Yes, you read that headline correctly: I have 30 ideas for things you can do in and around Ottawa over the next week. Whether you’d like to take the kids to a drive-through holiday light show or parade, check out the Rockcliffe Park Book Fair online, see plays and concerts, tour fabulous houses virtually, or meet a superhero, I have tips galore. Happy travels!
Shop, shop, shop in Perth
During the Christmas in Perth event (Thursday, November 18), you can browse in downtown shops until 8pm, enjoy live music by Rubies in the Rough, and hunt for 15 hidden tiny reindeer in the hopes of winning a prize.
Get your geek on at Ottawa ComicCon
Head to the EY Centre this weekend to shop for comics, games, collectibles and more—and to snap a selfie with a superhero or a stormtrooper—at Ottawa ComicCon (November 19 to 21). Free admission for kids under 12.
(And before y’all send me hate mail about the heading on this paragraph: I use geek in the most affectionate sense, as (truly) many of my best friends proudly proclaim themselves geeks. And, as someone who once owned a complete Regency-era costume and wore it to book signings, I’m kind of a geek myself.)
Enjoy Bach in Montreal or online
Artists from around the world are coming to Montreal to celebrate the music of Johann Sebastian Bach during the Montreal Bach Festival (November 20 to December 5). This year’s festival is a hybrid event, with options to attend concerts in person or online. The choices include two performances this weekend of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio by the Orchestre et Choeur Festival Bach Montréal (November 20 and 21).
Take a virtual house tour
Pandemic restrictions made it tricky for Hospice Care Ottawa to stage its house tour fundraiser, Homes for the Holidays, in its usual format this year. But here’s the silver lining: You can examine the six featured houses from the comfort of your own home, for as long as you like, in the event’s virtual format in 2021. Send a donation and (starting Thursday, November 18), the organizers will send you a link to 3D online tours of the custom-decorated homes. And if you still crave an in-person experience, check out the charity’s fundraising sale this weekend at the Hellenic Event Centre (November 19 to 21; details on the site above).
Enjoy a scenic drive from Montebello to Gatineau
Tourisme Outaouais recently posted this suggested itinerary for a weekend getaway drive in the eastern section of the region. Starting in Montebello, it features hiking trails, a café, an art gallery and more.
See children’s theatre in Ottawa
The Ottawa Children’s Festival is presenting its Mini-Festival of the Arts at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa this weekend (November 19 to 21). Choose from four productions aimed at the under-12 set, including Crossing the Ocean (a multimedia show about one man’s adventures under the seas—see video above) and Thumbelina. Tickets are available online. (P.S.: Looking ahead, Ottawa StoryTellers will be presenting the online Ottawa Children’s Storytelling Festival next week, from November 22 to 26.)
Drive through a light show in Nepean
The Magic of Lights is back! The very popular drive-through light show at Wesley Clover Parks in Nepean opens on Friday, November 19, and runs until January 8. How does it work? Visitors drive slowly past or through elaborate illuminated displays of holiday scenes. Tickets are sold per carload and tend to get snapped up quickly, so hop on this one if you’re keen. It’s a fundraiser for CHEO.
Shop a virtual book sale
For bibliophiles, the Rockcliffe Park Book Fair is an annual rite of passage—and, also, a fitness test, as we struggle to see just how many bags of books we can lug to our cars or onto the bus. This year, the venerable fundraiser has gone online; you can shop for books and more from November 15 to 29.
Catch a concert in Orleans or Shawville
There are still some single tickets left to see Barenaked Ladies founder Steven Page in concert on Tuesday, November 16, at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans. Later in the week, you can catch Mediterranean guitarist Pavlo performing at the same venue on Friday, November 19. And you can still snag loft seats to the show by acoustic duo Michaela and René at the Little Red Wagon Winery in Shawville on Saturday, November 20.
Taste a Montreal wine festival—online
This is one way to attend a wine festival without drawing straws to see who will be the designated driver! La Grande Dégustation, a Montreal wine festival, has gone virtual this year (November 15 to 21). Head to the SAQ (or the LCBO, I suppose) to pick up the featured bottles from various countries around the world, then tune into the related Facebook Live event to sip and learn.
See a parade in Kemptville, Oxford Mills, Cornwall or Kingston
Holiday parades in Ottawa are a bit thin on the ground this year, so why not take a short road trip to see a Santa Claus parade or a parade of lights? This weekend, you can choose from three Santa Claus parades on Saturday, November 20, in Kemptville, Cornwall and Kingston. On Sunday, there’s a lantern parade in Oxford Mills (visitors are asked to reserve free tickets online in advance). Check out my big list of holiday parades for other upcoming events.
Paint a Christmas card in Carleton Place
At the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum, you can drop into a watercolour painting workshop on Saturday, November 20, and learn to make a Christmas card. The fee is $5 per card. No reservations required.
Enjoy a play in North Gower, Smiths Falls, Perth or Kingston
Have you missed live theatre? Well, then, you’re in for a treat this weekend, with at least four productions to choose from.
At the Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre in North Gower, ITR Theatre is presenting the Norm Foster comedy Self-Help (November 19 to 28, selected dates) as a fundraiser for the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.
Norm Foster is also the playwright of choice this month for the Smiths Falls Community Theatre, which is staging two of his one-act plays—My Narrator and The Death of Me—at the Station Theatre in Smiths falls (November 19 to 28, selected dates).
Down the road in Perth, Studio Theatre Perth has a new production of Willy Russell’s wry and thoughtful comedy of relationships, Educating Rita (November 18 to 28, selected dates).
And, finally, there’s an afternoon stage reading of These Deeds, a thriller by Craig Walker featuring an unlikely cast of characters (Bram Stoker, Buffalo Bill Cody and Henry Irving). It’s happening at the Tett Centre in Kingston on Sunday, November 21.
Discover Peking opera in Orleans or online
The Autumn Melody Collective is presenting two Peking operas—an art form recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage—at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans on Saturday, November 20. You can also buy tickets to stream the show online.
Browse at a craft fair
Sure, Christmas is still a month away, but we are in high season for holiday craft and artisan fairs, people! If you hurry, you can still check out A Very Virtual Village Fair, an online event sponsored by All Saints’ Anglican Church in Westboro and running until Tuesday, November 16. In-person events this week include the Christmas Market in the Square in Manotick (November 20 and 21), the Glebe Craft and Artisan Fair (November 20 and 21) and the Christmas Market at the Log Farm near Barrhaven (November 20), as well as sales in Calabogie (November 20, night market), Cantley (November 19 to 21), Almonte (November 20 and 21), Smiths Falls (November 20), McDonald’s Corners (November 20), Perth (November 21) and many more. Note that some of these extend over several weekends, too. Check my huge holiday craft sale post for the complete list.
Have a laugh in Orleans
Need a good chuckle—en français? Then check out L’involution, a one-woman show by comedian Maude Landry, at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans on Thursday, November 18. (Wow, the Shenkman is a hopping place this week!)
Do you have an event you’d like to see listed here? There’s no charge! Just email me at least two weeks in advance and I’ll try my best to include it.
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 Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.