Photo Caption: Canada Day celebrations in the capital city Ottawa.

Photo by Denise LeBlanc

It’s a day to celebrate all that is Canada: that means music, fireworks, fine food and drink, dancing in the streets, parades, marching bands and Mounties. Sometimes, even royalty drops in for a cuppa: the big news for 2011 is that newlyweds William and Kate, just two months after their Westminster Abbey nuptial spectacle, are expected to join the party.

Music rings out all over town: The Ottawa Jazz Festival stages a series of free concerts at Confederation Park 11am-7pm. The National Arts Centre’s musical program is one of the city’s most ambitious on Canada Day — and it’s all free. A typical July 1 begins at 10 am with the 400-voice Unisong Massed Choir, then moves onto a series of hourly kids concerts, a series of stand-out performances by the NAC Orchestra, the NAC Young Artist Programme and African Drummers. July 1 is also a good time to check out the city’s top museums — so long as you don’t mind line-ups — since most offer free admission for the day.

Read more at Frommer’s: Best Things to Do in Canada: Month by Month

MY FIRST CANADA DAY! Bonjour! Bonne fête du Canada! Please pardon my French, for I’m from New York City, where we pretend to all speak the same language. Forgive me, too, for passing up, at eight in the morning, a street vendor’s proffer of a paper plateful of poutine. The celebration is not yet underway. The cobblestone courtyards of the Byward Market are quiet. But the barricades are being set up along the motorcade route and the tide of red shirts and red caps has started coming in: families with folding chairs and coolers vetting vantage points, bright young bénévoles (I’m learning already) bearing fistfuls of little Canadian flags, and vendors at their stations, griddles already smoking.

“Canada Day, eh?” one says to me, as if to mock my New Yorker’s expectations of Canadian brogue. I smile, wave my little flag and explain that I had planned a bicycle ride along the Rideau Canal and am worried that fries and curds might not be the right fuel for the journey.

Full Story on the National Geographic Travel Club website: Canada Day in Ottawa-Gatineau

Queen Elizabeth’s nine-day visit to Canada this summer will showcase the country’s history, horses and most famous high-tech toy — all highlighted by a rare July 1 appearance on Parliament Hill to reign over the country’s ultimate expression of national pride, the capital’s annual Canada Day bash.

Read more: Horses, history and hoopla to mark Queen’s summer visit

Canada Day will have a special royal touch this year.

Her Majesty the Queen of Canada and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will visit three provinces and five cities during a 10-day summer tour of Canada June 28-July 6.

Read more: Queen to come celebrate Canada Day

The statue of the Canadian jazz virtuoso will be unveiled on June 30 as part of Canada Day celebrations.

Created by Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy, it will depict Peterson seated on a bench beside a grand piano.

Full story on CBC website: Oscar Peterson statue to grace Ottawa

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.