Get your body movin’ at Winterlude: events include Winterlude Triathlon, annual Bed Race, skating demonstrations and Pond Hockey Classic
PAULINE ANDERSON / METRO OTTAWA
The Ottawa area is synonymous with winter sports and Winterlude certainly lives up to that reputation.
The three weeks of festivities are replete with events that range from deadly serious to the downright goofy.
This year’s highlight is Hockey Day in Canada, Feb 11 at 7 a.m. It features the Guinness World Record attempt for the longest hockey breakaway on the Rideau Canal at the Chateau Laurier.
Full story: Get your body movin’ at Winterlude
NCC diversifies Winterlude, making it less dependent on cold weather
Mark Brownlee, The Ottawa Citizen
Photo courtesy Ottawa Citizen, by Pat McGrath
Unpredictable February weather will force Winterlude to focus less on its winter theme in the years to come, organizers say of the festival that has traditionally drawn tourists by celebrating Canada’s cold climate.
Fluctuating temperatures have wreaked havoc on the event in the past few years. Temperatures went as high as 10 C on the Friday before the last weekend of the 2011 edition, forcing organizers to change some marquee events such as the ice sculpture competition and to temporarily close the Rideau Canal to skating.
The event’s organizer, the federally-funded National Capital Commission, has already moved to diversify its lineup from such traditional winter-themed activities to those not dependent on weather. This year’s events include a jazz festival in Confederation Park and a beer and ice wine festival in Gatineau.
Full story on the Ottawa Citizen Website: NCC diversifies Winterlude, making it less dependent on cold weather
Top 10 Family Activities in Ontario: Rideau Canal Amongst the Top
National Geographic
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A Trip to the Cottage
Ontario is a big, diverse place and its residents, spread across more than a million square kilometers, don’t lay claim to all that many shared experiences. But if there’s one Ontario tradition that’s nearly universal, it’s the family trip to the cottage.
Cottage time is all about campfires, canoe rides, and rainy-day board games. Visitors can get in on the action too; rental cottages are widely available. Popular “cottage country” areas include the Kawarthas and Muskoka, both within a couple hours’ drive of Toronto, and the Rideau Lakes, near Ottawa.
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Toronto Zoo
The Toronto Zoo is the largest in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. Its 460-plus animal species are organized by their region of origin. In addition to the main exhibits, the zoo also offers a special children’s zone with demonstrations, a splash park, and interactive activities for kids.
In recent years the Toronto Zoo has substantially expanded its conservation and education efforts, upgrading animal habitats and funding research projects worldwide. Ask about the zoo’s family-focused educational programs.
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Rideau Canal (Ottawa)
Ottawa’s Rideau Canal is a national historic site and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built after the War of 1812 as the key link in a chain of locks, rivers, and lakes that provided an alternate route between Montreal and Kingston, in case of an American invasion of the St. Lawrence River. Today it’s an urban waterway lined with trees and bike paths—perfect for renting a canoe, pedal boat, or bicycle and cruising through downtown. In winter, it’s transformed into the world’s longest skating rink.
Read more on the National Geographic website: Top 10 Family Activities in Ontario
Marriage, jousts and royal drama in Osgoode this weekend
Emma Jackson, YourOttawaRegion
Lords and ladies, maidens and princes, knights and even commoners are invited to the fourth annual medieval festival in Osgoode this July – complete with a real wedding, an enormous feast and the chance of a royal assassination.
Beginning Friday, July 8 with an education day for kids and families, the festival runs the gamut of medieval activities from sword fighting, dancing and jousting to eating an entire feast with a single utensil.
Full Story: Marriage, jousts and royal drama in Osgoode this weekend
THE STAGE IS SET! TIM HORTONS OTTAWA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL Announces 2011 Free Entertainment Line-up
Source: Kashmera on Flickr
Paddles hit the water for the 18th annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival (THODBF) on June 17-19, 2011 at Mooney’s Bay Park.
North America’s largest dragon boat festival features non-stop dragon boat racing, endless family activities and a spectacular free entertainment series with Canada’s top musical talent.
The Trews, who won Fan’s Choice Video of the Year and DVD of the Year at the 2011 East Coast Music Awards, will help welcome attendees to THODBF on Friday June 17.
Tulip festival: A perfect Mother’s Day outing
Kelly Patterson, The Ottawa Citizen
It’s the ultimate Mother’s Day combo: Tulips, quilting, flower-arranging demos, sweet-voiced choirs and outdoor art. Even the glowering Ottawa skies held off from their daily deluge as hundreds of moms and their admirers turned out Sunday for the Canadian Tulip Festival.
Becky Cronin was emerging from a tent where a bizarre combination of ice carvers and flower-arrangers shared the stage before a rapt audience, in simultaneous but separate demonstrations of their crafts.
“It’s fantastic,” said Cronin, a bouquet of artfully arranged flowers over one arm. As her husband and son took off in the direction of the Lego booth, she remarked that “the ice carver had a chainsaw going, so I could get the boys to sit with me” while she watched the flower-arranging. “There’s no way they would have done that otherwise.”
Read the full article: Tulip festival: A perfect Mother’s Day outing
The stage is set! Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival Announces 2011 Free Entertainment Line-up
Paddles hit the water for the 18th annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival (THODBF) on June 17-19, 2011 at Mooney’s Bay Park. North America’s largest dragon boat festival features non-stop dragon boat racing, endless family activities and a spectacular free entertainment series with Canada’s top musical talent.
The Trews, who won Fan’s Choice Video of the Year and DVD of the Year at the 2011 East Coast Music Awards, will help welcome attendees to THODBF on Friday June 17. They’ll entertain the crowd with familiar favorites Not Ready To Go, Highway of Heroes, and their new hit single Hope & Ruin. Joining the Trews are The Stanfields, the Nova Scotia roots-rockers who won the Rising Star of the Year Award at the 2011 East Coast Music Awards. These bands will set the tone for a phenomenal weekend of free entertainment and paddling.
Steven Page’s distinctive voice is among the most instantly recognizable in Canadian music. Steven will be appearing in support of Page One, his first solo release since leaving the highly successful band, Barenaked Ladies. Keeping the dragon boat crowd entertained on the beer garden stage will be Ottawa native and local favorite, Jim Bryson. Having recently completed the Falcon Lake Incident tour with the Weakerthans, he will be making his first appearance at the festival. Also appearing on Saturday will be breakout indie pop rock group San Sebastian, who took MuchMusic’s disBAND by storm and Ottawa’s Amos The Transparent, bringing their popular indie folk to the stage.
On Father’s Day, Sunday June 19, attendees can treat dad to a showcase of local Ottawa artists. Fathers can relax to the beautiful songs of Chris MacLean, nominated for the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award for English Songwriter of the Year. Returning to THODBF is MonkeyJunk, which recently won three Canadian blues awards at the Maple Blues Awards.
Also not to be missed over the weekend are Ash Koley, with their upbeat pop hit Don’t Let Your Feet Touch The Ground. The Dunn Boys and their east coast flavoured Celtic rock, Silver Creek, who bring their own brand of southern rock and unique parade style band Mike Essoudry’s Mash Potato Mashers, which will round out the expanded weekend line-up.
New this year is the Craz-E-Crew Stunt Team of BMX riders who will be soaring through the air thrilling spectators. Cultural performances will showcase Ottawa’s diversity with the traditional lion dancers, lead performer Fana Soro of the dynamic West African ensemble Masabo, a bag piper and Japanese drummers Oto-Wa Taiko. The Tim Hortons Children’s Area will feature interactive and educational activities including magician Chris Pilsworth, Little Ray’s Reptiles, Lil’ John, Radical Science and more. For a full list of free entertainment, visit www.dragonboat.net.
The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival entertainment series is made possible by the continued support of Canadian Heritage’s Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage, Celebrate Ontario and the City of Ottawa Partnership Program.
About the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival
The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is the largest festival of its kind in North America and is one of Ottawa’s must-attend summer events. This 3-day festival is hosted at Mooney’s Bay Park from June 17-19 and features non-stop dragon boat racing, with a total of 190 team and 5000 paddlers. Over 70,000 spectators take in cultural activities, live music, a variety of vendors/exhibits and family-oriented entertainment. For more information, visit www.dragonboat.net, www.facebook.com/ottawadragonboat, www.twitter.com/ottdragonboat.
Ottawa International Animation Festival Starts Today
The Ottawa International Animation Festival’s (OIAF) opening ceremonies is scheduled to take place today at 9:15 p.m. (ByTowne Cinema), with a special screening of The Illusionist (France) by Sylvain Chomet at 7 p.m. (ByTowne Cinema). The opening ceremonies will be followed with a presentation of the first of five Short Competitions taking place during the festival in addition to two competitions for films and TV shows made for kids.
OIAF attendees also have a chance to meet with animation filmmakers from around the world during the “Meet the Filmmakers” breakfast to take place at the Arts Court studio from Thursday, October 21 to Sunday, October 24 at 9 a.m.
OIAF 2010 features the best new animated movies, short films, and music videos from Canada and around the world, and a guest list to match. This year’s extravaganza of screenings, workshops and special events are taking place at venues such as Bytowne, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Arts Court, and Empire Theatres – Rideau Centre.
Selected from this year’s 2091 entries, the Official Competition screenings collect 90 of the top, new animated works. Attendees of the festival get a chance to view Oscar-winning films such as, Logorama, a highly entertaining film which illustrates everyone and everything as advertising logos.
This year, the “Feature Competition” includes: The Illusionist (France) by Sylvain Chomet, a follow-up to Chomet’s Oscar-nominated film, The Triplets of Belleville; Goodbye Mister Christie (Canadian Premiere) by Phil Mulloy (United Kingdom); One Piece Film Strong World (Canadian Premiere) by Munehisa Sakai (Japan); Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then (Canadian Premiere) by Brent Green (U.S.A.); and Midori-Ko (World Premiere) by Keita Kurosaka (Japan).
There are also many great films that are not in competition but are being shown through the OIAF’s “Out-of-Competition” Showcase. Audiences have a chance to view films such as the National Film Board of Canada’s award-winning Lipsett Diaries by Theodore Ushev; Pixar’s acclaimed new short, Day and Night; and the ever-popular Walt Disney’s latest short, Tick Tock Tale.
Also this year, the OIAF is paying homage to Japanese animation with a four-part program showcasing independent filmmakers, including the godfather of Anime, Osamu Tezuka.
The following are the other highlights of the OIAF 2010 “Special Screenings”:
- “Furniture of My Mind,” an engaging look at our relationship with our furniture;
- “Let’s Go Crazy,” a selection of films and new independent shorts about mental health;
- “XX in Animation: Taking a Peek at Work by Women,” a collection of films by women, about women;
- “Winnipeg DIY Animation: Improvised Art Explosions or Cheap Skates,” focuses on Winnipeg’s overlooked animators, those who chose to improvise and create animation on the cheap rather than get left behind;
- “The Inappropriate for Children Show,” a midnight movie collection of wild and unsettling cartoons originally meant for kids, but almost too strange for adults;
- “Solve Et Coagula: Surrealism and Magic Realism in Czech Animation,” a unique collection of films by Czech animators who infuse personal style, political and social beliefs into their work;
- “Under the Sun: BravoFACT! at 15,” features highlights from Bravo!FACT’s animation oeuvre, from breakout hits like the Oscar®-nominated I Met The Walrus through mobile phone delights like Theodore Ushev’s, Sou.
OIAF 2010 Family Activities
The OIAF is offering an Animation School Fair for anyone interested in a career in animation on Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24 at the Arts Court. Teens are FREE on Saturday, Oct. 23 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and can also attend a FREE hands-on workshop presented by the National Film Board of Canada, “Introduction to Animation.” Teens must obtain an Adobe Toon Apprentice pass in advance by contacting the OIAF before October 14 or they can pick up a pass in-person at the OIAF box office on October 18. Pre-registration is required for the workshop by calling: (613) 232-8769.
Bring your kids to the “Short Films for Kids” competition (October 23 and 24), the “TV for Kids” competition (October 21 and 23), and the FREE hands-on workshop at the Arts Court on October 24. Pre-registration is required by calling: (613) 232-8769.
Plus, get a free sneak peak of the new Teletoon series, Skatoony, and participate in an interactive activity, “Get Your Skatoony Game On,” on Sunday, October 24 at the Arts Court.
Tickets to the festival are $12 (adults) and $7 (children) at the door. You can also purchase a flexible animation six-pack (6 tickets at the cost of 5 tickets) to avoid the line-ups.
For more information or a complete list of films, schedules, special screenings, workshops, and events at this year’s festival, please visit the OIAF website at: www.animationfestival.ca or call: (613) 232-8769.
About the Ottawa International Animation Festival
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is one of the world’s leading animation events providing screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment since 1976. OIAF is an annual five-day event bringing art and industry together in a vibrant hub. More than 27,000 film buffs, art lovers, producers, and cartoon fans are expected to attend the OIAF, the largest animation event in North America. OIAF 2010 is taking place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from October 20 to 24.
OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL OFFERS FAMILY-FRENDLY ACTIVITIES
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is offering a variety of family-friendly activities at this year’s festival, which runs from October 20 to 24, 2010.
The following is a list of special workshops, activities and events for parents to consider:
Back to our roots at the Carp Fair: Agriculture shares top billing
Nevil Hunt | YourOttawaRegion.com
Bruce Paul, Photo Courtesy YourOttawaRegion.com
A year of planning and a solid organizational chart are expected to make the 2010 Carp Fair as successful as those of days gone by.
“This year’s theme is Rural Roots,” said the fair’s co-president, Bruce Paul.
The fair’s roots have never been in doubt. Unlike the latter years of the Central Canada Exhibition at Lansdowne Park, the Carp Fair board hasn’t let agriculture and rural traditions fade away in favour of entertainment and the midway. There’s 147 years of tradition at stake.
Full story: Back to our roots at the Carp Fair
