· 4 min read
An artsy Halloween weekend in Ottawa
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so the whole weekend gets to be Halloween. Haunted farms are great if you like being chased through a corn maze. I was looking for something quieter, with altars and candles and things people made by hand, and Ottawa has plenty of that this weekend.
Day of the Dead at the National Arts Centre
Friday, Oct 30 · 6 to 8 pm · Peter A. Herrndorf Place, 1 Elgin St · Free
This is the one I'm most excited about. The Embassy of Mexico is building a large traditional Día de los Muertos altar at the NAC, the first time it's been done there. You can take a guided tour of the altar, browse a small market of Mexican crafts, and join a workshop with artist Ricardo Rodríguez. No tickets needed, and kids are welcome.
Event details: Day of the Dead at the National Arts Centre (opens in a new tab)
Day of the Dead Festival in the ByWard Market
Friday, Oct 30 to Sunday, Nov 1 · ByWard Market Square · Free
If you can't make Friday at the NAC, or you just want more, the Market has its own Day of the Dead festival all weekend. Local artists are making ofrendas, the memorial altars covered in marigolds, photos and candles, for well-known Mexican and Canadian people. There's also an artisan market with Mexican and local makers, folk dancing, live music, and pan de muerto. The bread alone would get me there.
Festival details: Day of the Dead Festival in the ByWard Market (opens in a new tab)
Nosferatu with a live choir and organ
Friday, Oct 30 and Saturday, Oct 31 · 7:30 pm · St. Matthew's Anglican Church, 130 Glebe Ave · $20 to $30
St. Matthew's in the Glebe is showing Nosferatu, the 1922 silent vampire film, with live music. The chamber choir Seventeen Voyces sings Brahms, Poulenc and Penderecki, organist Matthew Larkin improvises along with the film, and violinist Ralitsa Tcholakova plays Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances. A hundred-year-old vampire movie with live music, in a church, on Halloween night is hard to pass up.
Event details: Nosferatu with a live choir and organ (opens in a new tab)
Nature Nocturne at the Canadian Museum of Nature
Friday, Oct 30 · 240 McLeod St
This one is for a night out without the kids. There are DJs on four floors of the museum and artists working in the galleries, and you get to dance inside the castle on McLeod Street.
Tickets and times: Nature Nocturne at the Canadian Museum of Nature (opens in a new tab)
Pumpkinferno at Upper Canada Village
Until Saturday, Oct 31 · Morrisburg, about an hour from Ottawa
It's a drive, but if you've never been, Saturday is the last night this year. Thousands of carved pumpkins are lit up and set out in big scenes along the village paths, and some of the carving is detailed enough to pass for sculpture.
Event details: Pumpkinferno at Upper Canada Village (opens in a new tab)
For the little ones
Saturday, Oct 31
Two easy ones for Saturday. The Richmond branch of the library has a free drop-in Halloween craft (opens in a new tab) at 10:30 am. And Watson's Mill in Manotick has a Children's Halloween Spooktacular (opens in a new tab) with crafts, games, a photo booth and a gentle version of the mill's haunted maze (no one jumps out at you). It's meant for ages 3 to 8.
After Halloween
Once the pumpkins are gone, craft fair season starts. The Manotick Artisan Fair (opens in a new tab) is next weekend, November 7 and 8. Later in the month there's the Glebe Craft & Artisan Fair (opens in a new tab) and the Hintonburg Artisan Craft Fair (opens in a new tab) on November 28. If you're starting on holiday gifts, those are good places to find something made by hand.
I got the times and prices from event listings, so check the links before you head out. Ottawa Tourism also has a longer Halloween weekend guide (opens in a new tab) if you want haunted farms after all.
Happy Halloween!
