The BreakFest Blog
News about Ottawa Festivals and our Member festivals, special events and fairs.
Ottawa needs a better attitude: If you’re complaining that Ottawa sucks you’re not looking hard enough
Emma Godmere, Ottawa Citizen
Despite being more than 150 years old, I think Ottawa shares more similarities with a young twentysomething than a supercentenarian.
In fact, I think the nation’s capital and I are a lot alike.
We tend to fall victim to our inferiority complexes. We compare ourselves to others who are older, more attractive, and more experienced than us. We’re concerned we too often sit back and refrain from acting out, or acting on our impulses. And sometimes, we just don’t know who or what we want to be.
Read the full piece on the Ottawa Citizen website: Ottawa needs a better attitude
Ottawa Mayor wants big bang on Canada’s 150th birthday
Postmedia News
Canada Day festivities in 2017 should be turned into a weeklong “Canadian Cultural Festival,” says Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.
The city should work with the National Arts Centre, National Capital Commission, provincial and territorial governments and the private sector to create the event between June 25 and July 1 in the year of Canada’s 150th birthday, Watson said in prepared remarks to an Ottawa Kiwanis Club luncheon.
Full story at Canada.com Ottawa Mayor wants big bang on Canada’s 150th birthday
Ottawa Tourism reallocates resources to convention attraction: One-time provincial funding unlikely to be renewed
Elizabeth Howell, OBJ
A fund used to bring large-scale conventions to Ottawa is expected to remain intact even though the provincial government appears disinclined to put more money on the table.
However, its continuation will likely come at the expense of other programs at Ottawa Tourism as the local agency uses “funds from within (its) current resources” to top off the convention attraction program, according to CEO Noel Buckley.
“What it means is we have to find a way to make this a sustainable program from a local perspective … that would allow us to properly compete in this competitive market segment,” he says.
Full story is available on the OBJ website: Ottawa Tourism reallocates resources to convention attraction
WinterBeerFest rolls into town
Ron Eade, Ottawa Citizen
Winter ales from Quebec will be toasted Friday and Saturday at the Château Cartier in Gatineau as organizers roll out their first WinterBeerFest, offering a mix of artisan beer, food, music and activities – complete with bonfire to stave off the cold.
Admission is free, but participants must be age 18 and over.
Beer tastings will be available in four-and eight-ounce pours. Tickets at 50¢ each will be required to sample (four tickets for the small size, eight for the eight-ounce serving).
Read more on the Ottawa Citizen website: WinterBeerFest rolls into town
Mayor touts ‘new way of thinking’ about economic development
OBJ Staff
Mayor Watson said the creation of Invest Ottawa is proof that economic development will be a top priority for his administration.
Among other achievements, the mayor pointed to the Major Events Office that will operate in partnership with Ottawa Tourism. The office will try to bring major events, such as the NHL All-Star Game, the 2012 Juno Awards and possibly the 2015 FIFA Women’s Cup, to Canada’s capital.
Along with the new Convention Centre, he said these major events can help grow the city’s tourism sector.
Full story on the OBJ website: Mayor touts ‘new way of thinking’ about economic development
Festival by-law public consult Jan. 17
Joanne Chianello, Ottawa Citizen
If you’re the kind of person interested in the way the dozens of festivals in this city are regulated, or if you simply get a kick from public consultations, you may want to drop by Ben Franklin Centre next Tuesday, January 17 at 7 p.m.
That’s when the city’s Delores MacAdam, the program manager of event central office, will give a PowerPoint presentation on the draft by-law that will be tabled with the community and protective services committee next weekend.
City staff have been working trying to pass a by-laws for years, and it’s not such a bad idea. It would standardize the rules and requirements for holding a special event, and in particular, give city officials authority to penalize those who break the rules.
Full editorial: Festival by-law public consult
Finding their voice – through poetry
Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
For Liam and teens like him all across Ottawa, spoken word poetry is helping them find their voice and express how they feel about difficult things they face in their lives or the world around them. Depression, suicide, addiction, bullies, broken hearts and stereotypes are all fodder for poems, but so, too, are death, dictators and dearly beloved family members, in this art form that bursts with creativity, energy and emotion.
The budding poets meet over the lunch hour in Phelan’s second-floor classroom, where they fine-tune and perform pieces for each other. They also drop rhymes at school assemblies and many attend monthly poetry slams held at the central branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
Spoken word poetry has flourished in the city since the first national festival was held here in 2004. Ottawa teams have twice won the Canadian slam poetry title and the brand new youth team, which Liam is on, won the top prize at this year’s festival in Toronto.
Full story: Finding their voice – through poetry
Music Winterfest starts January 21
The Canadian
Brought to you by CKCU-FM, Canada’s first campus-based community radio station, Winter Fest is an all-day festival of music featuring live performances from various established, and up-and-coming recording artists, live visual art performed on location, a DJ battle featuring some of Ottawa’s (and Canada’s) hottest on the one’s and two’s, artist and management workshops with established recording artists and industry leaders, various fundraising activities, and much, much more!
Read the full article: Music Winterfest starts January 21
Nuit Blanche Ottawa appoints curator, makes big steps towards Sept. 22 debut
Peter Simpson, The Ottawa Citizen
Don’t expect Nuit Blanche Ottawa to be Nuit Blanche Toronto, says the newly appointed curator of the annual, one-night festival of contemporary art, to be held in the capital for the first time later this year.
“As a curator I’m not really interested in doing these sensational projects that cost a lot of money, that are really more show than content,” says Stefan St-Laurent, who has been appointed curator of Nuit Blanche Ottawa 2012, to be held Sept. 22.
Nuit Blanche events in other cities, especially Toronto, are perhaps best known for large, richly funded works of art that make use of, for example, the CN Tower, or the space between the twin towers of Toronto’s city hall. The installations are usually commissioned with the hundreds of thousands of dollars given to the festival each year by the City of Toronto or the event’s major sponsor, Scotiabank.
“There will be some works that utilize spectacle as part of its message,” says St-Laurent, who left his job as curator of SAW Gallery last year to focus on freelance curating and creating his own art, “but in general I don’t think it’s very healthy for people to have that expectation of art, that it has to be spectacular, sensational, big, bright, expensive. I think it gives a very skewed view of what the visual arts are like today.”
Ottawa Storytellers Present – A House Divided: Stories and Songs of the American Civil War
[Source: Ottawa StoryTellers press release]
A House Divided: Stories and Songs of the American Civil War
featuring Gail Anglin, Paul Hornbeck, Daniel Kletke, & Tom Lips
NAC’s 4th STAGE, January 19, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20 from NAC Box Office or ticketmaster.ca
The American Civil War is one of the most talked about conflicts in modern history. With slavery, nationalism, and changing economics at its core, this war saw brother fighting brother. Tonight, we hear stories from both perspectives – North and South, framed with the stirring songs that were sung by soldiers and those who waited for them back home.
Performers:
Gail Anglin has a deep interest in history and relishes turning research into storytelling performance. She loves stories that illuminate the past and songs that still carry the emotions of the men and women who once sang them. She has written her own material for this show, and writes and performs local stories at the Bytown Museum and Billings Estate National Historic Site. Gail has performed in festivals and schools, and on radio and TV, offering a wide range of material from children’s shows to epics. A talented musician, Gail particularly enjoys singing the alto harmony to Tom Lips’ tenor melodies in programs such as the well-received Pete Seeger show that played in Ottawa and Toronto. In addition to being a teller, Gail directs the “Spirits of the Times” murder mysteries and the spring Chautauquas (Victorian tent shows) at the Billings Estate.
Gail’s relatives fought on the Union side in the Civil War.
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