After solidifying their comeback to live performance last year, the Ottawa Improv Festival is ramping up the energy, presenting some of the best improv in the city from May 29-31 at Arts Court.
Pique is back for another round of bold, underground performances! On June 7, head to Arts Court (67 Nicholas St.) to experience Debaser’s boldest annual installment of the music and multi-arts festival series.
The 2025 Fringe Festival marks 28 years since it began in Ottawa, and remains the biggest theatre festival in the city. From June 12-22, there will be 58 shows this year that will run across nine different venues in downtown Ottawa, which will culminate into around over 350 unique single performances throughout the festival’s duration.
CityFolk has announced its 2025 festival lineup, with a hige mix of headliners—something to please the folk lovers and more.
Do you have children? Do you ever wish there were more child-friendly festivals? The Ottawa Children’s Festival de la Jeunesse is here to fix that, and has been for 40 years.
On April 25-27, 2025, I took in Ottawa’s first ever Aerial Circus Festival at the LabO Theatre located on the ground floor of the Ottawa Art Gallery (10 Daly Ave.). You had me at Aerial Circus. What a spring treat!
The Irish Film Festival of Ottawa is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a three-day extravaganza of music, film, dance, and more. Running from April 25-27 at the Ottawa Art Gallery, promises to be a celebration of Irish culture for Ottawa’s Irish diaspora and beyond. Apt613 chatted with Patrick Murray, festival co-founder, about the festival and what audiences can expect this year.
What connects us beyond home and work? Where do we gather, share stories, and build community? This year’s Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau invites you to explore the power of third places — the parks, libraries, cafés, and community spaces that foster a sense of belonging and encourage spontaneous interactions.
Ottawa’s Youth Infringement Festival (YIF) gives youth ages 16 to 25 a platform to write, direct, act, stage manage, and design under the guidance of professional mentors. The festival is run entirely by young people, from the ushers to the actors to the board of directors. The festival took place over two weeks, from March 27 to April 3, and featured six original plays.
IFFO’s closing night featured one of the most eclectic, challenging and moving works of the whole festival.
Taking a brief interlude from screening brand-new international films, IFFO turned its attention to an important piece of Canadian cinema history near the end of the festival’s run – a 4K restoration of the early queer film by David Secter, Winter Kept us Warm (1965).
The Ottawa Art Gallery screened Rêver en néon and Café des cauchemars on March 21, 2025 as part of the International Film Festival of Ottawa, which ended on March 23.
The snow is melting, which can only mean one thing: summer festival season is right around the corner! Bluesfest and Jazzfest have announced their full season lineups, so here’s a little about what you can expect from the latter.
Something must be in the water in Naples—the single Italian city has a long history of young filmmakers coming out of the gate with fully formed artistic sensibilities and remarkably refined work. This phenomenon can be traced from old masters like Vittorio De Sica to contemporary artists like Paolo Sorrentino and Mario Martone.
Borrowing the central conceit from the Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, Lebanese filmmaker Mira Shaib creates an eclectic and endearing tribute to her home city of Beirut in her feature debut, Arzé.
