This week’s road trip roundup of getaway ideas runs the gamut from motor racing in Calabogie and fashion in Montreal to blues in Kingston, a festival of light in Ottawa and dinner theatre in the Pontiac. I have fun for shoppers, food lovers and classic car buffs. There’s even an Elvis festival! Read on for details.
Shop your heart out in Merrickville or Pembroke
Do you like super-cute villages and bargains? Then point your car to Merrickville this weekend, where merchants are holding a sidewalk sale on Saturday, August 24, from 10am to 5pm. Look for the stores with the balloons by their doors.
Also this weekend: At the Merrickville Antique and Artisan Show (August 24 and 25), you can shop for folk art, furniture, art glass, jewellery, dolls and much more. There will be a classic car display on Saturday, too. It’s happening at the Merrickville Fairgrounds.
Alternatively, you could head to Pembroke and check out the Summer’s End Craft and Vendor Market at the Pembroke Knights of Columbus Hall on Sunday, August 25. More than 50 craft and gift vendors will be on hand, and you can nibble on food truck goodies as you shop.
Learn about foraging in Wakefield
Flavours off the beaten path is the theme of a foraging workshop at Fairbairn House in Wakefield at 10am on Sunday, August 25. Guest speaker Geneviève LeGal-Leblanc owns Ferme et Fôret, a farm near Wakefield, where she makes honey and maple syrup, raises chickens, and grows berries.
Enjoy “underground” music in Eganville
This is something you don’t see every day: a concert in a cave! Bonnechere Caves near Eganville is once again hosting its summer Cavestock concert series. On Thursday, August 22, Ottawa-based Moonfruits—a bilingual art-folk duo playing everything from banjo to kalimba—will be the featured performers. For reservations, call Chris at 613-628-2283. If you can’t make it this week, there’s also a concert next Thursday (August 29), featuring Dawn Prittchard and Jamie Ferguson. And if you’d like to know more about the caves, see the recent guest post by Hollie Grace James.
Celebrate Capital Pride in Ottawa
This year’s Capital Pride celebration in Ottawa (August 18 to 25) is packed with a huge range of activities for members and allies of the LGBTQ community, including storytelling events, poetry slams, documentary screenings, a square dance, a burlesque show, a rooftop party, a block party, a weekend street festival on Bank Street, a women’s Pride dance, a Fury Pride game and Sunday afternoon’s huge Pride parade.
Enjoy music on the beach in Petawawa
Get to the Point is a free arts festival on Petawawa Beach on Saturday, August 24. The fun starts at 4pm and includes workshops on everything from painting and drumming to ukulele playing and hula hooping, and there will be lots of live music, too.
Catch a concert at the Spencerville Mill
A Kingston-based trio called Irish Roots is bringing its blend of Celtic, country and East Coast music to the Spencerville Mill for a concert on Thursday, August 22.
Sample local foods in Chelsea or Munster
Attention, food lovers: the Outaouais Gourmet Festival is happening on Sunday, August 25, at Hendrick Farm in Chelsea. Enjoy tastings, family activities, chef demonstrations and more. Exhibitors—which at past festivals have included Ferme Brylee, Miss Marmelades, la Confiserie Wakefield, Restaurant L’Orée du Bois and Rochef—will be selling all sorts of locally produced foods. Admission is free.
Also on Sunday, August 25, Saunders Farm in Munster is hosting one of its regular farm-to-table dinners, featuring local produce. The menu for this one includes barbecued pork, buttermilk biscuits, kale slaw with hemp hearts, chocolate cake and other goodies. Bring your appetite!
Kick back with the blues in Kingston
Three days of outdoor blues concerts for just $20 sounds like a pretty good deal to me. That’s the admission fee for the Limestone City Blues Festival in Kingston (August 22 to 25), which also includes blues in local restaurants and bars for four days. Hear tunes by Lachy Doley, Danielle Nicole and Kenny Neal, among others.
Go retro in Alexandria Bay
Rockin’ the Bay (August 22 to 25) is a festival of all things classic—well, classic music and classic cars, at least. Groove to the tunes that ruled the era of eight-track tapes, with live rock-n-roll block dances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. On Sunday, there will be a classic car rally.
Get your garlic fix in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
‘Tis the season for garlic festivals! This weekend, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on the west island of Montreal is hosting a garlic festival at its farmers’ market on Saturday, August 24. Some 15 garlic vendors will be on hand, in addition to the regular market vendors, and there will workshops, live music and kids’ activities.
Browse for books in Kemptville
The Kemptville Youth Centre is holding its annual book fair this weekend from August 23 to 25. Get deals on books and support a good cause! The sale takes place at the Ferguson Forest Centre.
Enjoy a festival of light in Ottawa
The Lumière Festival will be lighting up Stanley Park in New Edinburgh on Saturday, August 24. Come make a lantern, listen to live bands, see the Ottawa Fire Weavers dance to world music, thrill to stilt walkers, enjoy Indigenous drumming, sample food truck fare, explore a lamp-lit labyrinth and more.
Shop for art in Cornwall
The monthly Cornwall Art Walk returns to the Seaway City on Friday, August 23, from 4pm to 9pm. Galleries, restaurants and shops will be open late to welcome art lovers.
Ride a vintage train in Smiths Falls
All aboard! The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario in Smiths Falls is hosting Trainfest this weekend (August 24 and 25), with the chance to learn all about vintage trains! The event is so popular that the museum is selling advance tickets to the event itself and to the very popular train rides (which require a separate ticket).
Get your motor running in Calabogie
Ever wonder what it would be like to take your car for a circuit on a real racetrack? Saturday, August 24, is your chance to find out, during the 1MoreLap Novice Day event at Calabogie Motorsports Park. For $75, you get an instructor, a helmet and half an hour of track time.
Catch a concert near Shawville
Carleton Place’s Brock Zeman and Nashville-based Rod Picott are singer-songwriters who draw on a mix of alt-country and roots-rock influences. They’ll be on stage together at the Little Red Wagon Winery in Clarendon (just west of Shawville) on Saturday, August 24.
Sip kombucha in Montreal
If you’re a fan of fermented tea drinks, you might just want to check out Boochfest Montreal, a five-day celebration of all things kombucha. Over two dozen kombucha makers, hailing from places as diverse as Lanark County and Iceland, will be on hand. It’s taking place at IGA Stadium at Jarry Park on August 24 and 25, and admission is free.
Channel your inner Scot in Almonte
With 20 pipe bands, athletes galore and a hundred dancers, the North Lanark Highland Games (Saturday, August 24) will bring a little bit of Scotland to Almonte this weekend. In between competitions and entertainment, you can nosh on Scottish food and shop for Celtic souvenirs, clothing and crafts.
Cheer for the King(s) in Tweed
Are you lonesome tonight? Then grab your blue suede shoes and head to Tweed, north of Belleville, for the annual Tweed Elvis Festival (August 23 to 25). As well as a weekend full of competitions pitting Elvis tribute artists against each other (who will swivel their hips the best?), there will be a pancake breakfast, a classic car and motorcycle parade, and more. If you can’t find a partner, grab a wooden chair!
Check out fairs in Chesterville, Cobden, Riceville, Maberly, Mallorytown and Syracuse
The amusements at the Chesterville Fair (August 23 to 25) include an inflatables midway, truck pulls, a goat show, a horse whisperer, magic shows and a petting zoo.
Meanwhile, at the Cobden Fair (August 23 to 25), you can enjoy a midway and demolition derby, along with a rabbit agility show, a roast pork BBQ dinner, concerts and more.
At the Riceville Fair (August 23 to 25), amusements include axe throwing, fireworks, a gladiator challenge, a tug of war and concerts.
Then there’s the Mallorytown Village Fair on Saturday, August 24, featuring a sketch artist, free wagon rides, food vendors, live music and free children’s games.
The Maberly Fair (Saturday, August 24) is also short but sweet. Competitors will vie for all sorts of agricultural prizes, and there will also be a zucchini race and an on-stage cake decorating contest.
Finally, Syracuse might seem to be a long way to drive for a fair, but don’t knock it until you’ve seen the New York State Fair (August 21 to September 2). This thing is massive. Check out the life-sized butter sculptures! Try your luck on a mechanical bull! Have chocolate-covered bacon for dinner and fried Oreos for dessert, all washed down with a wine slushie! I am not making any of this up!
Looking for more ideas? Check out my roundup of 20+ fabulous fairs.
See a play in Prescott, Gananoque or Bristol
The St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival presents its community play, Cabaret, from August 22 to 24 at St. Andrews Church in Prescott. Based on Christopher Isherwood’s short stories set in Berlin in the 1930s, it’s a raucous yet tragic story of a creative community in the shadow of the rise of the Nazis.
The Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque is presenting Ring of Fire from August 23 to September 21. As you can probably guess from the title, it’s a musical about the life and times of Johnny Cash, featuring lots of the Man in Black’s famous tunes.
In Bristol, the Pontiac Community Players’ dinner theatre production of Happily Ever After: A Wedding Comedy runs from August 21 to 24. The farce is the story of a soon-to-be-bride convinced she should be marrying a man who’s in a coma, even though her mother is determined to see her marry someone else.
See the latest fashions in Montreal
Fashionistas, rejoice: the Festival Mode & Design Montréal takes over the Quartier des spectacles for six busy days this week (August 19 to 24). Check out fashion shows of all sorts, talks featuring Canadian and international designers, pop-up shops, food trucks, DJ events and more.
Enjoy an eco-themed concert in Merrickville
The Loon Choir is a Canadian group whose lyrics explore environmental themes and whose music features lots of catchy riffs and beautiful harmonies. They’re on stage at the Merrickville United Arts Centre on Saturday, August 24.
Sample Palestinian culture in Ottawa
The Ottawa Palestinian Festival (August 23 to 25) will transform the grounds of Ottawa City Hall into a Middle Eastern fair this weekend. Feast on hummus and falafel, shop for spices and jewellery, get a henna tattoo, and hear traditional and modern Palestinian music.
Cheer for jumping dogs in Brockville
The concept behind dog dock jumping is pretty simple: Dog stands at shore end of dock. Handler stands at water end, dangling toy. Dog, predictably, bolts down dock—just as handler tosses toy over water. Dog leaps into air in hot pursuit, soaring over water. Splashdown. Cheering. Repeat with next dog. The Canine Watersports Canada Championships looks like a total hoot. Just check out the video! The competition is happening in Brockville’s Hardy Park from August 23 to 25.
Take your kids outdoors in Pakenham
Worried that your tots are spending too much time in front of a screen? The Festival of the Wild Child at High Lonesome Nature Reserve near Pakenham may be just the solution. At various points along the festival’s wooded trails, kids have the chance to learn more about frogs, turtles, rocks and more. The festival runs on August 24 and 25.
Check out a summer festival in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes
In the western Outaouais, you can check out Islandfest in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes from August 23 and 24. Highlights include a chili cookoff, a dunk tank and a fastball tournament.
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2 comments
And…there’s Brock Zeman & Rod Picott (all the way from Nashville), as well as Blair Michael Hogan at The Little Red Wagon Winery, in Shawville, Saturday night, August 24th.
Thanks! I updated the post to add the link.