9 road trip ideas for this weekend—from vintage trains to haute couture!

Whether you’d like to feast on ribs, rev your motorcycle engine, engage with writers and artists at work, or take the kids to a classic movie night, there are lots of reasons to hit the road this weekend!

For the family

Experience the magic of an old-fashioned drive-in movie—complete with retro-style snacks and a soundtrack piped in through your car radio—when the Cumberland Village Museum presents a one-night-only screening of The Wizard of Oz on Saturday, August 22. You can get photos taken with Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and other characters, so why not wear your own movie-style costume, too? The gates open at 6:30pm and the event ends at 11pm.

For the railroad buff

Flickr/Creative Commons photo by WalterPro4755.

For all you fans of conductors and cabooses: Trainfest rolls into the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario this weekend (August 22 and 23). Vendors will be selling clothing, magazines, books, model trains and more, while exhibitors will be showing off historical artifacts and model train layouts. For families, there are craft workshops and magic shows, or you can take a ride in a 1940s wooden caboose behind a first-generation diesel engine. On Saturday only, get your picture taken in a vintage photo booth; on Sunday only, take a free horse-drawn wagon tour of Smiths Falls.

For the fashionista

Trend-setters will be heading down the 417 to Montreal this week to catch the Fashion and Design Festival (August 17 to 22), a huge, free outdoor spectacle. With 50 events ranging from fashion shows, movies and concerts to a talk by “Sex and the City” stylist Patricia Field, it promises to be a packed week for clothes lovers. (I love the video above, by the way; from the music to the smiling models, everything just works.)

For the literature fan

How cool is this? Fieldwork—a site near Perth that, as the Ottawa Writers Festival says, “puts the culture in agriculture”—is hosting a writers’ retreat this weekend. Ten writers will spend the weekend creating works inspired by the rural setting, and then on Sunday, August 23, they will read from and discuss their works with an audience of book lovers. Framework: Words on the Land is being produced in conjunction with the Ottawa Writers Festival. The reading starts at 3pm on Sunday, August 23 at 2501 Old Brooke Road in Maberly, and tickets are $20.

For the art lover

Photo courtesy of Saranac Lake ArtWorks.

If not writers in the wild, how about artists? The 2015 Adirondack Plein Air Festival is taking place for most of this week in and around Saranac Lake, New York. Early in the week, you can come out and see artists at work outdoors. The week culminates with a preview party of new works on Friday, August 21, and a show and sale on August 22. (If you’re planning to stay overnight, call ahead to make sure there is room at the inn, as a week-long bike tour is also happening in the Adirondacks this weekend.)

For the barbecue aficionado

The first annual edition of the Perth Ribfest and Car Show (August 21 to 23) will feature food vendors, kids’ activities, a climbing wall, a car show and more. It takes place at the Perth Fairgrounds.

For the motorcyclist

Photo courtesy of Bikes for Beats.

If you like bikes (of the motor variety), Prescott is the place to be this weekend for Bikes for Beats, a two-day fundraising event for the Brockville General Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation Program (August 22 and 23). A six-hour ride on Saturday winds through Kingston, Westport, Perth and Kemptville before returning to Prescott for live music by local band Arthritik Dog and the final night of this year’s Shakespeare festival. Sunday sees a show and shine, vendors, a kids’ zone and a concert by Brea Lawrenson.

For small-town fun

Petawawa is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a parade, fireworks, concerts, a craft show, food vendors, a heritage village and more, all on the Civic Centre Grounds (August 21 to 23).

For something exotic

Travel to far-off lands without leaving Ottawa at 1001 Nights: An Arabian Night in Ottawa at the Canadian War Museum, with a bazaar, dancing and live performances until 2am. The black-tie event unfurls on Friday, August 21.

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