Good morning, everyone!! It’s been a while!! I figured I’d check in and let you all know that I’m still alive and kicking. In case you hadn’t guessed, my events promotion company has pretty much been decimated by the pandemic, and instead of fighting to keep it running by posting insignificant and uninteresting online events from around the world, I figured I’d take a little break and focus on my other side-business and my family (in that order….oops). For those of you who know me, you’ve already heard the update: the Covert Baby that I’ve mentioned over the past year is now a Covert Toddler, and Covert Baby 2.0 has entered our lives. So, we’re enjoying life with 2 in diapers, 2 not sleeping much, and 2 fussy little bundles of joy under 14 months old. It’s been fun!!

Anyway, I’m poking my head out of the ground just briefly now! There have been some event news updates and announcements for Ottawa since we’ve started re-opening, and hope of a normal life is in the air. I won’t be posting weekly again just yet, but will let you know about things when I hear about them. I will also start updating the events calendar again on a weekly basis, so if you’ve been avoiding that because it’s out of date, fear not, it’ll be back up and running this week!!

New(ish) Announcements:

Chef’s Table

The management team at Bluesfest has been busy lately despite the cancellation of Bluesfest.  Just last week, the 3^rd (I think) annual “Chef’s Table” event was announced. This year, the event takes place exclusively at the NAC’s newly renovated “1 Elgin”. This is a fantastic event, featuring a great meal and some exciting musical entertainment. The event takes place over six weekends, starting on August 13^th. Here’s what you’ve got to look forward to:

 

 

 

1^st Weekend – (August 13 & 14) – menu will be curated by Chefs Kenton Leier (NAC) and Nick Benninger (‘Fat Sparrow Group’, Waterloo ON) with music by Dueling Pianos.

2^nd Weekend – (August 20 & 21) – menu curated by Chefs Kenton Leier (NAC) and Yannick Anton (‘Signatures – by Le Cordon Bleu’, Ottawa ON) with music by the Jackson Miles Trio.

3^rd Weekend – (August 27 & 28) – menu curated by Chefs Kenton Leier (NAC) and Renée Lavallée (‘The Canteen’, Dartmouth N.S.) with music by Renée Landry.

4^th Weekend – (September 3 & 4) – menu curated by Chefs Kenton Leier (NAC) and Sara Shpyth (Ottawa ON) with music by The Commotions feat. Rebecca Noelle.

5^th Weekend – (September 10 & 11) – menu curated by Chefs Kenton Leier (NAC) and Joe Thottungal (‘Coconut Lagoon’, Ottawa ON) with music by Dueling Pianos.

6^th Weekend – (September 17 &18) – menu curated by Chefs Kenton Leier (NAC) and Joseph Shawana (Manitoulin Island, ON) with music by Celeigh Cardinal.

 

 

Tickets for each night went on sale last Thursday, June 24^th and are sure to sell out; they will be following pandemic restriction guidelines, meaning there is limited seating availability. You can get your tickets through the Festival of Small Halls website by clicking here!

Room Service Concert Series

Earlier this year, prior to the last lock-down, Bluesfest announced an initiative to revitalize the tourism sector, and offered a unique experience at select hotels in Ottawa. This staycation-style event featured live performances by some pretty stellar bands…available only in your hotel room! That original event was postponed, but it is running NOW!! The first rescheduled acts were on June 18^th and have been running on weekends since then. You’ve still got a chance to take advantage of this for the next two weekends:

 

July 2^nd: Third Eye Blind, Moon vs. Sun, and Nefe

July 3^rd: Lido Pimienta, Foucheé, and Walk off the Earth

July 9^th: Colin James, Booker T. Jones, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

July 10^th: Pete Davidson and Alex Moffat, and Orville Peck

You can find all the information on participating hotels and prices by going to the Room Service website through Ottawa Tourism by clicking here!

Beyond Van Gogh

This latest event was announced a couple of weeks ago and looks incredible, whether you’re an art lover or not! This interactive, 3D experience exhibit features over 300 of Van Gogh’s greatest works, and runs August 5^th through September 16^th.

“In an imaginative and immersive presentation crafted for our unique times by world renowned audiovisual designers, Beyond Van Gogh uses cutting-edge projection technology to create an engaging journey into the world of Van Gogh. Using his dreams, his thoughts, and his words to drive the experience as a narrative, we move along projection swathed walls wrapped in light, colour, and shapes that swirl, dance and refocus into flowers, cafes and landscapes. Masterpieces, now freed from frames, come alive, appear and disappear, flow across multi-surfaces, the minutia of details titillating our heightened senses. Through his own words set to a symphonic score, we may come to a new appreciation of this tortured artist’s stunning work” – Beyond Van Gogh Website

This event is being held at the Aberdeen Pavilion at TD Place. Tickets are now on sale, and are issued at 15-minute time intervals throughout the day. The whole experience is estimated to take about an hour. See the website Beyond Van Gogh to buy your tickets and/or get more information.

 

Not all good news though:

Beau’s Oktoberfest

Even though events are starting to pop up again, and all of our pandemic numbers are going in the right direction, it’s not all good news. I was informed just last week that the annual Beau’s Okotberfest has been cancelled for 2021. I was hoping that it would make the cut, but it seems as though they’re not taking chances. The logistics/planning for an event this size is huge, so they’re not going to risk doing all that work, signing contracts, and then have to cancel last minute…I get it, but it’s still sad. The dates have been announced for 2022 though! September 23 and 24^th will be the weekend of all weekends, so mark that in your calendars NOW.

 

 

Capital Fair

Another 2021 casualty that was recently announced is the Capital Fair. On June 10^th, organizers of this annual family favourite announced that they would be shutting down the 2021 edition. Like all events, they hope to be back up and running in 2022.

 

So here we are, just about to enter July. Beaches are open, patios are open, and we can almost get haircuts again! However, we still have to take precautions to stay safe. Keep supporting local businesses when you can, and we’ll all get through this emotionally, financially, and hopefully with our health intact. Until next time!

Have a happy Canada Day!!! My family is going to take in the 2^nd annual Greely Canada Day Parade, which snakes its way through the entire community. It was pretty cool last year, and promises a celebrity emcee this year on a float….it’s a surprise!

 

 

Have a great week, stay healthy, and be kind to one another!