Looking for a whole lot of variety, packed into a short amount of time? Head to Pressed this evening for a variety show like no other. You can also head down to Mercury Lounge for the indie rock stylings of Daniel Ellsworth & the Great Lakes, along with High Waters. Tonight is also the CHUO Edition of Battle of the Bands down at the Lunenburg Pub – vote for your favourite local group!

Friday, you can find three different female Ottawa singers from a variety of musical backgrounds, coming together under one bill. That same night, Couchwrecked and In-Flight Safety will be a Zaphod’s, and it’s Kitchen Party. Bob Loblaw and Pseudo Vista stop by Cafe Dekcuf Saturday night to rock out, while there will be a whole lotta punk packed into the Hellbros and Maximum RNR show at the Dom. You’ve got a few music options for Sunday, too: Shannon Rose and the Thorns at 8 Locks, Antennas Up at the Mercury Lounge, and the Bean Trio at Umi Cafe.

Reporter and author Chris Hedges will be in town to talk about his latest book, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. The Magnetic North Theatre Festival wraps up on Saturday, with four plays happening this weekend.

Gardeners get a few bonuses down at the Experimental Farm – a book sale (with more than just gardening books) and a workshop should fit your bill.

At the dance end of the spectrum, the Ottawa Dance Directive will have a new performance this Saturday, followed the next morning by a special Father’s Day edition of the burlesque brunch.

What else? There’s an Israeli Film Festival, a bike fest, and Ontario Craft Beer week kicks off on Sunday. Share your other events below!

Sunday’s fabulous finds will be had first down at Minto Park, where Ravenswing Arts and Music Fair will be having their seventh annual day o’ fun. They’ll have workshops and music, along with the expected arts and crafts. Take your love of crafty delights down to Little Italy after that – Idle Hands craft and vintage sale will take over St Anthony’s with a diverse selection of gifts, clothes, art and tiny treasures. Wrap it all up with a celebratory drink down at 8 Locks Flat, which opens this weekend down by the canal. The Dusty Drifters will be stopping by to play a few tunes there on Sunday night.

Theatre buffs have a few treats on hand. It’s your last chance to catch White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, a one-person play featuring a different actor for every performance – it wraps up on Saturday. On Sunday, you can catch three talented young women in Tenderhooks – these high schoolers have been receiving much acclaim for their piece.

Music-wise, tonight Rimbombante are celebrating the release of their new album at Mambo, while Delta Will and Claude Munson & the Storm Outside will land at Pressed for what’s sure to be a unique experience. Amanda Bon and the Outskirts will perform from their new album on Friday night, and The Richardson Band, The Old Salts, and The Matt Ferriers will be at Raw Sugar. Fevers will be at Ritual on Saturday, marking the release of a new single, and will have a few local musical friends popping by to help celebrate.

And for you foodies, find out a few tips from Chef Justin Scott at the Unrefined Olive on Saturday, or stop by the Hintonburg Public House on Sunday for Chef-Faced. This party will pit four chefs and four bartenders against each other, to come up with monthly specials – and, May is “Meat on a Stick” month. Yum!

What else is happening in your ‘hood this weekend, Ottawa?

Kicking things off, we’ve got Chinatown Remixed all day Saturday. From jellyfish in cafe windows to a main stage o’ fun, you’ll want to be wandering Somerset Street from dawn til dusk. Don’t fret too much if you can’t make it – the exhibits will continue on for the next month.

Tonight, Shannon Rose and the Thorns are out at the Black Sheep, with Whitebrow stopping by to play some tunes from their new album. Saturday night, it’s the Ottawa Rock Lottery – your chance to see Ottawa’s best musicians get shaken up and stirred together, resulting in creative new songs and possibly the next big music group. Also that night, the Glorious Moonrockets are having an album release party, with Dagger Eyes and Brabazon joining the fun. Sunday? Groove to the spins of DJ Sweetcheeks down at the Hintonburg Public House, which is also the evening that Siach HaSadeh will be playing traditional Chassidic melodies down at Umi Cafe. Want to be part of a giant jam session? Head to Parc Moussette in Gatineau from 4-6pm on Sunday. A new concert series also kicks off on Sunday, with Nationless Nights: Edition Zero happening at the Rainbow Bistro.

Vaudeville and burlesque come together courtesy the Mansfield Brothers, who are presenting A Vaudelesque Revue tonight at Maxwell’s.

And if you’re a lady and love to code, there’s a mobile development workshop happening at Shopify this weekend – and don’t worry if you have no coding experience at all. They’ll teach you everything you need to know about the interweb!

The Tulip Festival wraps up this weekend, with Lucky Ron and the Dusty Drifters playing Friday night and Ukrainia! on stage Saturday evening. There’s also fireworks, folk dances and of course, flowers. The Croatian Folklore Festival, in its 39th year, is also happening down at the NAC on Sunday.

And finally: get out and dance it up in celebration of spring with the Timekode DJs Friday night.

What else are you up to this weekend, Ottawa?

Last month, a team from Bridgehead traveled down to Guatemala to visit the sources of their coffees. They traveled throughout the countryside, meeting growers and visiting cooperatives. One of the highlights? A cupping competition to determine the best coffees produced by CODECH, an umbrella cooperative that represents 300+ farmers in rural Huehuetanango. Here, we get a glimpse into the wonderful world of cupping – coffee beans are ground, brewed, smelled, tasted, spit out and analysed by judges. Some of the best end up here in our city – that medium roast coffee you had this morning might have traveled farther than you have!

There’s a stellar line up of Northern artists, musicians and more stopping by our city for the next week for Northern Scene – it’s well worth your time to seek some out! There’s a fashion show, an art party featuring 15 artists in one night, and a welcome ceremony to kick it all off tonight. Also? One of your favourite Robert Munsch stories comes to life.

Herd Magazine launches their latest issue this weekend down at Mercury Lounge – the folks behind the magazine are hard (er, herd?) partiers  and so it’s likely to be an epic event.

Film lovers, you’ve got your pick: a film fest all about being outside, a teen tech video contest and award ceremony, and an Arctic film series.

Foodies will delight in Dishcrawl, taking a surprise culinary tour through the Market.

Music-wise, you should probably check out Shotgun Jimmie’s record release party at Raw Sugar Friday night, brought to you by the Arboretum festival. Or stop by Zaphod’s for a triple bill on Friday, featuring Thread, Full Tipped Sleeve and Carl Hornswater. John Carroll and the Epic Proportions will be out at the Black Sheep with Birdie White, while bands Her Harbour and The Meek (members of Timber Timbre) will be at St Luke’s. Metal fans will stop by Cafe Dekcuf for Bison BC and Swarm of Spheres, while punk rock lovers should be at Mavericks for what might be the fullest night yet.

There’s plenty of dancing to be had this weekend, outside of those music shows. Ceremony is a-happening, as mentioned, and the Museum of Nature is having their final Nature Nocturne of the season. It’s also Double Barrel at Mugshots, and the newly revamped Elmdale Tavern takes a trip through the 70s and 80s on Saturday night, or you can just have a dose of the 80s down in Old Ottawa South.

Sunday? Burlesque brunch is back.

Anything else you’re up to this weekend, Ottawa?

It’s fight night weekend! Well, at least down in Little Italy, where Beaver Boxing will be holding their club show.

If you’re in for something that involves fewer punches, head to Irene’s for Shannon Rose and the Thorns – not only will they be playing, they’ll be recording footage for their latest music video. Pull out that mega-watt smile and party your way to stardom! Raw Sugar has a few great events happening, too, with Erik Lind and the Orchard on Friday night, and James Farr and Gabriel Minnikin on Saturday night, followed by a bit of R ‘n’ B. Out at the Blacksheep, you’ll find Fevers and The Goodluck Assembly, which is pretty much guaranteed to be an awesome night of indie rock and electro music. Down at Pressed, Ashleys and Speedy Oritz will bring a little indie rock to the stage.

Punk rock lovers should head out tonight to hear “Crusty” Craig Lewis talk about punk rock, mental illness and recovery.

Down at Babylon on Saturday, the Queer Mafia officially launches with their Oh My Jam event - and they’re bringing in a few special guests including J-ill, Sammy Royale and D-Luxx Brown to keep the party going into the wee hours of the morning.

For those of you wanting a little vintage, there’s the Victoire dress sale starting tomorrow, and a 1920s style Jazz Cabaret happening down at St Brigid’s on Friday.

Theatre lovers, head out to support the Fringe Festival Friday night with Stiff Quickies – a night of short films and tall drinks, happening down at Arts Court.

It’s party games time with The Meeple’s Republic on Saturday night – this time, the event is taking place at the snazzy Shopify offices down in the Market.

Burlesque lovers have a chance to learn their own skills at a workshop this weekend, and can follow it up by seeing a few experts in action on Sunday down at Yuk Yuks. Or catch a Jim Henson themed burlesque show down at Zaphod’s Saturday night!

And finally, if you’re looking to catch a film this weekend, head to the Mayfair for The Final Inch, a documentary about the massive mission to eradicate polio from the world. It’s free, and educational!

Our calendar is bursting with other events happening this weekend – what else are you getting up to? Let us know below!

Apartment613: The vintage sale is now a staple for retro-clothing lovers. How did you guys get the idea to do it in the first place, five years ago?

Régine Paquette: The way it all started is actually kinda funny and a magical series of events… One day in 2008 we received a flyer in the mail addressed to us about an auction in Cornwall of Miss Canada 1954′s estate. Katie & I had never actually been to an auction before, so I have no idea how we even got on that mailing list, but our curiosity was piqued, so we decided to make the trek out to Cornwall just for the heck of it.

Once we got to the auction, we were sucked in… we got the fever, auction fever! Now we’re hooked! There were all of these amazing pieces from her wardrobe up for auction, including some beautiful pageant swimsuits and amazing Canadian-designed dresses made for her during her “reign” as Miss Canada, so we couldn’t help but bid on some items. Before we knew it, we had been there over 10 hours, and had a car full of dresses and swimsuits….we didn’t even have a plan for what we would do with them, we just knew they were too good to pass up. So we had our first sale around this collection, and it was a huge success. That and the thrill we got from discovering all these past gems motivated us to keep looking for more beautiful vintage dresses for our customers, and now it’s a semi-annual tradition! And it all started with a mysterious invitation in the mail…

Photos by Claire Dam Photography.

Where do you find these treasures? 

The main reason we only do this twice a year is because it really is a lot of work to uncover these puppies! We’ve developed contacts in the Ottawa Valley & Montreal, but we also travel quite a lot. We’ve been on scavenging trips to New York State, Detroit, Portland, California. Most of these dresses are 50+ years old, and that is really old for textiles. The pool of dresses is just getting really small. We find ourselves falling in love with a piece to feel that it’s already disintegrated beyond repair. That is always so sad!

Because of the nature of vintage, it’s literally different every time and you never know what you’ll see – but you can be sure you’ll see beautifully constructed pieces with lots of handiwork that is really hard to come by these days! Katie and I are really choosy about what we buy, so I think the quality and styles we bring in keep bringing people back. And it’s also almost like a glimpse into fashion history as well – to see how styles come back, how things were made of such a higher standard. They truly belong in a museum! Plus it’s kind of like playing the lotto – when you find something totally unique that you fall in love with and it’s in your size, well, there’s no better feeling! It feels like destiny (ha ha and that’s the best feeling!

Photos by Claire Dam Photography.

Have you ever come across a piece that you just had to keep for yourself because you loved it too much? Tell us about it!

What are some of the great pieces people can expect this year?

We’ve got a couple of sun suits and bathing suits which are always a special find. And more vintage wedding dresses as well! There is nothing more thrilling than outfitting a bride for her special day with something so special and one of a kind, so we set our sights on finding even more wedding dresses since those were so popular last year.

Victoire’s To The Nines vintage dress sale takes place this Friday from 4-8pm and Saturday from 10am-7pm  at 246 Dalhousie St. 

Spring is coming – we promise. While the weather might seem otherwise, this leafy green event out at Kichesippi Brewery will prove to you that fresh produce isn’t too far away. At the very least, the food and music and beer will distract you from a snowy reality.

Tonight at Babylon, it’s Raw Hip Hop with Blakdenim, hosted by VCX, Precice Kenny Creole and Diamond. Some of you, though, might just want to camp out in Wakefield this weekend – with Jenn Grant tonight, Harlan Pepper tomorrow, and New Country Rehab on Saturday, you’d be guaranteed a foot-tappin’ good time.

Punk rockers will likely be heading out to Scotiabank Place on Friday for big names like Billy Talent and Sum 41. If that’s just too far, you can get a bit of pop-punk with Remember the Fire and Set it Off at Cafe Dekcuf that same night. Also that evening? Jokers of the Scene stop by Mercury Lounge along with a few DJs to get you dancing.

Need more dancing? Kitchen Party!

Saturday is a busy, busy night: The Yips and some friends will be at Club SAW, SUUNS will be playing at Ritual, and local folk artist Andrea Simms-Karp will open for Belle Starr at Raw Sugar.

Ottawa is the latest stop on the Burlesque Vanguard Tour, bringing American and Canadian teasers our way for a show. Some of our own local burlesque darlings will take to the stage with Paco Fish and a few other internationally-renowned artists.

In the world of art, we’ve got a few options. Orange Gallery is hosting the Big 100, a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa. Fibre artists will be everywhere at the Fibre Fling all day Friday and Saturday. There will be a juried exhibition of local pottery all weekend long, where you’ll also be able to purchase a few finely-crafted goods.

If you’re hankering for days of yore, this gala should meet your needs with Ottawa’s own Boardwalk Empire taking over the conference centre.

And lastly? Kick off next week by doing something nice – not your usual nice, but a little out-of-the-ordinary nice. C’mon, everyone is doing it!

What else is on your agenda of fun this weekend? Let us know below!

Yes, there are egg hunts happening this weekend!. And if you’re feeling a bit of spring fever, head to the Black Sheep for a remedy or two.

There’s a ton of music adventures to be had over the next few days. Danny Michel plays again tonight at the NAC Studio, after a great show yesterday. Also tonight, it’s the Winners Circle Edition of the weekly Battle of the Bands at the Lunenburg Pub – the best of the best face off against each other. Tomorrow night, you’re going to have to make a tough choice or two (unless you’ve already got your Sigur Rós tickets): Spirit Tracks is happening with A Tribe Called Red down at St. Brigid’s, while StillNative and their blues heroes JW-Jones will be at the Rainbow Bistro. It’s also Double Barrel at Mugshots, with special guest DJ Eric Roberts.

On Saturday, indie rockers Rococode and The Strain will be at Raw Sugar, and Celery Troff release a new blues-infused rock EP at Avant Garde Bar. The 5th annual Fuzzy Bunny Slaughterhouse show will happen at the Rainbow on Sunday, the same night that the Bereket Afrobeat Band will be at the Mercury Lounge. DJ Sweetcheeks will host a dance party at the HPH that night too. If you want a bit of an earlier dance-a-thon, head to Overkill Bar for their post-brunch Pile Driver Sunday party.

Spoken Word artist Shane Koyczan, of the Vancouver Olympic opening ceremony fame, is out at Algonquin College today around noon – head out there now!

Milk Shop is having their annual Spring Clothing Swap this weekend – it’s the perfect excuse to check out their new digs! Men, if you’re looking for some new fashion, head to the Congress Centre on Saturday.

What else is going on this weekend, Ottawa? Let us know below!

Fashion: Show or shopping? You get both. Twiss and Weber are hosting a pop in shop, and The Weight is Over show will feature casual, work, swim wear and more!

Food: Westboro’s got an Easter Food Market down on Churchill this Saturday, with hot cross buns, chocolate bunnies, sausages and more. Pull together a terrific feast!

Loud music: Pretty Little Death Machine is down at Avant Garde Bar Friday, while Hunter Valentine and The Ecstatic stop by Mavericks to shake things up.

Local music: Space-pop local band The Yips are releasing an EP on Friday night, alongside Teenager and Average Times. If you come to The Yips show having been at the Roberta Bondar show prior, you get half price entry! Also that night? Bob Loblaw rocks out at Cafe Dekcuf, while out at the Black Sheep, The Peptides celebrate their latest album.

Quiet music: Find a bit of sanctuary on your Friday lunch hour with this classical concert.

Soul music: Catch the nine-piece, three horn deep Soul Motivators at the Mercury Lounge, where they’ll be celebrating their EP release on Friday. Lance Baptiste will also stop by to get your groove on!

Indie music: Tall Trees is at Raw Sugar on Sunday, opening for progressive rockers Bend Sinister from Vancouver.

Music in someone’s living room: Saturday night house concert with The Roofhoppers, a Toronto-based acoustic chamber trio.

Karaoke: Of the hip-hop sort, specifically – Babylon’s hosting this tonight.

Photography and music: The School of Photographic Arts Ottawa is hosting a night of images and music, to raise money for the Youville Centre. They’ll also have a raffle, so you can win great prizes!

Burlesque: Capital Tease takes over the stage at Barrymore’s on Saturday night for the second edition of Back to the Grind.

Comedy: The Black Irish Pub hosts stand up comedians on Friday, while the Hintonburg Public House lets you tell your funnies with their open mic on Sunday.

Films, of the Latin American sort: The 17th annual film festival continues this weekend, with several award winning, thoughtful films you’ll not want to miss.

The Tango: Yes, it takes two. All levels welcome at this tango fiesta, for the lessons and the party.

Personal finance: Get prepared for when you don’t have to slog away at a day job.

Storytime: Mark reads from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, discusses the Mark Does Stuff empire, and reads terrible romance novels and fan fiction live at Raw Sugar Cafe on Saturday.

For those of you with very specific passions, particularly bands named after provincial capitals: Whitehorse is at the NAC this weekend, the joint project of Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet.

And lastly: missed St Patty’s day fun? Make up for it with some authentic Irish music!