23 events you won’t want to miss this weekend in Ottawa

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Last weekend of Winterlude! If you didn’t have the time to go to some of Winterlude events, this is your last chance because Ottawa’s winter festival ends on Monday, the Family Day holiday. Check out this list of events and share it with your friends!

1. Winterlude

This is your last chance to visit the Snowflake Kingdom at Jacques Cartier Park with fun for all ages, and the ice sculptures at Sparks St, and Byward Matket. FREE.
When: Feb 16-20.
Where: Various venues

2. The Big Bang Festival

An exciting festival of music and performances for the whole family. Free and ticketed shows starting at $5.
When: Feb 18-19 from 11am and 10am respectively.
Where: National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin St.
Details: nac-cna.ca

3. 9th Annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate

The Scottish Society of Ottawa invites you to join them at the Lansdowne Park skating rink. Bring your kilts and tartans, along with your skates! Free treats and hot chocolate. FREE.
When: Sunday Feb 19 from 2pm to 4pm
Where: Princess Patricia Way
Details: ottscot.ca

4. Stew Tasting at Byward Market

150 bowls of stew will be served each day, with an invitation to taste them and vote for the best recipe. FREE with a donation for The Ottawa Mission.
When: Feb 18-20 from 12pm to 2pm
Where: George St Plaza
Details: @ottawamarkets

5. Harbour Harvest 2023

Come to the Nepean Sailing Club for a family fun day of ice fishing while supporting 3 local charities. No experience required. Tickets from $6.66. Buffet brunch. Prizes.
When: Sunday Feb 19 from 8am to 3pm.
Where: Nepean Sailing Club, 3259 Carling Ave.
Details: http://dropinsports.ca

6. Frost and Fire Winter Festival

The town of Perth will be celebrating the winter season with many cool activities for the whole family: scavenger hunt, horse and wagon rides, skating, pancake breakfast and more.
When: Feb 18-19
Where: Various venues
Details: perth.ca

7. Accora Village Bed Race

Come watch this unique bed race at Byward Market. 30 teams will compete with modified and decorated beds for honours and prizes as the fastest bed, the best decorated bed and the best fundraisers.
When: Saturday Feb 18 from 8am (decoration of beds) until 2:30pm. After party at 3pm.
Where: York Street near Dalhousie
Details: ottawakiwanis.org/bedrace

8. Undercurrents festival

A production of Ottawa Fringe. Original, contemporary theatre by Ottawa performers and visiting artists. Tickets $5, $10, $20, $50. Feb 8-18. At Arts Court Theatre, 2 Daly Avenue.

9. Winter Pride Drag Show 

Featuring The Hot Glue Gun Girls. Sunday Feb 19 at 8pm, at Bronson Centre Music Theatre, 211 Bronson Ave. From $30.

10. Ottawa Senators games

Vs Chicago Blackhawks: Friday Feb 17 at 7pm.
Vs St Louis Blues: Sunday Feb 19 at 2pm.
At Canadian Tire Centre, 1000 Palladium Drive.

11. Ottawa’s 67’s vs Oshawa Generals

Game of the Ontario Hockey League. Friday Feb 17 at 7pm. At TD Place, 1015 Bank St.

12. Musical Evenings at Casino Lac Leamy

Bar 7 at Casino Lac Leamy is launching its musical evenings with a multimedia screen, and live performances, from Thursdays to Saturdays. FREE.
When: Thursday Feb 16 (Latin Fiesta) at 8:30pm ‘Andy Rubal’. Friday Feb 17 and Saturday Feb 18 ‘One love’ at 9:30pm.
Where: 1 Boulevard du Casino, Gatineau, QC

13. Wood Carving Demonstration by Josh Dagg

Feb 18-20 from 11am to 4pm. At George St Plaza.

14. Ottawa Psychic & Crystal Fair

Some of Canada’s Top Psychics, Mediums, Astrologers, Aura Photography, Rune Reading, Tea Leaf and Palm Readers will be at this fair. Feb 16-19 at Nepean Sportsplex, 1701 Woodroffe Ave, Nepean. Tickets: $10.

15. Ice Dragon Boat Concerts

The Ice Dragon Boat races were cancelled but not the free indoor concerts scheduled. Feb 15-20. At The Rainbow starting at 8pm. 76 Murray St. Check out: https://www.icedragonboat.ca/liveattherainbow/

16. Bank of Canada Winterlude weekend

Family Day Weekend: see (and touch) unusual currency, build a piggy bank, cut paper snowflakes, make puppets on a budget, and join a scavenger hunt. FREE. Feb 18-20. Where: 30 Bank St. Details: bankofcanadamuseum.ca

17. Brazilian Carnaval 2023

Celebrate Brazilian culture and heritage with Florquestra & Guests. Wear a carnaval costume for a chance to win prizes. Tickets from $ 22. Sat Feb 18 from 9pm to 2am. At Saw Gallery, 67 Nicholas St.

18. Can anyone hear my voice?

Charity dinner organized by Northern Lights Educational Services to raise funds for the victims of Syria and Türkiye earthquakes. Friday Feb 17 from 6pm to 8pm. Address: 335 Michael Cowpland Drive. Details: on Facebook: Northern Lights.

19. Arboretum Hill Club Snowshoeing Workout

Join the AHC for a snowshoeing workout at the Arboretum. All ages, all levels. Friday Feb 17 at 6:29 am. FREE. Dogs welcome. Lots of free parking. Meet them at Fletcher Wildlife Garden parking lot (entrance is 100m south of Prince of Wales roundabout).

20. Farmers’ Winter Market

The Farmers’ market is back for the winter season every Sunday until April 30. Fresh vegetables and fruit, meat, baked goods, spirits, crafts and more. FREE.
When: Sundays from 10am to 3pm.
Where: Aberdeen Pavilion, Lansdowne Park. 1000 Exhibition Way.

21. Ice skating at the Rink of Dreams

Grab your skates and head to the most popular ice-skating rink in Ottawa for some winter fun! FREE. You can rent skates there!
When: Everyday from 9am to 11pm
Where: 110 Laurier Ave West.

22. Public Skating at Rideau Hall

The historic skating rink at Rideau Hall, which dates back 1872, will be open to the public every weekend until March 5. FREE. No reservation required. No parking. Parking allowed on adjacent streets.
When: Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5pm. (weather permitting). Details: gg.ca

23. Owl Rendez-Vous

Watch live owls in a special outdoor exhibition. At the Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod St, from Dec 14 to April 3, 2024.

24. Exhibition: Uramado AR, the awakening of the Tanukis

Uramado is a treasure hunt route in augmented reality. It tells the story of Tanukis which are spirits of the forest from Japanese mythology. The participants are invited to download the free app Uramado AR, Tanukis awake ( on IOS and Android ) to start this treasure hunt. FREE.
When: Mon to Fri from 9am to 12pm; and 2pm-4pm until April 30.
Where: Alliance Française Ottawa, 352 MacLaren St.

Enjoy!!

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Five years living in Ottawa and still finding new spots I've never heard about before! I wouldn't imagine that in the middle of the Vanier neighborhood there would be a park with a Sugar shack there and where Maple syrup is produced. Sugar Shacks are usually found on the outskirts of the city or in the countryside. So, they say that makes the Vanier Sugar Shack the only one in North America located in the middle of a city. So worth a visit! And this weekend is the perfect occasion because they are running their Sugar Festival with lots of activities for the visitors. First, they will be offering Sugar Shack meals, you know, the classic scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes and maple beans, and Maple Taffy, (the sweet made right on the snow). There will be a First Nations area, axe throwing, a lumberjack competition, indoor playing for toddlers, inflatable games, a mini petting farm, pony rides, sled dogs, beer tasting and musical performances. Have an awesome weekend!! The spring vibe invites us to go out and enjoy the longer days. If you don't know what to do this weekend yet, check out this list of events and share it with your friends. If you know about other events happening this weekend, feel free to share them in comments. 😊 How refreshing it is to take a stroll around downtown and Parliament Hill! I don't know if it's just me but I love it!! 😍 I love the architecture of those amazing Parliament buildings. I love to see the Peace Tower framed against the blue sky on a sunny day!! And I love to see people, probably tourists, at the Centennial flame taking pictures or throwing coins into the fountain. I feel their enthusiasm and I feel like a tourist or a newcomer, even though I've been living in Ottawa for 5 years. 😄 If you are a newcomer to Ottawa, or to the eastern part of Canada, you may want to experience the spring tradition of the Sugar Shack. The Sugar Shack season happens usually between March and April when the Maple tree sap begins to rise. It's the start of Maple syrup production. The Maple farms open their doors to visitors and offer delicious meals where the star is the Maple syrup. These meals usually are pancakes, 🥞 scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes wedges, and baked beans. Then you can enjoy Maple taffy on the snow, go on wagon rides, visit the petting farm, and of course visit the shacks where Maple syrup is made. My family and I went today to Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm, and we had a great time! We loved the food, and my daughters enjoyed watching the animals at the farm: cows and their newborns, horses, chickens, ducks, turkeys, peacocks, pigs, and goats - so many animals! The wagon ride around the farm was nice too. ☺️ We are in that part of the year where it's not winter but it doesn't look like spring yet, and we can even have some surprises like the snowfall that has been forecast for today. The winter sports season is almost over, the snow is melting, the brownish dead grass is visible, it's muddy, and it rains a lot. It's the ugly first part of spring. 😏 The bad news is that it usually lasts a whole month in Ottawa, from the end of March to the end of April. 🙄 The time passes very slowly this time of the year, or it seems to when one is impatient to see colours!! At least I saw a Robin yesterday. Canadians know that this bird appears in spring. That's the first signal, a sign of hope! But so far, that has been the only one for me. What spring signals have you got? Birds chirping? Tree buds? Wildflowers maybe? None? 🤔 If you're a newcomer, you might have heard that spending summer weekends in a cottage by a lake is for many people a big part of the Canadian lifestyle. My family and I tried that our second summer in Ottawa and it was amazing!! We loved it!! ❤ But what we hadn't tried before was going to a cottage in the winter until last weekend. Definitely it had a different vibe but was equally awesome and enjoyable!! ☺️ We have arrived at the last weekend of March and the first one of spring! 😃 Do you feel your moods are changing? Do you feel like going out? Check out this list of events and share it with your friends! EXPECTATIONS VS REALITY: We'll have to wait a bit longer for the spring colours to arrive in Canada. 🙁 But the worst has already passed! We're almost there, hold on! Did you really think that by the end of March winter was going to finally end? 😁 Tomorrow March 20, spring officially starts. Just the thought of this makes me so happy! 😃☺️ However, the reality is that it will be another month or so before we start seeing the spring colours, trees budding, and flowers start to bloom. What? Did you think that spring started at the end of March?? No way!! This is Canada, my friends! Canada's weather doesn't necessarily follow any official calendar. Sorry to disappoint you. 🙁 It's totally different here. So, if it follows what I have seen the last 5 years in Ottawa, we'll see one last snowfall in April. But you know, spring is in the air no matter what, even as we still see snow everywhere. Probably you are going to hear birds singing one of these mornings and your heart will feel joyous! 💗 That's the magic of spring! You feel it in the soul! I'd never experienced this in my country. It's a gift Canada has given me, and I love it! 😍 Welcome spring!! 🌸💐🏵🌺 We were waiting for you so badly!! If you are a newcomer and you have experienced your first winter in Ottawa or Canada, how are you feeling about spring? Are you impatient? Are you feeling the change in your moods?

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