As we enter the holiday season, with children on break from school and many adults taking time off from work, families will be enjoying spending extra time together and looking for things to do around Ottawa.
As a realtor with more than 30 years of experience, I love to share with clients who are new to our region the things that make Ottawa such a great city for families, including family-oriented activities offered by performing arts organizations and museums and a wide range of outdoor options, including beaches and bicycle paths in the summer and skiing and skating in the winter.
Browse through a listings site, such as www.ottawacitizen.com/events, and you’ll find dozens of options. To give you a few ideas, here are six promising events:
Christmas with Music and Beyond (Dec. 21 and 22)
Ottawa’s Music and Beyond Festival, the summer festival that occasionally presents performances at other times of the year, presents a Christmas concert at Dominion-Chalmers Church Dec. 21 and 22 that will include traditional carols and a performance of Reinecke’s Toy Symphony that will involve actual toy instruments. Performers include the Chamber Players of Canada, soprano Helene Brunet, organist Matthew Larkin, harpist Caroline Leonardelli and the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir.
The concert will include music by Corelli, Handel, Bach and others, along with carols. Performances are Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. at Dominion-Chalmers, at the corner of O’Connor and Cooper Streets downtown. Single tickets are $30 general, $20 students, $10 for age 15 and under. Family prices are $65 for a family of four or $70 for a family of five. Information: www.musicandbeyond.ca
Children’s activities at the National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada, on Sussex Drive, is one of Ottawa’s most spectacular buildings. It looks particularly beautiful at this time of year, with a Christmas tree in the Great Hall, the entrance area with soaring floor-to-ceiling glass walls.
In addition to its exhibitions (current shows include a Monet exhibition and a show of drawings from Victorian England), the Gallery regularly presents activities to help children appreciate art and make art of their own.
From Dec. 22 to Jan. 3, the Gallery will offer hands-on “Artissimo” activities for young people every day in the Great Hall, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (apart from Christmas day and Jan. 1, when the Gallery is closed). With help from adult instructors, children will create their own winter scenes, ornaments, nighttime cityscapes and more. Information: 613-990-1985 or www.gallery.ca/holidays
A One-Man Performance of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (Dec. 18, 19 and 21, National Arts Centre Fourth Stage)
Actor John D. Huston, who with his period costume and beard bears a striking resemblance to Charles Dickens, has toured for many years with his acclaimed solo performance of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and has regularly received standing ovations. Huston returns to Ottawa for performances Dec. 18, 19 and 21 in the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage, the intimate venue where patrons sit at candlelit tables and can enjoy a drink during the performance. Huston uses Dickens’ text to bring the characters to life, using a range of accents, voices and body language. Between scenes, Ottawa Trio Finest Kind performs Christmas music from Dickens’ era, adding a lovely period flavour to the performance. 7:30 p.m. This event regularly sells out, so if you are interested, get your tickets soon. Tickets from $25 at NAC box office or TicketMaster at 1-888-991-2787. Information: http://nac-cna.ca/en/event/12805
Anne & Gilbert: The Musical. National Arts Centre Theatre through Dec. 23
If you’re a fan of the classic Canadian novel Anne of Green Gable and its sequels, you’ll be interested in Anne & Gilbert: The Musical. Presented through Dec. 23, this 2005 musical is adapted from the novels Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island. It tells the story of the adult Anne, as she begins her first teaching job and receives a proposal of marriage.Tickets start at $15 at NAC box office or by calling TicketMaster at 1-888-991-2787. Information: http://nac-cna.ca/en/event/11624
Outdoor Skating at Ottawa City Hall
Known officially as The Sens’ Rink of Dreams, the rink at Ottawa City Hall (at the corner of Laurier Avenue and Elgin Street), is one of the largest outdoor rinks in the city.
Like the rink at Lansdowne Park, this rink is temperature controlled. You can skate here even when the air temperature is too warm to keep the ice surface frozen on its own.
Barring severe weather, the rink is open to skaters daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a heated changing facililty open starting at 8 a.m. There are no skate rentals here, so bring your own skates. There are washrooms inside City Hall. If you time your visit for before sunset, you can skate and then enjoy the spectacular holiday light displays through the downtown area, including Confederation Park across the street.
There are a few changes to rink hours over the holidays. The rink will close at 6 p.m. on Dec. 24. It will open at 1 p.m. on Dec. 25. On Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, it will open at noon. Ottawa-area residents can get more information by calling the city at 311.
Go Under the Ocean at the Canadian Museum of History IMAX Dome
If you or your children have never seen a film on the enormous IMAX screen at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, prepare to be wowed. One of the films currently playing is Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean, a 40-minute film by the son of diver Jacques Cousteau. The museum says “astounding images reveal the tiniest marine organisms that are the foundation of oceanic life and upon which we all depend. The cast includes over thirty species, many of them filmed for the very first time in locations from the Bahamas and Bimini to Fiji.”
Tickets are available to the film on its own, or you can buy tickets that include admission to the museum, which includes children’s displays and a current exhibition on Vikings organized by the Swedish History Museum. The Museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Thursdays, when it closes at 8 p.m. On Dec. 24, the museum closes at 2 p.m. and the museum is closed Dec. 25. From Jan. 4 to 8, the museum will be closed for annual maintenance. Monday to Wednesday: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday to Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Information: 1-800-555-5621 or www.historymuseum.ca/event/jean-michel-cousteaus-secret-ocean/
If you’re interested in buying or selling in the Ottawa area, I’d be happy to chat with you and give you some background on the current housing market. You can reach me through my website, at www.nancybenson.com, or by calling me at 613-747-4747.
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