Our region is really switching on the lights this weekend! From Alight at Night in Morrisburg to River of Lights in Brockville and the Festival of Lights in Perth, there are lots of places where you get your holiday glow on. Other festive fun includes all sorts of craft sales (such as the Ottawa Christmas Market at Lansdowne Park, which opens this weekend) and Santa Claus parades.
If you’re looking for something non-Christmassy, you can also enjoy live music in McDonald’s Corners or Kingston, plays in Smiths Falls or North Gower, comedy in Kemptville, an artsy open house in Chelsea, an online cooking class/concert with captions and ASL interpretation, or an online children’s storytelling festival.
Wherever you go, drive or walk safely; there’s some frosty-sounding weather in the forecast!
See River of Lights in Brockville
River of Lights (November 27 to January 2, weather permitting) is a free holiday light display on Blockhouse Island in Brockville, featuring a display of thousands of twinkling lights and flood lights set to music. And you can enjoy it safely from your car, by tuning your car radio to 88.1. It will be illuminated from 5pm to 11pm nightly, but the music only runs from 6pm to 10pm. The 50-minute show runs on a loop and features both contemporary music and classic holiday songs. Check out the event’s website for details on ordering snacks and drinks from local restaurants to enjoy in your vehicle while you watch.
(P.S.: If you go on Saturday, November 27, you can also check out Brockville’s stationary Santa Claus parade from 4pm to 8pm; details for that are also available on the River of Lights website.)
Take a cooking class online, followed by a concert
The Ottawa Grassroots Festival is running an innovative fundraiser online on Saturday, November 27. It has two parts: a cooking workshop with Korey Kealey (known for her cooking appearances on CTV Ottawa and elsewhere), followed by a concert by Shawna Caspi and Ian Tamblyn. The event will include captioning and ASL interpretation to make it more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community. You can sign up for both parts of the evening or just for the concert. If you sign up for the cooking workshop part, you’ll receive a shopping list, recipes and prep notes after you register.
Have some laughs in Kemptville (or online)
The North Grenville Community Fund is serving up its annual Comedy Date Night on Saturday, November 27, featuring stand-up favourite Derek Seguin, along with a live band. You can attend in person at the North Grenville Municipal Centre or stream the show online.
Visit a Christmas market at Lansdowne Park and beyond
The Ottawa Christmas Market at Lansdowne Park is modelled on outdoor European holiday markets. Browse for handmade gifts and food, and enjoy live entertainment—including free concerts by Les Rats d’Swompe, JW Jones and Gentlemen of the Woods on Friday, November 26 (when the giant Christmas tree will also be lit for the first time this season). The market runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from November 26 to December 19, as well as daily on December 20, 21 and 22; check the market’s website for exact hours.
That’s just one of the many, many seasonal markets, craft fairs and art shows happening this weekend. You can also check out sales at the Log Farm and in the Glebe, Kanata, Manotick, Aylmer, Clarendon, Bristol, Brockville, Kingston, Wesport, Arnprior, Mississippi Mills, Picton, Kemptville, Lyndhurst, Chelsea and other places; see my huge roundup of Christmas craft sales for details and links.
Enjoy live music in McDonald’s Corners, Westport, Kingston or Montreal
There’s live music for just about every taste this weekend, including grassroots tunes by Jon McLurg and Anthea Feaver at the Cove Country Inn in Westport (Thursday, November 25, starting at 5pm—one of four live gigs at the inn this week), a performance of Baroque music and poetry by the Kingston Baroque Consort at St. James Anglican Church in Kingston (Friday, November 26, starting at 5:15pm) and a show by country-folk singer-songwriter Lynne Hanson at the MERA Schoolhouse in McDonald’s Corners (Sunday, November 28, starting at 2pm). And the Montreal Bach Festival continues this week with both in-person and online performances; it runs until December 5.
Hear storytellers spinning tales for kids in Ottawa
Ottawa StoryTellers and its partners are presenting the 27th annual Ottawa Children’s Storytelling Festival/Festival du conte pour enfants d’Ottawa from November 22 to 26, with both online and in-person events. More than 30 English, French and Indigenous storytellers from across the country will be presenting stories for children aged 3 to 12—everything from rhymes for the very young to funny stories and tales of epic adventure. In-person events will take place at the Odawa Native Friendship Centre.
See a Santa Claus parade in Manotick, Aylmer, Embrun, Russell or Carleton Place
Several nearby communities are hosting holiday parades this weekend, including Embrun, Aylmer, Manotick, Brockville and Carleton Place on Saturday, November 27, and Russell on Sunday, November 28. See my Santa Claus parades post for links to these and future parades (including some just-announced parades in Ottawa, Kanata and Orleans on December 4).
Cheer for our women’s hockey team in Ottawa
Canada’s national women’s hockey team faces off against their arch rivals from the U.S. of A. at TD Place at Lansdowne Park on Tuesday, November 23. Start time for the big game is 7pm.
Enjoy a play in North Gower, Smiths Falls or Perth
Three theatre productions I mentioned last week continue this week.
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).
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.
And the Smiths Falls Community Theatre is staging two Norm Foster one-act plays—My Narrator and The Death of Me—at the Station Theatre in Smiths Falls (November 19 to 28, selected dates).
Be dazzled by festive lights in Morrisburg and Perth
The popular Alight at Night Festival lights up Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg again this year. This event sees the historical village’s homes, shops, church, fences and trees adorned with roughly one million lights. The fun begins on Friday, November 26, and the event is open select evenings until Saturday, January 1.
In Perth, the Festival of Lights launched on November 20 and continues until January 2. You’re invited to stand outside the Crystal Palace to admire the decorated trees inside, which will be illuminated daily from 4pm until dawn. You can also bring your own ornament to add to the outdoor Community Christmas Tree.
P.S., for those thinking ahead: On Friday, December 3, the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum launches its Vintage Village of Lights. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until December 19, the village’s historic buildings will be lit up with more than 30,000 lights, and you can enjoy crafts and other activities (you might even spot Santa). I’m mentioning it now because you’ll need to buy a timed ticket in advance, and spaces are limited.
Shop in Westport or Perth
Boutiques in the pretty village of Westport will likely be thronged on Friday, November 26, during the Holiday Shop and Hop event. You can get entries in a prize draw by visiting a range of local merchants, and shops will be open until 8pm. There will be live music, buggy rides and a European-style outdoor Christmas market, too.
The following day in Perth, during the Festival of Good Cheer (Saturday, November 27), you can sample goodies from local producers at tasting tables, enjoy wagon rides and live music, marvel at the tricks of a wandering musician, and more. Pick up a goodie bag at the Crystal Palace starting at 9:30am; select bags will contain a gift certificate.
Ride a train with Santa in Smiths Falls
The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario is running its hugely popular North Pole Express event, which gives kids the chance to enjoy a 2km ride on a vintage train with Santa, on November 27 and December 4. Advance ticket purchase required.
Celebrate the arts in Chelsea
La Fab Arts Centre in Chelsea is holding a two-day open house this weekend (November 27 and 28, 11am to 3pm). Sip on hot chocolate, visit artists in their studios, enjoy free live music and dance performances, or take a Christmas decoration workshop. Note that the centre recently moved to new digs at 8 Mill Road in Chelsea.
Visit Santa’s workshop at a heritage farm in Nepean
You don’t have to go outside the Ottawa city limits to visit an 1860s style farm. And from November 28 to December 23, the Log Farm in Nepean will be open on select dates for Christmas fun. You can shop for Christmas trees, see farm animals, enjoy Christmas music, let the kids loose in the play barn and take a horse-drawn wagon ride to Santa’s workshop (where you can see elves at work and drop off a letter for Kris Kringle). To visit, you must buy your timed tickets online in advance.
Enjoy a village-style Christmas event in Aylmer
Starting this weekend, Christmas in Old Aylmer (November 26 to December 5) includes a Christmas market that runs both weekends (Friday through Sunday) and a Santa Claus parade on Saturday, November 27.
Enter to win a Christmas visit to Saunders Farm or a package from Unexpected Journeys
OK, this is a shameless plug: My publisher is running a contest to promote my guidebook, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide. Enter by December 1 and you could win a visit to Saunders Farm for Christmas fun or a secret itinerary for a local road trip from Unexpected Journeys! To enter, you’ll need to follow the publisher on Twitter and/or buy a copy of the book (which is on sale for a reduced price for the duration of the contest). Good luck!
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