Don’t let this weirdly early snowstorm get you down! Put on those snow tires, or hop on a bus or train, and keep on road tripping.
My ideas for fun in and around Ottawa this weekend include two concerts in the Outaouais, film fests in Ottawa and Montreal, shopping events in Perth and Carleton Place, a sweat lodge in Vanier, and ABBA tunes in Pembroke. And there’s also North America’s largest live trivia event! Wherever you go, travel carefully—there’s a lot of ice out there already.
See an alternative folk/country show in Shawville
Ottawa-based Jack Pine & the Fire have drawn comparisons with The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons for their alt-country/folk sound. The band creates new twists on classic Americana sounds, playing everything from dobro and mandolin to drums and acoustic guitar. They’re playing a show at the Little Red Wagon Winery in Shawville on Sunday, November 17.
Make festive crafts in Cornwall or Kingston
Marlin Orchards and Garden Centre in Cornwall is holding a series of holiday craft workshops on weekends throughout November. This weekend, you can learn to make a Christmas reindeer or a festive outdoor arrangement on Saturday, or to decorate a metal tree on Sunday. If you can’t make it this weekend, there are more opportunities later in the month.
Meanwhile, the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning in Kingston is offering a three-hour beginners’ workshop on Saturday, November 16, on the art of hand-stamping a Christmas tea towel.
Visit a sweat lodge in Vanier
On November 16 and 17, the Vanier Museopark is hosting an Indigenous sweat lodge in the middle of the Richelieu Vanier urban forest. Programming, including a grand performance at 11am on Sunday, will be offered by First Nations people from Quebec’s Temiscamingue region.
Raise a glass in Prince Edward County or Carleton Place
This is the first of three weekends of the Wassail festival in Prince Edward County, involving 26 wineries and cider makers (November 16 to December 1). Depending on the vineyard, you can sip mulled wine, munch on tourtière, make wreaths or participate in a Seinfeld-style Festivus celebration—and that’s just a sampling of the activities on offer. Don’t want to drive? You can also take an organized bus tour.
OK, this one is next week, but it’s early enough in the week that I thought it was worth mentioning now—especially since the restaurant isn’t huge, so tickets might sell out. Three guest chefs are taking over Black Tartan Kitchen in Carleton Place (one of my favourites in CP) to make a four-course wine-pairing dinner on Tuesday, November 19. While they’re whipping up inventive dishes, Black Tartan’s chef, Ian Carswell, will be in Ottawa competing at Canada’s Great Kitchen Party—the regional qualifier for the Canadian Culinary Championships. (Good luck, Ian!)
Tour festive homes in Ottawa
The 17th annual Homes for the Holidays self-guided tour, a major fundraiser for Hospice Care Ottawa, features eight festively decorated homes in locations across the city. Online ticket sales are closed, but you can still pick up tickets at a variety of retailers. The tour runs from November 15 to 17.
Enjoy great stories in Almonte
Nova Scotian Lesley Choyce is the author of Mill Street Books’ best-selling novel ever, The Unlikely Redemption of John Alexander MacNeil. He’s dropping by Almonte on Tuesday, November 12, to launch two new books with an afternoon presentation at Almonte United Church and and evening reception at Curious and Kind. Choyce will be signing books at both events.
And on the afternoon of Saturday, November 16, Ellis Lynn Duschenes will be performing traditional music and giving a reading from the novel To See the Stars by the late children’s author Jan Andrews. Musicians Gail Anglin and Neville Miller will be on hand, too, to play traditional tunes evocative of the early days of the textile industry, when the book is set. That event will also be at Curious and Kind.
For details on both events, see the Mill Street Books website.
Enjoy a flute-and-harpsichord concert in Luskville
Roland Graham, director of music at Ottawa’s Southminster United Church, will be performing on harpsichord with Montreal flautist Dakota Martin at Venturing Hills Farm in Luskville on Saturday, November 16. The concert is part of the Pontiac Enchanté concert series.
Relive a Victorian Christmas in Brockville
If you think Christmas isn’t complete without hoop skirts, big sideburns and all things Dickensian, then hie thee to Fulford Place in Brockville on Sunday, November 17, for the historic site’s fifth annual Victorian Christmas. The mansion, built at the very end of the Victorian era (between 1899 and 1901), was once home to Senator George Taylor Fulford, who made his fortune making and selling a patent medicine called “Pink Pills for Pale People.” Nibble on light refreshments, browse the artisans’ market, try your luck in a raffle and bring home some Christmas cookies. Admission is by donation. Kids can get their photos taken with a Victorian Santa for an extra fee (online booking of photo times is now available).
Enjoy movies in Ottawa and Montreal
How often do you get the chance to catch a flick from Finland, Slovenia or Poland on the big screen? They’re among the source countries of the movies in this year’s European Union Film Festival (November 16 to December 8). Award-winning films from across the European Union will be screened at the Ottawa Art Gallery.
Also starting this weekend, the Ottawa Adventure Film Festival (November 15 to 24) offers a varied program of films on the theme of outdoor sports, including surfing, skiing, rock climbing and whitewater kayaking. Most screenings take place at the Mayfair Theatre or the University of Ottawa.
And in Montreal, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM), which runs from November 14 to 24, presents more than 100 movies from dozens of countries, including Ecuador, Cambodia and Qatar.
Wave Santa into town
Ho ho ho! Santa Claus comes to many towns this weekend, with Christmas parades in Prescott on Friday, in downtown Ottawa, Kanata, Cornwall, Lyndhurst and Kingston on Saturday, and in Barrhaven and Belleville on Sunday. For details about these parades and others throughout Eastern Ontario and West Quebec this holiday season, check out my comprehensive list of Santa Claus parades.
Get a jump on your shopping in Perth, Carleton Place and Newboro
The Downtown Heritage Perth Business Improvement Association (BIA) is kicking off Merry & Bright, a holiday shopping promotion, on Thursday, November 14. You can enjoy tastings in downtown stores and earn extra points for entries in a prize draw. Each Thursday evening until December 19, downtown merchants will be offering different activities and deals.
Also on Thursday, November 14, the Downtown Carleton Place BIA is hosting Get All Wrapped Up from 1pm to 8pm. Stores will be open late and enticing shoppers with holiday offers.
And on Saturday, November 16, it’s Customer Appreciation Day at Kilborn’s on the Rideau, a charming emporium of gifts and goodies that takes up seemingly half the village of Newboro. Enjoy demonstrations, giveaways, samples and sales throughout the day.
Test your wits in Ottawa
Full disclosure here: For years (including 2019), my husband has written the questions for World Trivia Night, held at the EY Centre (Friday, November 15). The annual event raises funds for Champions for Children, which helps foster children and other vulnerable young people attend college or take part in other extra-curricular activities. It’s the largest live trivia event in North America, and top teams are eligible for some sweet cash prizes. Plus, the questions are super entertaining—and I’m not just saying that because I’m biased. 🙂
Get your classic tunes fix in Orleans or Pembroke
Get ready to head to the dark side of the moon. PIGS: Canada’s Most Authentic Pink Floyd Tribute (hey, don’t be shy in your advertising, guys) comes to the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans on Thursday, November 14.
If Swedish pop tunes are more your thing, then you can also head to Pembroke on Sunday, November 17, for ABBA Revisited, which bills itself as “North America’s #1 tribute to ABBA.”
Start your holiday shopping at a craft show
Don’t forget my huge list of holiday craft shows, which features 26 sales this weekend, including the huge Signatures Ottawa show at the Shaw Centre and events in Navan, Kanata, Goulboun, Orleans and beyond.
See a play in Osgoode, Carleton Place or Perth
The ITR Theatre Company in Osgoode is staging Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, on select dates from November 15 to 24. Come find out how Jack and Algy create an increasingly intricate web of lies as they attempt to win the hearts of two women…who say they can only love men named Ernest.
The Mississippi Mudds are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Carleton Place with an original show, CP200+ Time to Remember, at the Carleton Place Town Hall. The show about the town’s history runs on select dates from November 14 to 23.
And families may be keen to learn that Shrek: The Musical is coming to the stage of Perth and District Collegiate Institute from November 14 to 17, courtesy of the Perth Community Choir.
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