system, Tommy Douglas (1904-1986); the inventor of standard time, Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915); Ottawa lumber baron J. R. Booth (1827-1925); the Saskatchewan poet John Newlove (1938-2003); and Confederation poet Archibald Lampman (1861-1899). Lampman even wrote a poem that suits this place:

Here the dead sleep, the quiet dead. No sound disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.

Meanwhile, Pinecrest Cemetery (2500 Baseline Rd., 829-3600) is a veritable hockey hall of fame. Some notable skaters spending their eternal off-season here include: Boston Bruins’ left winger Arthur Gordon Bruce (1919-1997), former Bruins and Ottawa Senators players Harry Alexander Connor (1904-1947), Cyril Joseph “Cy” Denneny (1891-1970), one of the top-scoring left wings of his era (when he retired, he was the top goal getter in the history of the Ottawa Senators), and Senators players Erskine Rockcliffe Ronan (1889-1937), Gerald Edmund Shannon (1910-1983), Allan “Big Pete” Shields (1906-1975) (who won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Maroons in 1934-5), and Alexander “Boots”
Smith (1902-1963).

The most prominent Catholic cemetery in the city is Notre Dame Cemetery (455 Montreal Rd.), the final resting place of hockey greats Alex Connell (1902-1958), Tommy Smith (1885?1966), and Aurel Joliat (1901-1986), as well as photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002), World War I hero (awarded the Victoria Cross) Filip Konowal (1886-1959), statesman Louis-Felix Pinault (1852-1906), and Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier (1841-1919), along with his wife Zoé.