Things to do in Ottawa, the Outaouais, Eastern Ontario and beyond (February 17 to March 9, 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 FEBRUARY 17 TO 23

Visit the Mounties and their horses in Ottawa

Since 1996, the RCMP Musical Ride Stables has held an annual open house, where the public can meet Mounties and their horses (and grab a selfie or two). This year’s event will take place on Saturday, February 22, from 10am to 3pm. Admission is free, but donations to the Ottawa Food Bank are appreciated. Note that parking in the area is limited.

Enjoy afternoon tea in Chelsea

How lovely the Victorian Afternoon Tea Experience sounds in the depths of winter. It’s a talk about the history of afternoon tea, followed by sandwiches, scones, pastries and, yes, tea. If that floats your Victorian boat, it’s happening at La Fab sur Mill in Chelsea on Saturday, February 22.

Delve into history in Cornwall

At Cornwall’s free Heritage Fair on Saturday, February 22, you can learn about local history and historic sites. More than a dozen organizations—including the Cornwall Community Museum, the Lost Villages Museum and the Glengarry Pioneer Museum—will be setting up booths staffed with folks you can answer your questions about the past. It’s taking place on the second floor of Cornwall Square from 9am to 4pm.

Catch a concert

This week, you can sing along to Choir! Choir! Choir! in Kingston, catch a Springsteen tribute in Ottawa, enjoy an evening of music and storytelling with Steve Poltz in Chelsea and much more. See my concerts calendar for links to these and many other shows.

Sip whisky in Ottawa

As well as whisky tastings, masterclasses and food-and-whisky pairings, Whisky Wonderland will feature live music, a cigar lounge, an ice bar and much more. More than 40 whisky vendors will be on hand. It’s all happening at the St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts in Lowertown, from February 20 to 22. Slainte!

Get some cycling inspiration in Montreal

With some 200 exhibitors showing off the latest cycles and promoting bike trips all over the world, the Montreal Bicycle Show (February 21 to 23) is a great opportunity to get yourself equipped for two-wheeled adventures this summer. It’s happening at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. (You could also wait until the event’s smaller sister show comes to Gatineau from March 7 to 9.)

Go to a book signing in Orleans

Orleans author Catherine Allard will be signing copies of Becoming Comfortably Numb: A Memoir on Brain-Mending at Indigo Innes in Orleans on Saturday, February 22, from 12pm to 3pm. It’s the story of her 40-year rehabilitation journey after two debilitating stroke. She will share useful tips she’s learned over the years about travelling with disabilities and offering info prepared by Heart and Stroke about assessing your own risks. She is also donating 10 percent of the proceeds to Bruyère Health. (If you can’t make it to this signing, she’s also doing a signing at The Book’s Better in Smiths Falls on Saturday, March 8.)

Browse for boats at the EY Centre

Sure, summer seems years away, but dropping into the Ottawa Boat and Outdoors Show at the EY Centre in Ottawa (February 20 to 23) might just make it seem a little closer. You can chat with vendors selling all sorts of marine and outdoors equipment, including powerboats, kayaks, fishing gear and more.

See fascinating documentaries in Belleville

The Belleville Downtown DocFest (February 21 to 23) will be screening more than 30 documentaries in multiple venues. It’s a non-competitive, non-juried event focusing on human rights, social/environmental justice, and arts and culture.

Walk to help the vulnerable in Ottawa

The Coldest Night of the Year (Saturday, February 22) is a fundraising walk for the Ottawa Mission. Come with your family or pull together a work team, and get pledges for your 2km or 5km walk. The money raised will help fund the Ottawa Mission’s work with vulnerable and homeless people. The event runs from 4pm to 7pm and includes a light meal.

Revel in books in Gatineau

The theme of this year’s Salon du livre de l’Outaouais (February 20 to 23) is Tous les espoirs sont. The four-day francophone book fair features all sorts of readings and other literary events, and it’s taking place at the Palais des Congrès de Gatineau in the downtown Hull sector.

Enjoy a dance performance in Kingston or Montreal

Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practised by African American fraternities and sororities with traditional African dances and an array of contemporary dance and art forms. The company’s shows include songs, storytelling, humour and audience participation. Step Afrika! will be performing at the Kingston Grand Theatre on Friday, February 21, and at Place des Arts in Montreal on Sunday, February 23.

Catch a play

New this week is The Children is billed as “a black comedy about hope and marriage in the face of disaster.” It’s on at Ottawa’s Gladstone Theatre from February 19 until March 8.

Five plays are continuing in our region this week.

• At the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Controlled Damage (until February 22) delves into the chain of events that occurred after Viola Desmond entered the whites-only section of a segregated Nova Scotia theatre in 1946.
• In Carleton Place, the Mississippi Mudds Youth theatre troupe is presenting The Addams Family, a comedy featuring everyone’s favourite mysterious, spooky, ooky family (until February 22).
• In Cornwall, All Shook Up (untile February 22) is the story of Chad, a great-lookin’, motorcyclin’, guitar-playin’, leather-jacketed roustabout who changes everything when he rides into a small town in 1955. It’s loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
• In Smiths Falls, the farce There Goes the Bride (until February 22) follows a harried father of the bride and his patient wife, who are stick-handling their daughter Judy’s lavish wedding.
• Big Ticket is a new two-person comedy by Jim Garrard,. running at the Kingston Baby Grand until February 23.

For more details on these shows, as well as lots of plays coming up later this year, see my theatre post.

See frozen art in Kingston

The frosty weather means that this has been an especially good season for Froid’Art, an outdoor installation of artworks encased in ice in downtown Kingston. The 10 artworks are placed throughout downtown, and they’re illuminated at night. This is the last year for this outdoor art event, which has been running each winter for the last decade. See it while you can!

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 24 TO MARCH 2

Try your hand at felting in Almonte

Ever wanted to try your hand at felting—the art of making felt from wool? On Tuesday, February 25, you can join a three-hour workshop at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte on that very topic. It’s aimed at everyone from beginners to needlework stars, and all materials will be available for purchase on the day of the event. Participants will use wool to create a landscape they can take home.

Laugh at Jeremy Hotz in Ottawa or Kingston

Standup comedian Jeremy Hotz brings his standup comedy show Très Misérables to the Algonquin College Commons theatre in Ottawa on Thursday, February 27, and the Kingston Grand Theatre on Friday, February 28.

Make your own perfume in Kemptville

Ever wondered how perfumes are blended? You can sign up for the Create Your Own Signature Scent Workshop at Mama’s Cheeky Boutique in Kemptville and find out! As well as blending your own perfume that’s yours to keep, you’ll enjoy refreshments and get a 25 percent discount on the shop’s stock—which includes home decor and gift items, and new and consigned women’s clothing and accessories—for an hour after the class. The workshop takes place on Friday, February 28.

Learn how to create your own YouTube channel in Carleton Place

Here’s one for those who daydream of video stardom: a four-hour workshop on creating your own YouTube channel. Open to participants aged 13 and up, the workshop will walk aspiring YouTubers through the process of identifying their niche, naming their channel and setting it up. It’s taking place at the Arts Carleton Place Art Hub on Saturday, March 1.

See Canadian movies in Kingston

The world’s largest festival of Canadian movies is rolling out the red carpet this weekend. Movies screening at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival (February 26 to March 2) include Village Keeper, a Toronto-set drama about a woman trying to escape a cycle of abuse; a psychological thriller called Sharp Corner; and Drive Back Home, a road movie about a New Brunswick man and his gay brother driving from Toronto to New Brunswick in 1970.

WEEK OF MARCH 3 TO 9

Have some laughs in Ottawa

Comedian David Cross—perhaps best known for playing Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development—brings his standup show to the Bronson Music Theatre in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 5.

Sample fine wines in Prince Edward County

At Élevage: PEC Winter Wine Festival (March 8 and 9), you can taste wines and ciders from local producers at 16 sites scattered across Prince Edward County. You can buy a passport that entitles you to five tastings at various venues, as well as one “elevated experience,” such as a cellar tour or the chance to chat with a winemaker.

Celebrate women at a Perth breakfast

Saturday, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and CFUW Perth & District and Lanark County Interval House and Community Support are marking the occasion with a breakfast at the Civitan Club of Perth. Lawyer, entrepreneur and community advocate Michelle Foxton, lawyer will be giving a talk titled Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: Women Leading Change in Lanark-Frontenac.

Get cycling inspiration in Gatineau

With some 100 exhibitors showing off the latest cycles and promoting bike trips all over the world, the Gatineau-Ottawa Bicycle Show (March 7 to 9) is a great opportunity to get yourself equipped for two-wheeled adventures this summer. It’s happening at the Palais des Congrès de Gatineau.

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.