From a boat-based concert outside the National Arts Centre to a cycling fundraiser in Lanark County, I have lots of fun ideas for road trips in and around Ottawa this week. And if you’d rather travel from the safety of your home computer, that’s cool, too—there’s a virtual version of Fibrefest and an Eastern Ontario podcast to enjoy. However and wherever you explore, happy travels!
Cycle through Lanark County
Lanark County Warden Brian Campbell is the official host of the Warden’s Slow Roll, a cycling fundraiser for the United Way on Saturday, September 12. After enjoying a leisurely bike ride along the Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail between Almonte and Carleton Place, you’ll be rewarded with a barbecue lunch. A shuttle back to the starting point is also available, for those who don’t want to ride both ways. The $20 per person registration fee includes lunch. Register in advance online.
Catch an outdoor market in Kemptville
A group of local food vendors is putting on an outdoor market at the Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre on Thursday, September 10, from 5pm to 8pm. As well as shopping for gourmet goodies and enjoying live music from Scott and Kate, you can enjoy a three-course table d’hôte meal made with local products or a charcuterie box (for those options, you need to pre-order from Catered Affairs; see the first option under “Dine In—Patio” for the table d’hôte and the bottom of the page for the charcuterie box). There’s a door-prize draw, too.
Admire student photography in Ottawa
At the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO), you can see works by the most recent graduates of SPAO’s two-year diploma program during Exhibition No. 15. It is running until Sunday, September 20, at the school’s gallery on Pamilla Street in Little Italy. The gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, from 10am to 5pm.
Check out Fibrefest online
At this time of year, crafters, artists and shoppers usually descend on Almonte for Fibrefest, a huge celebration of weaving, knitting, spinning and other fibre arts. Like so many other things in 2020, Fibrefest has gone virtual this year. From September 11 to 13, you can take online workshops, watch video demonstrations or order from a wide range of vendors.
Enjoy an outdoor concert at the NAC
I haven’t posted about the Chef’s Table outdoor dinner concerts at the National Arts Centre before now because, to be honest, tickets to the original dates were snapped up so quickly that they were gone before I got my act together. However, one more date has been added—Sunday, September 13—and tickets are still available (or at least they were when I typed this!). Dueling Pianos (Dave Kalil, Tyler Kealey and Todd Huckabone) will be performing live on a boat moored in the Rideau Canal, while guests on the NAC terrace enjoy a menu created by Montreal chef Helena Loueiro and NAC chef Kenton Leier. The whole shebang is organized by the Festival of Small Halls.
Listen to great Ontario tales from home
Speaking of the Festival of Small Halls: Those folks have been keeping busy during the pandemic! As well as organizing the Chef’s Table series, they’ve tracked down and recorded stories about a wide range of Eastern Ontario communities and released them as a podcast series. The podcasts are short—between four and 12 minutes—and the stories include tales of Gaelic ghosts in Dunvegan, Merrickville magnate Big Pants Harry McLean (who you might remember from my 10 Things You Didn’t Know about Merrickville post) and the Pakenham whale.
Shop for vintage clothes in Carleton Place
Attention, fans of crinolines, poodle skirts and hot pants: This is the weekend to head to the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum for the sixth annual Vintage Clothing Sale (September 11 to 13, 10am to 4pm). The sale will take place both indoors (limited to eight masked shoppers at a time) and outdoors (under tents). New this year: You can call the museum to book a one-hour preview on Thursday, September 10.
Visit an organic farm east of Ottawa
During the Canadian Organic Growers’ Eastern Ontario Farm Hop on Saturday, September 12, you can visit any or all of six participating farms in Prescott-Russell and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry counties. Learn about everything from robotic dairy farming to growing mushrooms on logs. Take a self-guided tour or a stretching class. Activities are different on each farm! The event is free, but for crowd-management reasons, you need to reserve a ticket online at the farm hop link at the beginning of this paragraph.
Try an art workshop in Chelsea
With sponsorship from the Quebec government, artists from La Fab Arts Centre are offering a series of free art workshops in Chelsea this fall. The series starts this Saturday, September 12, with pottery workshops at Hollow Glen Park (in case of rain, they’ll be held in the Hollow Glen Community Centre). Artist Rosalie Gingras will be teaching pottery skills to three age groups (ages 6 to 8, ages 8 to 12, and ages 12 and up). If you can’t make it this week, artists will be running workshops in other parks focusing on acrylic painting (September 19), photography (October 4) and Halloween crafts (October 31). All workshops in the series will be held outdoors if weather permits; otherwise, they will take place indoors. Workshops are limited to 10 people each and advance registration is required.
Looking for more ideas for day trips and weekend getaways in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter.
(P.S.: I know there are more than eight items in this list—I found about a few things I wanted to include after writing the original post.)