Hello Ottawa

WEDNESDAY DRINKING + DINING UPDATE

The fall season in Ottawa is a cornucopia of food festivals and harvest celebrations. Here are 16 upcoming events to make your mouth water: 

• Friday September 4 through Sunday September 6 Phố Lồng Đèn – Viet Moon Festival returns for a second year, with Vietnamese street food, lanterns, performances, exhibitions, and family activities. (Kanata) 
• 
  Friday September 4 (dinner) and Saturday September 5 (lunch) In a dream collaboration between Ottawa Farm Fresh and Brian’s Table, the Farm Fresh Dining Experience offers a four-course meal that features produce at its peak. 
• 
  Saturday September 5 If Latin flavours like tacos, carnitas, arepas, and churros top your list, don’t miss Latin Fest, which at the time of writing is nearly sold out. It’s a single day of food, music, and workshops (bachata or salsa, for example) at LeBreton Flats. 

• 
  Saturday September 12 Beech Fest, also known as Vanier’s Biggest Block Party will be even bigger this year, stretching an extra block along Beechwood Avenue to Loyer Street. While the focus isn’t strictly on the food, there will be plenty of street eats to purchase, provided by local purveyors. There will also be live music, activities, and information booths staffed by area groups. 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm (Vanier)  

• Saturday September 12 However you like your butter tart (nuts, raisins, or classic?), you’ll find a vendor making it at the Stittsville Butter Tart Festival. 

• Friday September 11 through Sunday September 13 Get sticky at the 10th Anniversary Orléans Ribfest & Poutine at Centrum.

• Friday night September 11 and Saturday September 12 Kanata Craft Beer Fest has found new management and a new venue, and has expanded to a night and a day. What hasn’t changed, however, is the focus on local and Canadian craft beer. 

• Saturday September 12 Meet more than 20 coffee roasters from across Canada and check out the Canadian AeroPress Championship Ottawa regional competition at the new, free Coffee Right YOW festival. 10:00 am to 3:00 pm (Hintonburg) 

⇰ Read Martha’s interview with Will Wells, Coffee Right YOW organizer and founder of The Artery Community Roasters

• Saturday September 12 Walk the Taste of Manotick festival along the village’s Main Street for food demos and tastings, retail sales, live music and entertainment, and the Shay Way Memorial Car Show. 
• 
  Wednesday September 16 Harvest: A Feast of Fall, the multi-chef extravaganza in support of Youturn Youth Support Services, is back at the Ottawa Art Gallery. Experience delicious bites from many of Ottawa’s top restaurants, sip local beers and spirits, and mingle with other foodies. Better get booking though; tickets are close to sold out. (Sandy Hill) 

• 
  Saturday September 19 Taste of Wellington considers itself the world’s longest street festival, and passing as it does through both Hintonburg and Wellington West, that sounds about right. Once again supporting Parkdale Food Cupboard, Taste of Wellington will offer food tastings, sidewalk sales with local retailers, live music, and a new feature, the After Taste after-party, which will carry on into the night. (Wellington West)  

• Saturday September 19 Rather than a traditional, sit-down dinner, the Back Forty Artisan Cheese Evening with Chef Charlotte Langley will offer a wander ’round the farm with a cocktail in one’s hand, while one savours a meal of fresh cheese, meat, and garden bounty. 
• 
  Saturday September 19 The Good Harvest: A Good Garden Party for Good People is a Pay-What-You-Can Farmers Market and Block Party at which you’ll learn about food sovereignty and regenerative gardening, meet area farmers, and purchase locally grown food. 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm (Vanier) 
• 
  Saturday September 19 Road Trips: If you feel the need to get out of town, check out Taste of the Valley, which will visit Petawawa (September 19), Cobden (October 17), and Renfrew (December 12). 
• 
  Saturday September 26 You’ll pay in sweat at the seventh annual Carrot Fest at Ottawa Farm Fresh, as guests will help out with the harvest. However, you’ll also enjoy lunch, live music, and ice cream. (Gloucester)
• 
  Saturday September 26 Ottoberfest is the free, 19+ authentic Bavarian food, beer, and wine experience at the Horticulture Building. Skip the line and pay for the $30 VIP package, which will also get you a limited-edition stein and your first two pours. (The Glebe)

STATISTICS OTTAWA

NUMBER

• $690,000

• The amount of fare revenue lost to OC Transpo due to a software error during the 18 months between January 2025 and June 2026. The problem was with the red oval card readers on buses.

• — Arthur White-Crummey at CBC

OTTAWANS OF THE DAY

• Cassandre Prosper and Olivier-Maxence Prosper

• The two are the first brother-sister pair to be drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association. Cassandre plays for the Washington Mystics, while Olivier-Maxence plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.

• — in Faces magazine

QUOTE

“

• Hahahah ……stutzle….hahaha

– Florida Panthers winger Brad Marchand attempting to play mind games on Instagram with Senators centre Tim Stützle. The team needs to pick a new captain after Brady Tkachuk defected for the Panthers in June.

— Chris Gosselin at Yahoo Sports

SPORTS

⚾ FRONTIER Trois-Rivières Aigles at Ottawa Titans

Yesterday

⚾ FRONTIER Trois-Rivières Aigles 0 at Ottawa Titans 2

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WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

THE DAILY POLL

What political news do you mostly follow?

🔘 Local and city

🔘 Provincial

🔘 Federal

🔘 American

🔘 Other

• 
  Previously in OTTAWAN polls:

• The Ottawa Titans are in the Frontier League playoffs. How far will they go?

  • 31% All the way to the Championship!

  • 31% Who will win the what?

  • 15% They will win the Atlantic Division!

  • 12% The final series but no more

  • 11% No, just no. Stop giving us hope.

Commentary

▪️ “They’re not there yet — not strong enough to win it all but let’s cheer them on!”

▪️ “Sorry Québec City but it’s our year.”

▪️ “Hmm — the Titans, eh? What Sport is this? What League is this?”

▪️ “The Titans have the heart, they have the grit, and as a team there’s no reason that they can’t go all the way! Go Titans!”

▪️ “I’m TriCity Valley Cats all the way”

HISTORIC OTTAWA LOGO T-SHIRTS

Club Zinc T-Shirt For underground Ottawa of the 80s, Club Zinc was a short, dark light. Help support THE OTTAWAN by buying one of our historic logo T-shirts. Shop for T-shirts

THE ROLLING THREE DAY CALENDAR

Is there an event we should know about?
Please use our easy event submission form

✳️ Means change from previous edition

WEDNESDAY

• ✳️ Matt Lang headlines the Festival de montgolfières de Gatineau tonight. 

• Artists Nancy Lee and Kiran Bhumber discuss their sci-fi work UNION: Worldbuilding in Speculative Media. (Downtown) 

• Learn meditation to bring more calm into your life. (Overbrook)  

• Bring your knitting or come for the conversation at Hintonburg Public House’s Knerdy Nights session.  (Hintonburg) 

• Book your tickets for the final performances of Death of a Salesman at Ottawa Little Theatre 

• Ottawa Poets Laureate David O’Meara and Véronique Sylvain are joined by eight local poets for French and English readings of works about the Ottawa River at the NCC River House. 

• 🆓 Angelique Francis Band plays the Akoustik stage in Vanier, with Lyle Odjick. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Tony, Compostelle    

• Mayfair Theatre: Franz, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Bury the Devil     

Gigs

• Eau the Music, Crow’s Feet, Adam Ferris. House of TARG

• Jazz Nite with Peter Woods. FONO

• The Prime Rib Big Band. Irene’s Pub

• Bluegrass Wednesdays ft Pete Deachman and Handsome Molly. Red Bird

THURSDAY

• ✳️ Smash Mouth headlines the Festival de montgolfières de Gatineau.

• Don’t wait for the weekend to shop for local produce, meat and dairy at the Orléans Farmers Market.  

• The fall season officially opens at the Log Farm today with the Corn Maze and other family activities. (Nepean)  

• The Wellington West chapter of Ottawa Silent Book Club meets on the first Thursday of every month at Sweet Pâtisserie (128 Smirle Ave). Join the quiet gang in reading your current book (there’s no set reading list) from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm tonight. 

• The third of the three-game series that pits Trois-Rivières Aigles against Ottawa Titans also takes place during Fan Appreciation Week. Expect 27 prize giveaways to coincide with all 27 outs, and a huge fireworks display when it’s all over. 

• Road Trips: Choose a direction and head to the fair. Perth Fair opens tonight with a pie auction, plus the midway cranks up for thrills and spills.  In Shawville, the midway and beer tents open, and the first tractor pull gets underway. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Tony, Compostelle 

• Mayfair Theatre: Sheep in the Box, Franz, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma 

Gigs

• Kevin Muir and the Malcontents. Motel Chelsea

• Catbird, Matt Gower Trio, Tulips and Devilships. House of TARG

• Naked Burn, Pale, Refuse. Rainbow Bistro

FRIDAY

• Grammy winner Jermaine Holmes and Ottawa-based DJ Trevor Walker help Funk Yo Self celebrate the launch of their album at SAW Gallery.   

• Simple Plan headlines the Festival de montgolfières de Gatineau. 

• Phố Lồng Đèn – Viet Moon Festival launches three days of Vietnamese street food, lanterns, performances, exhibitions, and family activities. (Kanata)

• 🆓 Roll up to the parking lot at the Carp branch of Ottawa Public Library for a stargazing party organized by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 

• Chelsea’s hippest venue, Motel Chelsea, will be the scene of the Battle of the Provinces, a no-holds-barred competition between Ontario and Québec comedians.

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Salt Path, Tony, Jaws on 35mm 

• Mayfair Theatre: Dear You, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma 

Gigs

• Joshua Bell. National Arts Centre

• Jackson Dean. Bronson Centre Music Theatre

• Scarecrowz, Spit, Mad Wet Sea, Chaos. Buster’s Bar & Grill (Kanata)

• A Mourning Star, Qwan, Gallowspine, Pity Fountain. The Dominion Tavern

• The Dark Plains, Dogs, Motorloaf, Het Up. Avant-Garde Bar

• Jeff de Valk duo. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa

JUST ANNOUNCED

• Composer and arranger Steve Hackman’s mashup of Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and the seminal ’90s LP OK Computer by Radiohead will intrigue your ears at the National Arts Centre on Tuesday, November 17.

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BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

Rob Attrell, who runs the delightfully named New Orléans site, is asking the public to help him create a list of trails that the City should add to its winter-maintained path network. He’s included a map of what he has done so far. 

And if you are still in an advice-giving mood, the federal government is soliciting opinions on the proposed new bridge to link Ottawa and Gatineau. The deadline for comments is October 9.

RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

THE END

THE OTTAWAN is written and edited every weekday by Martha and Darren. Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single email.