😷 Four hundred jobs are being cut at the Ottawa Hospital to address ‘financial challenges’. This works out to be about three per cent of the hospital’s staff. The Hospital says that it will try to use options like early retirement and removing vacant jobs to avoid layoffs.  – Elizabeth Payne in the Ottawa Citizen

↪ Gatineau’s new hospital, to be located on the former Asticou Centre, will begin construction next year. 

🎧 The latest edition of the City’s podcast, Ottatalk, has dropped. The first edition of season two is ‘Will there be spring flooding this year?’ – Ottatalk

🚗 Online used car dealer Clutch has opened a storefront in the Bayshore Shopping Centre. The Clutch service for most people is completely online: you buy, sell, and transfer money online and at some point a truck picks up or drops off your car. This location will let buyers and sellers to pick up or drop off their vehicle. – BusinessWire

FRIDAY

• ✳️ The Maple and Moonshine Country Music Festival revs up tonight with Riley Taylor taking the stage at Sky Lounge. Check other ByWard Market venues for additional acts. 

• The Fifty-Five Plus Lifestyle Show (today and tomorrow at EY Centre)  offers produces and services for the mature crowd, and this year they're also offering the chance to win a South Africa Wine and Food Tour for Two. (YOW)  

• Workshop & Flock’s annual Trunk Show continues at Next Door Market and Event Space through Sunday April 12. (Little Italy) 

• Book a visit to the Poppy Barley Pop-up at Chateau Laurier, where you’ll try on seasonal best sellers. (Downtown)  

• Peter Hum plays the Robo Lounge in a tribute to Herbie Hancock. $10 at the door. (The Glebe) 

• You’ll be dancing to a live jazz band at the monthly Friday Swing Dance Night. Learn the basics in the beginner workshop from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm, then boogie the night away. (Sandy Hill) 

• It’s going to be loud and fun as Bytown Sea Shanty visits Stray Dog Brewing Co (Orléans) 

• The Cottage Life and Backyard Show is back today through Sunday. Make this the year you build a new dock or level up your summer entertaining. Through Sunday at EY Centre (YOW) 

• Dueling Pianists Tyler Kealey and Dave Kalil bring along guitarist Todd Huckabone for an evening of classics, audience requests, and a Friday night party vibe at Overflow Brewing.  

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Blue Trail, The Drama, Palestine 36, Dead Lover 

• Mayfair Theatre: Miroirs No. 3, H Is For Hawk, Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie 

Gigs

• Cook ‘n’ Hogg Duo. Hard Rock Ottawa

• Wine Lips 10th Anniversary & 7" release party. Rainbow Bistro

• Gary Louris. Red Bird

• Miina. National Arts Centre

• Cat Quintet. Night Oat

• Monach, Neon Ghosthouse, Passenger Princess, Futura Free. House of TARG

SATURDAY

• ✳️ Tonight’s headliner at Maple and Moonshine Country Music Festival is Dawson Gray. 

• ✳️ Ottawa Cottage Life & Backyard Show covers tricky topics like ‘Top Three Techniques for Cottage Succession’ and ‘How to Keep Your Garden Alive When You’re Not There’ on the Main Stage. Check out the exhibitors and the General Store if you need to engage in some retail therapy.  

• ✳️ 🆓 Expect 20,000 square feet of vendors at  the Sports Card & Comic Show. Today and tomorrow at Nepean Sportsplex curling rink. 

• Hard Rock Ottawa hosts Live Championship Boxing, presented by United Promotions. On the card: Former world title challenger Sukhdeep Chakra, Ottawa top prospect Adrien Davin Carrasco, Undefeated cruiserweight Milad Zareian, Ottawa’s own Killa Cam Laing and more. (Gloucester)

• Workshop & Flock’s annual Trunk Show continues at Next Door Market and Event Space through Sunday April 12. (Little Italy) 

• Take a road trip to the seat of your pants. Wayward Improvised Theatre’s Wanderlust: Improvised Tales of Travel, Love & Longing will be a different show every night. Arts Court. (Downtown)  

• Recycle your electronics in Orléans. 

• Bring your gently used fashion items (and your own shopping bag(s)) to the Clothing Swap at Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Centre,  (Orléans) 

• Ottawa Record Fair has 40 vendor tables, new and second hand vinyl, CDs, and cassettes (where's my Walkman?), all under one roof. Early bird admission (10:00 am) is $10, general admission $5 from 11:00 am. (Centretown) 

• Try something a little different at Cumberland Heritage Village Museum: the Ghost Tour is more of a guided personal investigation. The Village will be closed to the public, the sky will be dark, and you will explore, alongside just a few other people, four of the buildings on site. Are you brave enough? (Cumberland)  

• Indulge your loves of maple syrup and weekend breakfast with Cumberland Lions Club’s 55th annual Maplefest (also on tomorrow). 

• The New Orford String Quartet returns to Chamberfest with a compelling programme of works inspired by, and dedicated to beloved musical figures (specifically Ludwig van Beethoven, Leoš Janáček, Cecilia Livingston, and Felix Mendelssohn). (Westboro) 

• The Fifty-Five Plus show continues. 

• The Ten Thousand Hours acrobats are eight world-class performers from the Australian contemporary circus company Gravity & Other Myths and they're performing at the Shenkman Arts Centre today. (Orléans)  

• Bring your Scottish friends (or friends of Scottish friends) to Tartan Day Trivia (Centrepointe). 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema:  The Blue Trail, Palestine 36, The Drama, Dead Lover - Stink-O-Vision 

• Mayfair Theatre:  Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie, Taxi Driver, Saturday Night Sinema 

Gigs

• Dance then Bed. The Robo Lounge

• Jeff de Valk Duo. Hard Rock Ottawa

• The Low Profiles. Night Oat

• Class of '91, Stoby, Deadwell. LIVE on Elgin

• Modevile, Pith, Nicky Band. Irene’s Pub

SUNDAY

• The John Allaire Show headlines the final day of Maple and Moonshine Country Music Festival in the ByWard Market.    

• Learn about ‘Healthy Shorelines - Reducing Erosion and Nurturing Natural Systems’ at the Ottawa Cottage Life & Backyard Show today. (YOW)

• 🆓  While National Tartan Day was actually last Monday, today Parliament Hill will be alive with the sound of bagpipes (and drums, step dancing, fiddles, and marching corgis). The Sons of Scotland Pipe Band will lead the free noon time concert on the Hill. (Downtown)  

• 🆓 The Sports Card & Comic Show continues at Nepean Sportsplex curling rink. 

• It’s the final day for Proulx Family Farms Maple season. 

• If you’re planning to attend The Montreal Bagels and Blues in early May – and even if you’re not – Ottawa Vintage Swing’s prep workshop is a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

• Maple season ends today at The Log Farm.  

• Workshop & Flock’s annual Trunk Show - finishes today. (Little Italy) 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Blue Trail, Palestine 36, The Drama, Twin Peaks: Season 2, episodes 1 & 2.  

• Mayfair Theatre: Miroirs No. 3, H Is For Hawk, Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie 

Gigs

• No Wake, Refuse, Ava Tyler. Avant-Garde Bar

• Dusha Connection Trio (all the way from Vienna). The Robo Lounge 

• Legendary Sunday Afternoon Blues Jam. Rainbow Bistro

• Groyan Gombo. Motel Chelsea

• Dirty Sheep (afternoon show). Irene's Pub

MONDAY

• Grab a good deal on dinner at No Forks Given’s Meatless Monday. You'll find half price veggie burgers and veggie tenders from 5:00 pm. Dine-in only.  

• Start the week onstage at the Broadway Nights  Musical Theatre Open Mic and Singalong. 

• Dead Siblings Society is a one act comedy that explores the loss of ‘a special kind of relationship’. One night only at the Gladstone Theatre (Little Italy). 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Drama, Palestine 36, Limited edition: A History of Violence 

• Mayfair Theatre: Miroirs No. 3, H Is For Hawk, Tiger On The Boat 

Gigs

• Karaoke Mondays

JUST ANNOUNCED

• For a certain percentage of THE OTTAWAN’s readership, to hear that Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life is 50 is a bit disconcerting. Get over that and book your ticket to the Blind Boys of Alabama, who will sing the classic album at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre next Tuesday April 14. You'll feel even better when you learn that the concert is also a fundraiser for the Ottawa Jazz Festival. 

• Combine a Saturday theatre date at GCTC’s Jade Circle with a chance to get your hands dirty. Hintonburg Pottery presents the Candle Holder Hand Building Workshop from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturday May 9. You can either buy a ticket to the matinée and then play in the clay, or take the workshop first and then go to the evening performance.