Sure, it’s the Labour Day weekend, but given the weather and the packed schedule of events this weekend, it doesn’t feel like summer is over yet. From country fairs and art sales to a horse festival and a step-dancing competition, there’s an event for everyone this weekend—including the ever-popular Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival. Enjoy!
Sip soup in suburban Montreal
Photo by Elli O. on Unsplash.
Do you like soup? I mean, really like soup? Then the Festival de la S.O.U.P.E. in Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot (on the west side of Montreal) on Sunday, September 2, will be your cup of chowder. You can taste all kinds of soups by local chefs and vote for your favourite, while enjoying live music in a park on the shore of the St. Lawrence. You can find more details about the day on the festival’s French-language website.
Groove to the blues in Alexandria Bay
Blues in the Bay (August 31 to September 3) brings bluesy grooves to Alexandria Bay, New York, this weekend. As well as four days of free concerts, there will be a craft fair on Saturday and Sunday.
Get some garlic in Verona
The Verona Lions Club is holding its annual Garlic Festival in the community just north of Kingston on Saturday, September 1. Shop for all things garlic, enjoy family activities and see who wins the prize for best bulb.
See a drama about local history in Gananoque
Fly high at the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival
The Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival can look like a children’s cartoon come to life. Photo by Laura Byrne Paquet.
To me, the Labour Day weekend is a bit magical: it’s the one weekend of the year I can look up and be almost guaranteed to see something like a giant ice cream cone or a large pink elephant drifting overhead. Yes, this weekend you can catch the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival (August 30 to September 3) at Parc de la Baie. If you want to enjoy a balloon ride, book ahead and be prepared to arrive at the crack of dawn (afternoon flights are available, too, but the weather can be trickier at that time of day). Throughout the weekend, you can enjoy everything from inflatable play structures and a big midway to live music, skateboard demonstrations and a classic car show.
Get your rockabilly fix in Brockville
The Red, Hot and Blue Rockabilly Weekend (August 30 to September 2) features four days of live rockabilly music in Brockville, along with a fashion show, a vintage market, a boat cruise, a tiki party, jive dancing classes and more.
Eat, drink and be merry at an Eastern Townships festival
The Fête des Vendanges in Magog (September 1 to 3, and September 8 and 9) offers culinary demonstrations by Eastern Townships chefs, food and wine tastings, children’s entertainers, and more, all on the shore of Lake Memphrémagog.
Catch a concert at Tremblant
The hills of Mont Tremblant will be alive with the sound of music this weekend during La Fête de la Musique de Tremblant (August 30 to September 3). Concerts will range across Canadian and international musical genres, from chamber music and world music to tango and jazz. Choose from more than 30 performances on stages across Tremblant, all for free.
Have fun at a fair in Shawville, Perth or Newington
Feel like a fair? At least three nearby communities are hosting one this weekend.
Country singer Meghan Patrick and rockers The Trews are among the headliners at the Shawville Fair (August 30 to September 3). There’s lots here for kids, as the event bills itself as the Valley’s most family-friendly fair.
The Perth Fair (August 31 to September 3) features lawn mower races, a dog training camp and zucchini car races (zucchini car races?).
At the Stormont County Fair in Newington (August 31 to September 3), highlights include a dog show, a petting zoo, wrestling matches and a baby contest.
All three fairs offer a midway, a demolition derby, horse shows and lots more.
Go mountain biking in the Adirondacks
The Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival will take keen mountain bikers along forest trails in the Adirondacks this weekend (August 31 to September 2). As well as hurtling down more than 40 kilometres of trails in group rides and races for all levels (including a kids’ race), you can check out bike demos, camp, and enjoy live music, local food and beer.
Tap your toes to fiddlers and step dancers in Pembroke
Flickr/Creative Commons photo by Joseph Brent.
Want to see some impressive musicianship and dancing—possibly by the same person at the same time? Then the Pembroke Old Time Fiddling and Step Dancing Championships (August 31 and September 1) will be just your cup of tea. Over $10,000 in prize money and trophies are on the table, so the competition—in age groups ranging from “9 and under” to “65 and over”—will likely be fierce.
Celebrate the anniversary of Ameliasburgh Heritage Village
Ameliasburgh Heritage Village in Prince Edward County is turning 50 this year, and the museum is celebrating with an anniversary party on Sunday, September 2. The fun includes guided tours, a scavenger hunt, pioneer games and cake.
Check out two festivals in Ottawa
At the family-friendly Ottawa Serbian Festival (September 1 to 3), you can enjoy traditional foods, folk dances, a kids’ program and sports competitions. It’s happening at St. Stefan Serbian Orthodox Church at Prince of Wales Drive and Colonnade Road South, and admission and parking are free.
On Saturday, September 1, the Festival Latino Ottawa-Gatineau features a parade along Wellington Street and a fiesta of music and food at Ottawa City Hall.
Dance to a Cuban beat in Saint-Sauveur
Flickr/Creative Commons photo of mojitos by Michael Budde.
Saint-Sauveur will be moving to a Caribbean beat this weekend during L’Auténtica Fiesta Cubana (August 31 to September 3). Sip a mojito or a Cuba libre, test your salsa-dancing skills, or just kick back and enjoy the music. (Website is in French.)
Go mad in Maynooth
It’s Maynooth Madness this weekend (August 31 and September 1) in the community between Barry’s Bay and Bancroft. Highlights of the weekend include a parade, a motorcycle and vintage car show, a turkey supper, and a mud run event (for cars and trucks).
Bring the kids to the Mackenzie King Estate
Photo courtesy of the Mackenzie King Estate/National Capital Commission.
There’s lots of free fun on the agenda at Labour Day at the Estate at the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park this weekend (September 1 to 3), including art workshops, live music, samples of Indigenous foods and a powwow-style dance demonstration. Activities are free but there is a per-car access fee. Note that the parkways in the park are closed to cars on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
See award-winning photography in Montreal
Judges sifted through thousands of photos submitted by photographers around the world to select prize-winning images, which will be on display at the World Press Photo exhibition at Montreal’s Bonsecours Market (August 29 to September 30). The show will be open daily until 10pm and until midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Have a horsey weekend in Morrisburg
Horse Lovers’ Weekend is one of Upper Canada Village’s most popular annual events. Photo courtesy of Upper Canada Village.
Horse Lovers’ Weekend at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg (September 1 to 3) showcases horses and riding techniques of all descriptions. You can see draft horses, riding horses, and work horses, and try your luck in a mock 1860s horse auction. And did you know that Canada has a national horse—called, unsurprisingly, the Canada Horse? You’ll see some of those, too. This is one of Upper Canada Village’s most popular events of the year, so you’ll probably want to buy your tickets in advance.
Find art in Maberly, Ste-Agathe-des-Monts and Prince Edward County
The Sundance Artisan Show (September 1 to 3) is a juried show held behind the Fall River Restaurant in Maberly, southwest of Perth. Browse for pottery, woodworking items, jewellery, stained glass, paintings and more, and enjoy special dishes from Fall River, along with Perth Brewery beers and Ontario wines.
In the Laurentians, L’été des Métiers d’art (August 31 to September 2) in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts is a show and sale of jewellery, clothing, mosaics and other products by 38 selected Quebec artisans.
Two dozen artists and artisans are participating in the Rednersville Road Art Tour (September 1 to 3). Watercolours, sculptures, pastels and many other types of artworks will be available to buy. So where the heck is Rednersville Road? It hugs the shore of the Bay of Quinte in Prince Edward County.
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