Don’t feel like going far? Ottawa is packed with fun this week, including Winterlude, the Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival, the Undercurrents theatre festival and the Megaphono indie music festival. If you’re itching for a road trip, choices include an outdoor sports fest at Tremblant, a cheerleading competition in Cornwall and a cross-country ski loppet near Perth. I’ve also found an art gallery vernissage, a craft show, a Caribbean cabaret, a snowmobile drag race and more. Happy travels—and drive safely! Black ice is tricky.
Get active at Tremblant
Flickr/Creative Commons photo of Mont Tremblant by Peter Dutton.
This is the fifth year of the Festival Rando Alpine Tremblant (February 8 to 10), which celebrates winter mountain sports of all sorts. You’ll find activities for everyone from novices to experts, including night skiing, splitboarding, fat biking, yoga and more.
Have some laughs in Gatineau
Francophone standup comedian François Bellefeuille brings his one-man show Le plus fort au monde to la Maison de la Culture de Gatineau on Friday, February 8.
Shop for items by local makers in Merrickville
Merrickville’s Winter Makers Market is taking place in the village’s community centre at 106 Read Street on Saturday, February 9. More than 40 vendors from Merrickville and beyond will be selling hand-crafted items of all descriptions.
Hear emerging artists in Ottawa-Gatineau and Morrisburg
If you’re keen to catch new musical acts on the ascent, this is your weekend. In Ottawa-Gatineau, Megaphono (February 7 to 9) will showcase musicians from across the region to industry players (but tickets are open to all). The many venues include Brasserie de l’Ile in the Hull sector of Gatineau, Shanghai Restaurant in Chinatown, the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Vanier and the Happy Goat coffee shop in Hintonburg. Shows are clustered by neighbourhood, including multiple shows in the Glebe/Old Ottawa South, the ByWard Market and other spots. (Check out the hilariously retro event trailer video above.)
In Morrisburg, as part of the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage series, six up-and-coming indie musicians will be performing a show called Intimate Acoustics at the Upper Canada Playhouse on Saturday, February 9. There’s lots of local talent in the eclectic lineup, including Cornwall-raised Gen Lacroix, Ottawa-based Jordan Hawn and Kemptville’s Ken Julien.
Cheer for cheerleaders in Cornwall
Have you seen Bring It On more times than you care to admit? Do you still have a set of pompoms somewhere in your basement? Or do you just enjoy acrobatics? If so, you just might like Winter Blast, the Ontario Cheerleading Federation’s seasonal competition, at the Cornwall Civic Complex on Saturday, February 9. Gooooo, team!
Warm up with two shows in Orleans
Photo of Kalabanté: Afrique en cirque courtesy of the Shenkman Arts Centre.
Sick of the cold and snow? The Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans is going to be alive with the music and dance of two warmer-than-Ottawa regions on Saturday, February 9. For Cabaret Caribe, the Richcraft Theatre will be transformed into a cabaret for a two-hour show of music and dance from countries across the Caribbean. (There will also be a bar serving up tropical cocktails and dishes.) Meanwhile, Harold Shenkman Hall in the same complex will be hosting Kalabanté: Afrique en cirque. That show features eight daring young acrobats who draw on artistic traditions from a wide range of African cultures as they perform to the intense rhythms of West African music.
Check out a new gallery exhibition in Vankleek Hill
The Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill is holding a vernissage on Saturday, February 9, for its latest exhibition. From 1pm to 3pm, you can enjoy light refreshments while viewing works by Ontario artist Maggie Dean and Quebec artist Wendy Tillett.
Dance the night away on Bank Street
Not a lot of details are available yet about the brand-new Fire and Ice Festival on Bank Street (February 8 and 9), but one thing is certain: People will be taking their headphones to the street to dance in a silent disco on both nights. Tickets for that event are on sale now.
Get gardening inspiration in Almonte
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash.
Swap your extra seeds for new seeds, or buy new seeds, and chat with gardeners of all sorts at Almonte Seedy Saturday, taking place on Saturday, February 9, at the Almonte Civitan Hall.
Enjoy classic movie tunes in Kingston
Movie soundtracks are designed to be in the background, but the Kingston Symphony Orchestra will bring some of the most beloved cinematic tunes front and centre this weekend during Gene Kelly: A Life in Music (February 9 and 10). From An American in Paris to Singin’ in the Rain, Kelly danced his way through some of the best-known films from the golden age of Hollywood musicals. This show will pair big-screen clips of his movies with their musical score played live. Kelly’s widow and biographer, Patricia Ward Kelly, will host the event.
Hang out with the Governor-General at Rideau Hall
There’s lots of outdoor fun to be had at the Governor-General’s Winter Celebration at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Saturday, February 9, from 12:30 to 4pm. Free activities include skating (sharpening station on site), snowshoeing, kicksledding, cross-country skiing and curling. You can learn about Inuit culture, as students from Nunavut Sivuniksavut School will be drumming, dancing and throat singing. Embassies, museums and other partners will also be on hand presenting all sorts of activities. Want to warm up? Take a tour of Rideau Hall.
Immerse yourself in jazz in Ottawa
The Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival (February 7 to 9) is offering a diverse roster of shows at La Nouvelle Scène, including the eclectic music of the Megan Jerome Together Ensemble, which blends everything from country to gospel into the jazz mix.
Cheer on snowmobile racers in Greely
Ready, set….watch racers rev through the snow! The Osgoode Carleton Snowmobile Trail Club is holding a drag race just east of the Greely Legion on Saturday, February 9. Spectators are welcome.
Celebrate winter in Chesterville, Clarence Creek, Pembroke and beyond
Haven’t had your fill of winter carnivals yet? Then check out the fun this weekend at the Chesterville Winter Carnival (February 8 to 10), the Clarence Creek Winter Carnival (February 8 to 17), the Champlain Winter Carnival in l’Orignal and Vankleek Hill (February 9 and 10), the Rankin Culture and Recreation Centre’s Winter Carnival in Pembroke (February 7 to 9), the Rockport Winter Carnival (February 6 to 10), or the Fire and Ice Celebration in Clayton, New York (February 7 to 9). There’s also the granddaddy of winter festivals, Carnaval de Québec in Quebec City (February 8 to 17).
Warm up with stew in the ByWard Market
Celebrity judge Henry Burris of the Ottawa Redblacks with the chefs of Tucker’s Marketplace, winners of the Judges’ Choice Award at the 2016 ByWard Market Stew Cook-Off. Photo courtesy of the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area.
Local restaurants will once again be dishing up warming stews during the ByWard Market Stew Cook-Off on Friday, February 8 (11:30am to 2pm). For $10, you can sample as many stews as you like and vote for your favourite (with a deal like that, no wonder this is the event’s 28th year). Proceeds support the Lowertown Community Resource Centre.
Take in a cutting-edge play in Ottawa
The always-intriguing Undercurrents theatre festival, produced by Ottawa Fringe, returns to for its ninth season (February 6 to 16). Most shows take place at Arts Court. The schedule this year includes Coach of the Year, a new play by Ottawa’s Pierre Brault about a hockey coach whose past catches up with him, and Broken Tailbone, which brings audiences into the hidden world of Latin dancehalls (and promises to have everyone in the audience up on their feet dancing to a salsa beat).
Groove to the blues in Merrickville or Vankleek Hill
These shows are actually next week, but because they’re early in the week, I’m mentioning them here so you can plan ahead. Blues musician Andy Cohen, who describes his music as “Country Blues 101” and plays early 20th-century Southern tunes, will be at the Merrickville United Arts Centre on Monday, February 11, and at the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill on Tuesday, February 12.
Ski from Mont Tremblant to Lachute…
Okay, you don’t have to ski the entire 160 kilometres! You can pick one or more shorter sections of the Canadian Ski Marathon (February 8 to 10), put on your cross-country skis and hit the trail to join others in what the organizers bill as the “longest and oldest classic ski tour in North America.” They also note that it’s not a race; it’s designed to get people of all ages out on the trails.
…or ski in Murphy’s Point Provincial Park
Hurry if you want to try this one; registration for the Tay Valley Loppet 2019 closes on Thursday, February 7, at noon. The event itself takes place on Sunday, February 10, at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park near Perth. It features 2.5K and 5K events for kids, as well as 5K, 10K and 20K events for adults, and you get a reward of a hearty lunch after your exertions.
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