Festival Updates and News
News about Ottawa Festivals and our Member festivals, special events and fairs.
Folk singer Ana Miura Named General Manager of Ottawa Folk Festival
By DENIS ARMSTRONG
Ottawa Sun
After years as a local folk music icon, Ana Miura’s finally got a day job, and it comes with an office, a computer and a water cooler.
In February, she became the new general manager of the Ottawa Folk Festival, but she hasn’t exactly traded in her guitar for a laptop. Not yet, anyway, not with the launch of a brand new album called The Kindness of Years and an Acoustic Waves gig at the Great Canadian Theatre on Sunday (March 14).
“I was looking for something more stationary,” Miura says. “After years of constant touring, I wanted to stay closer to home for my eight-year-old. Being the GM of the festival makes me feel closer, more intimate with the fans, too. I love the job because I love the people.”
Miura, who’s recorded three albums and heads the Babes For Breasts campaign, came to the festival’s top job last summer, when Chris White, the festival’s founding artistic director, recruited the motivated Miura to co-ordinate the festival’s Britannia Park gardens when she wasn’t playing the main stage with Bruce Cockburn, Joel Plaskett and Steven Page.
She took to it so quickly that White asked Miura if she would co-ordinate the Ontario Council of Folk Festival conference in Ottawa last October.
To read the full article, see Folk singer Ana Miura Gets a Day Job.
2010 Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario Revealed During Annual Conference
This year’s Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario list was released this weekend at the Festivals & Events Ontario Conference held this year in Ottawa and eight Ottawa Festivals made the annual list of distinction.
Congratulations to Canadian Tulip Festival, TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Canada Day Celebrations, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Rideau Canal Festival, Ottawa Folk Festival and Winterlude.
Below is the announcement released at the conference by FEO:
Festivals & Events Ontario (FEO) announced the Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario last night as part of the Association’s President’s Gala, a celebratory conclusion to its annual conference.
Sponsored by VIA Rail Canada, The Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario designation is presented to a select few of more than 2,000 that occur annually within the province. Among the winners were household names like the Scotiabank Caribana Festival, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest and Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest. It also featured many smaller, festivals such as the Lanark Highlands Art of Being Green Festival, the Cobourg Sandcastle Festival and the Rideau Canal Festival. In conjunction with the Top 100, FEO also announced its 2010 Achievement Award winners. Achievement Awards acknowledge individual festival and event excellence and best practices across a broad range of categories.
The President’’s Gala is a follow up to a Welcome Reception that was held on Wednesday night. The Honourable Mr. Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture was in attendance to welcome guests and announce the 2010 Festivals and Events of Distinction. This year’’s inductees were Rogers Bayfest and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.
“Solicitations for submissions were issued towards the end of the previous calendar year, and an independent jury of industry peers conducted the selection process just prior to the Conference,” explains the Association’s Executive Director, Gary Masters.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, 93% of recreational travelers are seeking cultural and entertainment experiences, such as festivals and events, when they plan a vacation. Over the past two years, approximately 2,000,000 people who visited a festival or event say it was the primary reason for their vacation.
“With so many options for the festival-goers here in Ontario, it can be hard to know which festivals and events offer the most rewarding experiences. As the provincial Association for this industry, we believe it is our responsibility to set these standards and present the results to our consumers in an easily accessible and recognizable brand,” states FEO’s President, Sarah Wood.
The winners of this year’s Top 100 will be highlighted in the annual Festivals and Events in Ontario Guide distributed in both a printed and online format. A list of the 2010 winners can be found on the Association’s website, www.festivalsandeventsontario.ca.
St. Patrick’s parade in Ottawa a long tradition
Laura Hay | EMC
In Ottawa, we stand at 28 years running for our annual St. Patrick’s parade. Over the course of these past two decades, our parade has evolved to represent a focal part of the Ottawa Irish Festival and is by far the most visible event in the week of activities around the city. These photos reveal some of the past entrants, and capture the atmospheres of previous parades and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
This year’s parade is being held on Saturday, Mar. 13, starting at 11 a.m. The route cuts through the centre of downtown Ottawa, allowing for crowds to line the sidewalks of Bank Street with their coffees in hand and watch more than fifty entrants proceed along until they reach Lansdowne Park. In addition to showing some Celtic pride and entertaining the Ottawa public on a Saturday morning, the St. Patrick’s parade is supporting the Ottawa Food Bank. Volunteers will be collecting food and monetary donations along the parade route as the floats, marching bands, musicians and dancers stream by.
While the parade may be the most visible aspect of the Ottawa Irish Festival, it is by no means the only event. The Ottawa Irish Festival is a week-long celebration of our Irish identities and traditions.
Full article: St. Patrick’s parade in Ottawa a long tradition
For more information, visit Ottawa Irish Society National Capital Region.
Company of Fools’ Scott Florence at Ottawa Int’l Children’s Festival
By Bruce Deachman
The Ottawa Citizen
Always the wise guy: 20 Questions with Scott Florence
Scott Florence will be playing the fool at the [Ottawa International] Children’s Festival later this week. But first he brings the funny to 20Q.
To read Scott’s interview with Bruce Deachman, click on Always the Wise Guy.
Get your green on for Irish fest
By Tracey Tong
Metro Ottawa
The Irish Society of the National Capital Region and the Ottawa Irish Festival are bringing together local community groups in a citywide celebration of Irish-Canadian culture.
The Ottawa Irish Festival — held March 10 to 17 — is a weeklong celebration of Irish roots, which remain strong in the capital.
The festivities will begin on Wednesday with a concert at the National Irish Canadian Cultural Centre at 7 p.m.
The 28th annual Ottawa St. Patrick’s Day parade, followed by the Grand Irish Party, will be held at 11 a.m. on March 13. The parade, with honorary parade marshal Charlie Muldoon, will begin at city hall on Laurier Avenue West and proceed to Lansdowne Park. Food donations and cash will be collected along the parade route.
To read the full article, see Get your green on for Irish Fest.
Eric Vloeimans at the National Arts Centre – Mar. 8
Considered one of Europe’s best performers, Dutch trumpet player Eric Vloeimans will perform at the National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage, on Monday, March 8, 2010, at 8-10 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. This show is another in the Ottawa Jazz Festival’s ongoing series exploring Dutch improvised music.
To read the full article, see City of Ottawa’s Spotlight on Eric Vloeimans or send an email to info@ottawajazzfestival.com.
Festival sponsor OLG celebrates 10th anniversary of Rideau Carleton Raceway Slots
A decade of great gaming, strong community partnership and local economic benefits was celebrated today as Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) Senior Vice President Gaming, Larry Flynn, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce representative Erin Kelly and Chantal Guindon of Rideau Carleton Raceway marked the tenth anniversary of OLG Slots at Rideau Carleton Raceway with a cake-cutting ceremony.
As the host community for OLG Slots at Rideau Carleton Raceway, the City of Ottawa has received more than $34.1 million in non-tax gaming revenue since the facility opened. OLG has also been a proud community sponsor of TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Ottawa SuperEX, and Igniting the Spirit.
To read the full article, see OLG Slots at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
CBC Radio 3 Sets Out to Find Canada’s Best Music Festival
By Carly Lewis
Exclaim Magazine
Canadian Parliament may have taken a prorogued vacation to enjoy Vancouver’s Winter Olympics, but CBC Radio 3 is still hard at work during the Games, even with their headquarters at the very centre of them.
In true democratic fashion, CBC Radio 3’s Searchlight contest annually invites listeners between the coasts to determine the best in Canadian music, previously declaring Meow Records in Prince George, BC the best independent record store in Canada, and Windsor, ON’s Phog Lounge the best canadian live music venue.
This year, CBC is looking to blazon Canada’s best music festival, and announced the long list of candidates earlier today (February 17).
Among those up for the prize are the expected Pop Montreal, Ottawa Blues Festival and Sled Island, and other off-the-beaten-path events such as Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival and the Coldsnap Music Festival in Prince George, BC.
Guelph’s Hillside Festival also deservedly made the cut, just weeks after its wintertime sidekick, Hillside Inside, gave fans in Southern Ontario a reason to come out of hibernation.
Polls for the contest are now open, and virtual ballots can be cast here at the CBC Radio 3 website.
Final weekend of Winterlude
The National Capital Commission (NCC) is pleased to invite residents and visitors to take part in the third and final weekend of the 32nd edition of Winterlude.
The National Capital Commission (NCC) is pleased to invite residents and visitors to take part in the third and final weekend of the 32nd edition of Winterlude, Canada’s winter celebration, which kicked-off on February 5 and ends on February 21. Here is an overview of some of the activities taking place during the final weekend of Winterlude.
The NCC is proud to celebrate the Olympics during the 32nd edition of Winterlude. On Sunday, The NCC, in collaboration with the Ottawa Pacers and Gloucester Concordes Speed Skating Clubs, will stage speed skating demonstrations on an Olympic-size skating oval on the Rideau Canal Skateway at Dows Lake. The event gets underway at 2 pm with demonstrations of individual and pursuit skating, followed by a battle of the blades between Ottawa Senators Alumni and local competitive speed skaters. From 3 pm to 4 pm there will be public skating on the oval, with speed skates and gloves available for use from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. A radar system will be set up to record skaters’ speeds. Beginning at 5 pm, residents and visitors will be able to view live coverage from Vancouver of the 1500 metre Olympic speed skating competition on a giant screen. The competition features the Capital’s own Kristina Groves.
Again this weekend, residents and visitors will be able to learn about Canadian northern traditions, and be entertained at three official sites in Canada’s Capital Region.
To read the full press release, click here.
Winterlude sculptors wow crowd with 40-tonne skates
By Stacy O’Brien – Red Deer Advocate
A monumental pair of hockey skates — nearly five metres high — by two Central Albertan artists won top prize at the Winterlude National Snow Sculpture Competition in Gatineau, Que., this past weekend.
The sculpture, titled Snow Skates, was the work of snow sculptors Brian McArthur of Red Deer, Michael Decaire of Mirror and Eric Burton of Edmonton.
The teams worked with a 40-tonne block of snow close to five metres high, more than three metres deep and more than three metres wide. Starting on Feb. 9 and working until Feb. 13, the three men sculpted the snow for up to 12 hours each day, putting in 55 hours altogether to finish the artwork on time.
The artists roughed out the design using shovels then used carving tools and scraping tools known as rasps, working from the top of the project down to the ground, to create the unique design.
“It’s really physically demanding,” said Decaire, who has made furniture for more than 30 years, with his business Michael Decaire Fine Furniture. “It’s snow and you think it’s soft and it’s easy to move around. But it’s almost like you’re shovelling your driveway for four and a half days.”
McArthur said they got the idea to make the world’s largest pair of skates to go with the Rideau Canal, which is often called “the world’s largest skating rink”. The theme for this year’s Winterlude was Winter Play, with the mandate to promote winter activities, so the skates were a perfect fit.
“Snow Skates”
To read the full article, click here.
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