The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is the largest festival of its kind in North America.  It is a three-day event filled with free family entertainment taking place June 22-24, 2012 at Mooney’s Bay Park.  Admission is FREE and features non-stop racing, a concert series, the Tim Hortons Children’s Area, cultural performances, local delicacies and fun shopping!  It is a great family destination and easy getaway for visitors from Ontario, Quebec and the United States. In partnership with the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation, paddlers raise funds through the Pledge Challenge for local charities.

To join the Pledge Challenge, visit www.dragonboatfoundation.net.  For event schedules, visit www.dragonboat.net.  Like us www.facebook.com/ottawadragonboat and follow us www.twitter.com/ottdragonboat.

Event Highlights:

• Non-stop racing
• Concert series
• Beer garden
• Tim Hortons Children’s Area
• Cultural performances
• Local concessionaires
• Vendors
• Demonstrations

Festival Information:

General information: 613.238.7711
General information email:  info@dragonboat.net
Volunteer information email: www.dragonboat.net/volunteers
Location: Mooney’s Bay Park

On the Web:

Website:  www.dragonboat.net/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=501153579961

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ottdragoboat

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottdragonboatfoundation/

Map:

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OTTAWA — Feb. 3 will mark the start of Winterlude 2012, the 34th edition the city’s popular three-week long winter festival.

The National Capital Commission unveiled new details about the annual winter extravaganza Tuesday, which will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 as well as the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Coast Guard. There will be various activities honouring the anniversaries throughout the festival.

The NCC will work with more than 50 programming partners — more than ever before — to bring a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities to the event.

NCC CEO Marie Lemay says the increase in partnerships will not only make for a “bigger and better” Winterlude, but it will also bring more community involvement.

“We want the community to take ownership so it’s not just the NCC’s Winterlude,” says Lemay. “Community groups have really taken part in it, building it and taking ownership of it. So it’s everybody’s Winterlude.”

One of the new partners is the Ottawa Jazz Festival, which will launch the first annual Winter Jazz Festival with a series of concerts Feb. 2 to 4, most at the NAC’s Fourth Stage.

Read more on the Ottawa Citizen website: Winterlude 2012 will remember the War of 1812

The 3i Summit 2011 draws on the life work, dreams and inspiration of dozens of Ottawa’s most dynamic innovators. Just like we did in the inaugural 3i Summit 2009, we will bring together a unique blend of world renowned architects, artists, Olympic athletes, poets, award winning professors, musical prodigies, homeless people, writers, youth activists. Each of them will be sharing, in 15 minute presentations, their passions, struggles and dreams for Ottawa in 2049 and one concrete action that can be taken to achieve that dream.

Festival Information:

General information: 613.601.6997

Contact information email:  info@leadershipottawa.org

Location: Great Canadian Theatre Company

1233 Wellington St. W. (at Holland)

On the Web:

Website: 3isummit.ca

Facebook: www.facebook.com/#/3iSummit?ref=ts

Map:

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Eleven new feature documentaries will premiere in Ottawa this week as the 22nd annual One World Film Festival gets underway. The four-day event will also include previews of new work by local media artists, an opportunity to meet filmmakers from the U.K. and the U.S., and attend workshops on crowd funding and female child soldiers.

This year the theme of the festival, which focuses on human rights and the environment, is “Raise Your Voice.”

“We chose this theme because of the number of very strong films in the program that depict scenes of protest and revolt,” said program manger Pixie Cram. “It also suits the motif of the individual rising up in the face of a challenge to make a difference in the community.”

The festival runs Oct. 13 to 16 at Library and Archives Auditorium, 395 Wellington St.

Eddie Rwema, YourOttawaRegion

Shad Kabango, 2011 Juno Award winner for best rap recording, took time of his busy schedule and spent the afternoon of Sunday, June 26 delivering words of inspiration to the youth of Rwandan origin.

The Vancouver-based rapper, who was in town to perform at the Ottawa International Jazz festival, spoke to the youth about making good choices and life decisions.

The young people had gathered at the annual youth empowerment conference organized by Rwanda Social Services and Family Counselling.

“Do what you love, be who you are, have some integrity and purpose in what you are doing,” Kabango told those gathered.

Full article on YourOttawaRegion website: 2011 Juno Award winner inspires youth to dream big

Ottawa Jazz Festival executive producer Catherine O’Grady recently received a Women of Distinction Award from the Ottawa YWCA.

The biennial awards “recognize not only the amazing contributions of our nominees, but the incredible effect these women have on the people they serve, and the programs and activities to which they are devoted,” said Gail DiCintio, the chair of the 2011 awards committee.

At the ceremony on May 31, 2011, O’Grady received the St. Joseph Media Arts and Culture award.

Her award biography said: “Since Catherine O’Grady’s take over as Executive Producer of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival (OIJF) in 1996, the event has seen an audience increase of 300 percent. Her dedication and enthusiasm has emphased success for female jazz musicians – with the creation of Women in Jazz – and art administrators in apprenticeship roles in this typically male-dominated sector.

Read more on OttawaJazz.ca: Ottawa Jazz Festival’s Catherine O’Grady receives award for Festival work

Students at Benson Public School have got the blues – and they love it.

For the second straight year, the school is working with the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest Blues in the Schools Program, which brings professional artists into the schools to teach blues music history and appreciation, as well as how to compose and perform an original tune.

During the two-week program professional blues bands come to the school to perform for Benson students as well as students from nearby schools within the Upper Canada District School Board. The bands – The Mighty Popo, Monkey Junk, and Jason and Company – all performed at the school during the first week of March.

Read the full story on the EMC online: Benson students get the blues

The 10-day program begins with a series of assembly-like presentations. A variety of musicians visit two different schools per day, performing a total of 98 presentations over the course of the first four days. The following phase involves classroom-size core groups, with students enjoying a more formal workshop approach. These sessions include a look at the heritage of blues music, while examining its influence on other genres. Song writing, singing, and exploring various instruments is also involved. The workshop phase culminates with students performing for their families, teachers and peers. Ultimately these students are offered an opportunity to perform at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, during the festival’s Blues in the Schools day in July.

Initiated in two Ottawa-area schools in 1999, Blues in the Schools has seen tremendous growth. This year, visiting artists/educators and local musicians will deliver the program to more than 10,000 students in Ottawa-area schools. “The intent of the program,” says Bluesfest executive director, Mark Monahan,” is to expose students from all backgrounds to music and to encourage them to use music as a positive outlet in dealing with the world around them.”

Blues in the Schools is a charitable undertaking, which is financially supported by the not-for-profit Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest organization, with essential support from its private-sector partners: Holiday Inn© Hotel & Suites; Steve’s Music Store; and the Ottawa Citizen.

Photo Courtesy of Kashmera on Flickr, unded under Creative Commons

The water’s a lot colder now, and the dragon boats are put away for the winter, but the good the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival does continues to warm the hearts of local charities.

The mission of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation is to help build, strengthen and enhance community life in Ottawa by raising, managing and distributing funds to charitable organizations.

The Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation was established in 2003. To date more than $2.5 million has been raised through the Ottawa Dragon Boat Pledge Challenge and those funds have benefited more than 28 Ottawa area charities.

Full story via Ottawa Citizen website: Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation raised $344,000 from 2010 Pledge Challenge

Visitors to the Carp Fair this coming weekend will have another opportunity to support the “Empty Bowls’ project in aid of the West Carleton Emergency Food Bank.

For the seventh consecutive year, Woodlawn potter Penny Donaldson has produced handcrafted stoneware soup bowls that will be available for sale by the local parishes at the Hospitality Booth in the ‘red building with the dome’ just inside the main gates of the Carp Fairgrounds. All of the proceeds go directly to the WCEFB to provide food aid for West Carleton families throughout the year. More than $7,500 has been raised at the Carp Fair over the past six years by the sale of the bowls.

For the full story, vistit: Empty Bowls at the Carp Fair this weekend