Put that extra hour we’re going to gain this weekend to good use! (Hey, there has to be some benefit to the wretched semi-annual time-change fandango, right?)
Here are more than a dozen ways to amuse yourself in Ottawa and beyond this week, from plays in Constance Bay and Gananoque to comedy in Smiths Falls. You can also enjoy a free audio play online, join the crowd at the RedBlacks’ last regular season home game of the year, or check out all kinds of holiday craft sales. Enjoy!
Catch a concert in Burnstown
Singer-songwriter Jake Clemons also plays a huge variety of instruments (for the past nine years, he’s been the tenor and baritone saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band). You can see him in concert at the Neat Coffee Shop in Burnstown on Friday, November 5.
See new art exhibitions in Ottawa
The School of Photographic Arts Ottawa (SPAO) is holding its annual open house on Friday, November 5, from 5pm to 9pm. You can tour the facility, learn about the school’s programming and see the current exhibition in the SPAO gallery, Stay Silent, Drift Deep, featuring works by four Ontario-based artists: Ava Margueritte, Margo McDiarmid, Shaelynn Tredenick and Steven West. The show, which aims to illuminate the ways humans navigate their way through traumatic times, will be at the SPAO’s gallery until December 19; see the SPAO website for hours.
The Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum in Carp is launching its latest artist-in-residence show on Saturday, November 6. Akìmazinàzowin | An Image of the Land (November 6, 2021, to January 31, 2022) features the work of Algonquin artist Mairi Brascoupé. By integrating beadwork into a modern map of our region, she invites us to consider our understanding of place from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives. Admission to the show is included with general admission to the museum.
Celebrate butter tarts in Renfrew
Whether you like your butter tarts without raisins (that is, the right way) or with raisins (in other words, “a good butter tart spoiled”), you’ll be able to taste test many examples of Canada’s popular dessert at The Valley’s Best Buttertart Contest and Festival in Renfrew on Sunday, November 7. Pro and amateur bakers alike will be pitting their pastry confections against each other in all sorts of categories, and visitors can taste and buy the results. There will even be keto and sugar-free butter tarts in contention! It’s all happening at the Renfrew Armouries on the Renfrew Fairgrounds, from 10am to 4pm. Admission is free.
Have a laugh in Smiths Falls
Standup Al Babcock is the headliner at a Comedy Night at Bowie’s in Smiths Falls on Sunday, November 7. Other funny folks on the schedule include Andrew Wambolt, David Haddad and Dylan Parker, and host Logan Brown.
Check out over a dozen craft fairs in Orleans, Carleton Place, Wakefield and elsewhere
For all of you shop-ahead types, I’ve updated my massive list of more than 60 Christmas craft fairs and holiday markets, which I’ll keep updating right through December. This weekend alone, you have more than a dozen events to choose from, including sales in Richmond, Chelsea and Yarker. (Note that events lasting longer than a week are listed first in the post, followed by weekend-only events, so keep scrolling to make sure you see everything!)
Watch a fundraiser for The Ottawa Mission
Blue Door at Your Door, presented by Caivan, is a televised and online fundraiser on Saturday, November 6, for The Ottawa Mission. On CTV Ottawa or online, you can enjoy music by Blue Rodeo, Bruce Cockburn, Kellylee Evans, Alan Doyle and many others. The event’s host is Ottawa’s own Tom Green.
Enjoy a play in Constance Bay, in Gananoque or online
The Rural Root Theatre Company’s latest show has one of the longest play titles I’ve seen in a while: The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby (November 7 matinée, then evening performances from November 9 to 13). But it’s another comedy from perpetual Canadian crowd pleaser Norm Foster, so expect lots of chuckles from this story of an investment banker who gets stuck in a sleepy small town. It’s on stage at the NorthWind Wireless Fibe Community Centre in Constance Bay.
The 1000 Islands Playhouse in Gananoque is presenting Miss Caledonia (November 4 to 28), the tale of farm girl Peggy Ann Douglas and her dream of making it big in Hollywood—by first making it big on the pageant circuit. Be prepared for fiddling and baton twirling! Several of the live performances will be streamed online, too.
Also online this week, you can catch Entangled, an audio play by Jacob Berkowitz (November 3 to 7). The National Arts Centre is streaming the performance of the two-man play for free. Entangled, which premiered at the 2019 Ottawa International Fringe Festival, delves into the real-life friendship between Nobel-winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli and famed psychologist Carl Jung, who helped Pauli unravel his dreams.
Cheer on the RedBlacks in Ottawa
This weekend is your last opportunity to catch a RedBlacks regular season home game this year. The home team takes on the Toronto Argonauts (all together now, Toronto fans: “AAAAAARRRRRRGOOOOOOSSSSS”) at TD Place at Lansdowne Park on Saturday, November 6.
Shop locally
Today marks the launch of Shop, Stamp and Win (November 1 to December 31), Perth’s annual promotion to reward people for shopping locally. Buy from downtown stores and you could win gift certificates or an overnight stay in Perth (including dinner and a spa treatment).
Speaking of Perth: The first annual Small Works Event at the Katherine Muir Miller Gallery in Perth (November 4 to 15) will showcase small pieces by 15 artists. Items are priced between $200 and $300 each. The grand opening is on Friday, November 5, with wine and other refreshments.
Meanwhile, in Manotick, Lasting Impressions Gifts is hosting a Ladies’ Weekend promotion this weekend (November 6 and 7). Buy a certain amount (in person or online) and you’ll receive a free pair of touch-screen winter gloves and/or free shipping.
And the Rideau Environmental Action League is holding an online auction from November 1 to 13. More than 80 cool items are up for grabs, and proceeds go to support local environmental projects.
Looking for more ideas for fun in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or pick up a copy of my guidebook, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.
As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land.