Things to do in Ottawa, the Outaouais, Eastern Ontario and beyond (May 5 to May 11, 2025)

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Wondering what to do in Ottawa this weekend? It is a great time for a road trip in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario or the Outaouais. In fact, there’s SO much going on that I keep adding new items, so please keep checking back here regularly. Happy road tripping!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WEEK OF MAY 5 TO MAY 11

Bike on car-free roads in Ottawa

Get your bike out of the garage—NCC Weekend Bikedays start on Saturday, May 10! On Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays until October 13, several roads in Ottawa—the Kichi Zībī Mīkan, the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway and a section of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway—will be closed to cars but open to cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users, runners and inline skaters. Opening times and dates vary (partly to accommodate construction), so check the website before heading out.

Check out a music festival in suburban Montreal

More than 60 pop and rock acts will be taking to the stage at the Festival Santa Teresa in Sainte-Thérèse from May 9 to 11.

Tiptoe through the tulips in Ottawa, Russell and Vankleek Hill

The Canadian Tulip Festival rolls into town for 11 days of spring fun (May 9 to 19) at Commissioners Park on the edge of Dows Lake. Along with viewing gorgeous displays of tulips (weather cooperating), you can check out an artisans’ market, enjoy an artisans’ market and movies in the park, take a walking tour, see a combined fireworks and drones show celebrating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, and more.

This year, Green Corners Farm has a new tulip field (640 North Russell Road, Russell), which will be blooming with 300,000 flowers. Buy tickets in advance for this pick-your-own event, which begins on Friday, May 9.

And about an hour east of Ottawa, the Vankleek Hill Tulip Fields at Ouimet Farms Adventure will be open to the public beginning on Friday, May 9. Stroll through fields blooming with thousands of tulips and pick your own. Buy tickets in advance.

Paddle your canoe (or kayak) in Beckwith Township

Looking for some exercise on Saturday, May 10? Tie your canoe or kayak to the roof and head to Beckwith Township for the 6.5K Jock River Paddle. It starts at 9:30am on 9th Line and ends near the Ashton Pub, and there will be shuttles back to the starting point. The cost is $20 per paddler.

Celebrate Kashubs in Wilno

The Kashub people hail from Eastern Europe. The first Kashub immigrants to Canada arrived in Renfrew County in the late 1850s, where they founded the village of Wilno, a bit west of Barry’s Bay. The community celebrates that history with the annual Kashub Day Heritage Festival, taking place this year on Saturday, May 10, at the open-air Wilno Heritage Park. Live music, square dancing and more are on the agenda.

Check out a dog-friendly market in Orleans

The first Fetch Local Market of the season is taking place on Saturday, May 10, at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans. More than 30 vendors will be on hand. Bring your leashed pooch, if you have one—you can even get his/her nails trimmed in a fundraiser for rescue dogs!

Work up a sweat in Gatineau

Festival Bouge Bouge Outaouais (Sunday, May 11) is a one-day celebration of physical fitness. Sign up for one event or sign up for a bunch; activities include cardio kickboxing, and 1K, 2.5K, 5K and 10K walk/runs. You can also check out a Colombian dance performance, a magic show and children’s activities. It’s all happening at the Asticou Centre in Gatineau.

Shop for art in many places

In Ottawa’s Alta Vista neighbourhood, you can shop for paintings, pottery, sculpture, jewellery, wooden pieces and fibre art made by some 30 creators at the Spring Art Festival, organized by Art in the Neighbourhood (Saturday, May 10). There will be food trucks and live music, too! It’s happening at the Canterbury Recreation Complex. Admission is free, the site is stroller and wheelchair accessible, and leashed dogs are welcome.

Arts Carleton Place has launched its latest show, Punchline, at the Art Hub (50 Bennett St, Unit 1, Carleton Place). This members-run art store is open to the public from Wednesdays through Sundays, and the show runs until May 24. You’ll find paintings, photography, sculpture, fibre art, jewellery, pottery and gifts. P.S. Arts Carleton Place also runs the A Taste of Art pop-up gallery at 127 Bridge Street in Carleton Place.

Art in the Attic (May 10 and 11) at the Almonte Old Town Hall showcases local artists of all ages and ranges of experience. In the airy auditorium, you can view works in a large variety of media, styles and subjects. You will find painting, photography, leatherwork, pottery, textile art, paper art, fused glass, mosaics, jewellery and more, at a wide range of prices.

Sample wine in Prince Edward County

Terroir (Saturday, May 10) is a one-day tasting festival at the Eddie Hotel and Farm in Bloomfield. It celebrates Prince Edward County wines, ciders and food. Attendees will get beverage samples and, for an extra fee, the chance to meet with local winemakers.

Catch a lacrosse game at Akwesasne

The Akwesasne Thunder are playing their season opener Junior B lacrosse game against the Nepean Knights on Wednesday, May 7. New this year is a shuttle service from Cornwall to the arena on Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island).

Bring the kids to their own festival in Ottawa

At the jam-packed Ottawa Children’s Festival (May 8 to 13), pint-sized fans can see everything from a South Korean puppet show with string to a Dutch dance performance for toddlers about world politics (see video above). Most shows are happening at a new location this year—Lansdowne Park. There will also be two sensory-friendly shows at Arts Court.

See theatre all over

Another bumper crop of plays are on stages throughout our region this week, including And Then There Were None at Ottawa Little Theatre, two one-act plays in Aylmer, I Hate Hamlet in Kanata, The Siegel in Russell, Mr. Pim Passes By in Kemptville, Waiting for the Parade in Perth and Burn in Cornwall. For the full list and details, see my theatre post.

Hit a garage sale in Barrhaven or Stittsville

Attention, bargain hunters: Community-wide garage sales are taking place on Saturday, May 10, in Barrhaven and Stittsville. For details on these and many other sales, see my garage sales post.

Enjoy a multicultural festival in Brockville

The Brockville Multicultural Festival (May 9 and 10) features continuous live performances by musicians and dancers celebrating traditions from countries around the world, including South Korea, India, Ireland and Ukraine. You can sample all sorts of cuisines (note that many vendors are cash only), and there’s a children’s show on Saturday.

Buy some new plants in Ottawa or Renfrew

On Saturday, May 10, the Crichton Community Council is hosting the New Edinburgh Plant Sale from 9am to 1pm in New Edinburgh Park.

That same day, the Ottawa Valley Reptile and Plant Expo at the Renfrew Armories in Renfrew gives you the unique chance to shop for rare plants and reptile supplies AND meet reptile breeders.

On Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 11, rain or shine), the Friends of the Farm are holding their plant sale at the Central Experimental Farm from 8am to 1pm. Growers and nurseries from across the region will be on hand, along with master gardeners. You can nosh on goodies from the refreshment tables and shop for gardening books, too.

Go mountain biking for prizes in Beachburg

The BORCA Spring Chicken Race on Saturday, May 10, is a non-timed mountain biking event on trails in and around Beachburg. Choose the 32K or 60K option. Compete for prizes and enjoy lunch afterward at the River Barn Restaurant. Register by Friday, May 9.

Delve into all things mystical in Ottawa

The Ottawa Mother’s Day Holistic Healing Fair is coming to the Nepean Sportsplex on Saturday, May 10. At its booths, you can shop for crystals, get your tarot cards read, browse natural products, consult a medium or psychic, and just generally explore alternative wellness in all its forms. Free admission. (P.S.: Check my Mother’s Day post for lots more ways to mark the big day.)

That evening, the Mother Earth Psychic and Craft Fair at the Bronson Centre is a fundraiser for No Surrender Ottawa Animal Rescue and Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue. Some 40 artisans, psychics, healers and other vendors will be on hand, and leashed pets are welcome. The organizers also promise a “witchy café.” Admission is by donation.

Enjoy a drag brunch in the Glebe

Irene’s Pub in the Glebe is hosting Capital Kingdom’s All Ages Drag King Brunch on Sunday, May 11, complete with dancing, colouring pages for kids and family-friendly performances. Meals are available for purchase (separately).

Learn about birds on World Migratory Bird Day weekend

Did you know that Saturday, May 10, is World Migratory Bird Day? At the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre in Britannia Park in Ottawa’s west end, free World Migratory Bird Day festivities on Saturday morning include guided birding walks, shoreline bird observation and community information booths. In Stittsville that morning, Friends of Stittsville Wetlands are offering a interpretive walk of the Goulbourn Wetland Complex. (That one is also free, but tickets are almost sold out.) And down in Prince Edward County, you can train your binoculars on feathered friends of all kinds during the Spring Birding Festival at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory (May 9 to 11).

Check the event’s Canadian website for details of other events taking place across the country.

See a new exhibition at the Canadian War Museum

To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, the Canadian War Museum is presenting Last Voices of the Second World War The exhibition, which opens on Friday, May 9, and continues until January 2026, includes new interviews from some of the last surviving veterans of the war, as well as family members.

Do a bit of shopping in Ottawa or Brockville

The Vpop at Next Door sale on Gladstone Avenue in Little Italy (May 10 and 11) features vintage, second-hand and artisan goods. Bring your gently used formal wear and accessories (any gender) to support fundraising for Cornerstone Housing for Women.

At the Fulford Place Garage Sale on Saturday, May 10, you can also shop for plants and baked goodies. The next day, Mother’s Day Sunday, you can check out the Brockville Legion Spring Bazaar.

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais, northern New York state and beyond? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.