Fest offers music for beginners
Tracey Tong, Metro News Ottawa
Learn to play the ukelele at a free workshop.
Folkfest – The 17th annual Ottawa Folk Festival runs at Britannia Park from Friday through Sunday.
Artists – Headliners include Arrested Development, Calexico, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and the Jim Cuddy Band.
Go green – This is a green festival. Bring your own water bottle and refill at the hydration station, and cycle and leave your bike at the lockup or hop on the festival’s shuttle.
Online – Register for the free lessons at ofcmusic.ca.
Ottawa residents are lucky to be able to choose among lots of music festival offerings.
Earlier this year, there was the jazz festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, Music and Beyond, and Chamberfest.
If all that listening has inspired you to get in on some of the music-making action, you’re in luck.
The Ottawa Folklore Centre is running a series of free music lessons at Ottawa Folkfest, which runs Friday through Sunday.
Read more: Fest offers music for beginners
Something for all at SuperEX
TRACEY TONG/METRO OTTAWA
Gatineau-based circus acrobats Charles Gareau, left, and David Paquette, of Les Circ-U-L’air, will be performing stunts, juggling routines and a Fire Poi show at SuperEX. Photograph by Metro News Ottawa, Tracey Tong
Nothing says summer like SuperEX. And this year, there’s something to appeal to everyone, a SuperEX spokeswoman said.
“It’s the best thing that happens towards the end of summer,” said Rebecca Crow.
In its 122nd year, SuperEX runs at Lansdowne Park from Aug. 19 to 29.
New this year is a Canadian pioneer gathering on site for the 11-day run.
“They will live, work, eat and sleep here in period costumes from the 1740s to the 1800s,” Crow said.
A professional FMX and BMX team will perform high flying stunts, said Crow, “and there’s a demolition derby on the last day, which is totally awesome.”
The free concert series returns with Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Jason Blaine, Irish Descendents, Classified, 5 Man Electrical Band and more. For fans of standup, there’s also an Absolute Comedy night, Crow said.
Read more: Something for all at SuperEX
Metro Minute with Cecilia quartet
Tracey Tong, Metro News
The Cecilia String Quartet performs today at Chamberfest.
Time flies in the summertime — and the days of the 2010 Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival are numbered. Check out of work early and pop over to St. Andrew’s Church at 3 p.m. today to catch a performance by the Cecilia String Quartet.
Read more: Metro Minute with Cecilia quartet
Ottawa delights at Turkish Festival
Tracey Tong, Metro Ottawa
Dancers perform the Whirling Dervish, which marked its 800th anniversary three years ago.
Ottawa’s Turkish-Canadian population might be small, but that didn’t stop tens of thousands of people from attending the fourth annual Ottawa Turkish Festival over the weekend — and festival volunteer Selim Asmer has a pretty good idea why.
“Turkey has a very rich history,” said Asmer. “It’s the only country in the world located on two continents — Europe and Asia.” And it combines the best of both, he said.
The festival, said organizer Ahmet Sanli, “allows us to share our culture. Here, they can discover the wonders of Turkish culture.”
Read more: Ottawa delights at Turkish Festival
Appreciate Rideau, says festival director
Tracey Tong, Metro Ottawa
Michel Gauthier adds a padlock to artist Monique Martin’s interactive Love Locks art installation outside the Bytown Museum, which allows festival goers to express their love for the canal. (Photgraph by Tracey Tong)
In the summer, we run, cycle and walk alongside it. In the winter, we bring out the skates and go for a spin on its frozen surface.
But for the most part, people take the Rideau Canal for granted, said the executive director and founder of the Rideau Canal Festival.
While there is “a lot of love out there for the canal,” said Michel Gauthier, “People don’t understand that the Rideau Canal is in the same club as the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
Read more: Appreciate Rideau, says festival director
Music will fill the chambers
Violinist Isabelle Faust is making her Chamberfest debut with pianist Alexander Melnikov Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Dominion-Chalmers United Church.
TRACEY TONG, METRO OTTAWA
Ottawa’s classical music festival has just wrapped up, but the executive director of the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival isn’t worried about what that will mean for his festival.
“People are saying to me that you can never have too much good music,” said Glenn Hodgins.
“I think people have an appetite for great artists and the great masters of our time.”
In its 17th year, Chamberfest, which begins Saturday and runs through Aug. 7, is the biggest festival of its kind in the world, said Hodgins.
Read more: Music will fill the chambers
Getting into the swing of all things Turkish
Tracey Tong, Metro Ottawa
A dancer performs at last year’s Ottawa Turkish Festival.
The Ottawa Turkish Festival gets into full swing next weekend, but people can whet their appetites for all things Turkish starting this weekend.
Documentary screenings at the Ottawa Public Library, cuisine demonstrations, a flag raising ceremony and various language classes at the Turkish Cultural Centre start as soon as this Saturday as part of the Ottawa Turkish Festival, which puts on its main event next weekend, July 24 and 25.
Read more: Getting into the swing of all things Turkish
