2018 Santa Claus Parades & Holiday Activities in Ottawa

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It may seem early, but it's time to start getting into the holiday spirit! Many Ottawa communities have already set a date for their Santa Claus parades and we want to make sure you don't miss out on this popular festive event! Please note: We are updating this post as more information and details become available. If you have a holiday event you would like to add - leave a comment and let us know!

2018 Ottawa Santa Claus Parades

Help Santa Toy Parade
http://toyparade.ca/
Saturday, November 17th at 11 a.m.

This is popular Ottawa Santa Claus parade takes place downtown and is favoured by many in the National Capital Region. Firefighters collect new toys and cash donations along the route. Can’t bring your toy donation? They will also accept new toys at any Ottawa Fire Station until mid-December. Depending on your spot along the route it can get busy, so keep this in mind if your family doesn’t like crowds.

Santa’s Parade of Lights
paradeoflights.org
Saturday, November 24th

Also hosted by the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association, this parade takes place on St-Joseph, Blvd. in Orleans. Toys and cash donations will be collected by firefighters along the route.

Stittsville Parade of Lights
stittsvilleva.com
Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 6 pm

This parade is a favourite community event. The Lions Club will be collecting non perishable food and cash for the Stittsville Food Bank, and The Stocking Project will be collecting new stocking stuffers and gifts for local families who may be struggling.

Kanata Santa Claus Parade
https://www.facebook.com/events/683364755381229/
November 17, 2018 at 10 am

The Kanata parade (a.k.a the Hazeldean Mall Santa Claus Parade) is presented by the Kanata-Hazeldean Lions Club in cooperation with the Kanata Sports Club. The parade starts at Terry Fox and Castlefrank, moves along Castlefrank to Abbeyhill and then on to the Hazeldean Mall. Nonperishable food donations to the Kanata Food Cupboard are appreciated.

Barrhaven Lions Santa Parade
santaclausbarrhaven.com
Sunday, November 18th at 5:30 p.m.

The annual Barrhaven Lions Club Santa Claus Parade runs down Strandherd Drive, west. Tim Hortons will be providing hot chocolate at various spots along the parade route.

Arnprior Santa Claus Parade
https://www.facebook.com/events/917184025147270/
November 24, 2018 at 6 pm

Richmond Village Santa Claus Parade
http://richmondvillage.ca/event/santa-parade/
Saturday, December 8th starting at 5:30 pm

The Richmond Santa Claus Parade is a much anticipated event and we hope to see you there!  Start thinking about how you will use this great opportunity to showcase your business or organization. 

Carp Santa Claus Parade
December 8, 2018 12 pm to 2 pm
Parade route starts at The Diefenbunker, 3911 Carp Road, and follows Carp Road.

Carleton Place Santa Claus Parade
http://downtowncarletonplace.com/christmas-parade/
Saturday, November 24, 2018 at 5 p.m.

Other Holiday Activities in Ottawa

Besides parades, there are many Christmas and holiday activities in Ottawa, including:

Holidays at The Parks 2018
http://wesleycloverparks.com/events/holidays-at-the-parks-2018/
Sunday, December 9, 2018 from 12:00PM – 4:00PM

A great family friendly event, Holidays at The Parks will feature activities for everyone including a vendor’s row, kids craft station, horse-drawn wagon rides, opportunity to meet Zack the donkey, and more! All activities will take place in the Wesley Clover Parks’ heated indoor arena. Meet and take a picture with Santa! Admission by donation.

Alight the Night
http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/events/alight-at-night/
November 30th to January 5th
Upper Canada Village

Step back in time while walking around the beautifully lit heritage buildings, trees and fences of Upper Canada Village. There are festive activities and a chance to meet Santa Claus all throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas.

Almonte’s Light Up the Night!
lightupthenightalmonte.com or
http://lanarkcountytourism.com/events/light-up-the-night-almonte/
Friday, December 7th at 7 p.m.

Bundle up, this is an open-air concert and fireworks display on Main Street in Almonte. Now in its 28th year this night is full of music and memorable outdoor festivities.

Manotick - Olde Fashioned Christmas
http://manotickvillage.com/event/olde-fashioned-christmas/
Saturday, December 1st and Sunday, December 2nd

Horse drawn wagon rides with Father and Mary Christmas to sunset carolling, this wonderful weekend is full of traditional events not to be missed. 

Cumberland Heritage Village Museum Vintage Village of Lights
ottawa.ca/en/liveculture/museums/cumberlandmuseum

30,000 Christmas lights, decorations everywhere, a gigantic reindeer and sleigh and – of course – a visit with Santa Claus in his workshop! Kids will have fun sledding, playing broomball or street hockey, making a snow globe, decorating gingerbread, and sending your Christmas wish list to Santa via telegram. Regular admission applies. 

A Nepean Christmas
https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/arts-heritage-and-culture/museums-and-historic-sites/nepean-museum#upcoming-events-and-programs

Bring the whole family and get into the Christmas spirit by coming to the museum for a Nepean Christmas Celebration!  There will be Christmas crafts, treats, and of course Santa! There is a fee.

Barrhaven: Winter Wonderland
Saturday, December 8th from 10 am to 12 pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1219112084895128

Presented by the Minto Recreation Complex, this festive event will include pictures with Santa, crafts, games and cookie decorating. Admission is free!

Goulbourn Museum Olde Fashioned Christmas
Sunday, November 18th from 10 am to 3 pm
http://goulbournmuseum.ca/event/old-fashioned-christmas-outdoor-artisan-market-4/

Get a head start on your shopping at this holiday celebration and Christmas market that features activities for the whole family. Write letters to Santa and pose for a photo with the jolly old soul, enjoy free hot chocolate and apple cider and buy one-of-a-kind handmade gifts from local artisans. Free admission.

The CP Holiday Train
http://www.cpr.ca/holiday-train/schedule-canada

You may not see Santa here, but this is a great holiday event all the same. The CP Holiday Train started in 1999 and raises money and food for the Food Bank. Over the three weeks of the program, musicians will play more than 150 concerts from a boxcar that’s been turned into a travelling stage.

The dark side to Halloween - and what to do about it

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From the beginning of September to the end of October, social media would have us believe that we’re ALL excited for Halloween. And while it’s true that most of us anticipate this fun and spooky holiday, many people are much less enthused.

What are some of the common worries and complaints about Halloween, and what can we do about them?

1) Trick or Treating is risky

The “dark side” of trick or treating is the stuff of nightmares - poisoned candy, or treats embedded with razor blades. Thankfully, these stories are mostly urban legends, and no child has ever been poisoned by randomly distributed candy or seriously injured by a pin or razor.

The riskiest part of Trick or Treating is that your child will be given a can of pop and those things are HEAVY to carry…and you know it's always the parent who has to carry the heavy stuff.

(Traffic is also a worry, so stay safe by teaching your kids the rules of the road and wearing reflectors or glow lights!)

2) Too much candy

They eat too much of it, we eat too much of it....nobody really NEEDS two pillow cases of bite-sized pieces of chocolate candy, which make it easy to eat the equivalent of five chocolate bars in one sitting, while naively believing you're just eating small amounts. Some tricks for this include:

  • The Switch Witch

  • Having 1-2 days where everyone can eat as much as they want and then giving away the rest or throwing it out.

  • Getting paid by the pound to trade the candy in at your dentist’s office

3) Environmental waste

Halloween is definitely a burden on our world. The cheap decorations and costumes, the packaged candy, and the millions of pumpkins that get dumped in the landfill each year make it hard to enjoy these holiday traditions. Consider these tips:

  • Get your Halloween costume second-hand from online groups or second-hand clothing stores

  • Use natural decorations outside, such as hay bales and dried grasses or berries

  • Consider alternatives to Halloween candy, such as the City of Ottawa trick or swim or skate passes

  • Donate your pumpkin to a local pig…many animals LOVE pumpkins, and local farms will accept carved pumpkins after Halloween. Call your favourite farm to inquire!

4) Some kids just can't handle it

The stress of going door to door, of talking to strangers, of getting dressed up - while fun for some kids, Halloween can be an anxiety trigger for others. Offer to go out and do something else fun instead:

  • go to the movies

  • go for a bowling night as a family

  • grab a big bag of popcorn and some candy and have a fun night in watching a movie. Leave a bowl of candy out front for the trick or treaters to help themselves to, or have one parent doling out candy on the porch

Is Halloween a nightmare for you or your child? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Family Travel: Visiting Kingston, Ontario

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KITC would like to welcome back, guest blogger, Stephen Johnson. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival.  During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet.  


Thanksgiving weekend has always been a chance for our family to obviously give thanks.  It has also been an opportunity to take a road trip. This year, we decided to visit Kingston, Ontario.   

We started our trip in Kingston picking up a kpass.  It is a great option if you are looking to visit a lot of destinations in Kingston including Fort Henry and the Kingston Pen tour.  Some tours and experiences need to be booked ahead of time so check the website.

For our first experience,  we decided to try out Improbable Escapes.  We had never tried out an escape room so the staff patiently explained what to expect.  We chose a room that had an elementary school theme which was appropriate for our son, David, who is ten years old.  

We were locked up in the room and had a series of challenges to solve, both physical and mental in order to escape.  I quickly found that problem-solving may not be my strong suit. My wife, Sandy and David solved most of the puzzles. I was very proud when I discovered a key hanging on a hook near the top of the room (that was more luck than skill!).  As part of the game, we were given two chances to call our guide for assistance. Each time, she provided useful advice without giving the game away.

We had one hour to escape from the room. At the fifty minute mark, our chances were not looking good. Finally, David figured out the way to crawl from one room to what we thought was freedom. We had only solved half of the puzzle and found a second chamber! Our guide was nice and gave us an extra fifteen minutes. We solved a couple more puzzles but did not ultimately escape. Fear not, our guide did let us out of the room.

We really enjoyed it for our first time and are looking forward to trying escape rooms in Ottawa.  It is a great way for a family to work together and also encourage non-linear thinking. I also now know how to open a multitude of locks.

All of this thinking had worked up an appetite so we headed to our favourite restaurant in Kingston, Ali Baba Kabab. Three hearty plates of the shawarma mix and mint tea rejuvenated our energy.  

It is getting near Halloween so we decided to check out the Kingston Ghost and Mystery Trolley Tour.  Our first stop was appropriately a graveyard where we visited the gravesite of the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald. Our guide told us about the history of the gravesite and a few potential spirits that may be haunting the graveyard.

The tour certainly does not advertise itself as a family attraction and parents with young kids might choose the regular day tour. On our tour, there were children younger than David. The guide was good at keeping the content age appropriate. She also had a good sense of humour making the atmosphere fun.  

We also visited Queen’s University and downtown Kingston. I did not realize the city was such a historic and potentially haunted place.

We ended our day by checking into the Ambassador Hotel and Conference Centre.  The Ambassador has been our go-to place since we started visiting Kingston after David was born. David took his first ride down a waterslide alone at the Ambassador when he was five even though mom and dad were white-knuckling it the whole time.   

To relive old times and relax after our busy day, we hit the pool and hot tub. David wanted to give the waterslide a go. We were much more relaxed seeing ten year old David go down than five year old David.

The next morning, we felt refreshed from a good sleep. We were also fortunate to have a room with a kitchenette and fridge. We had stocked up on eggs the night before and prepared a delicious breakfast.   

The plan for the day was to go on a boat cruise aboard the Island Queen. We started our cruise leaving the Kingston harbour going past Fort Henry and Wolfe Island. The scenery made me appreciate what a picturesque city Kingston truly is.

Once out on the water,  the staff served up a delectable Thanksgiving lunch buffet including turkey and pumpkin pie. We were also kept entertained by a keyboardist who could play and sing almost any tune you threw at him.  He said he knew over 10,000 songs and I could believe him.

The highlight of the trip occurred once we hit the Thousand Islands near Gananoque. It was amazing to consider that there could be homes on some islands that seemed little more than rocky outcrops in the Saint Lawrence. The taped audio guide also gave us a lot of useful information about the Islands. We spent about forty minutes cruising around and then headed back.   

Our man of 10,000 songs kept us entertained with everything from Elton John to the Beatles. Soon enough, we were back in port.

To wrap up our time in Kingston, we checked out some virtual reality at the VR Hut. David and I both chose Google Earth VR as we both love to travel. A person truly felt like they were walking in Hong Kong or New York City.   

I also thought it was a perfect way to wrap up our trip.  Exploring a cutting edge technology that was physically located in a limestone heritage building. To me, that totally sums up Kingston.

The best place to start any planning for a trip to Kingston is by visiting, www.visitkingston.ca. As mentioned,  we always have a great stay at the Ambassador Hotel and Conference Centre www.ambassadorhotel.com.


Disclosure: Stephen and his family were provided with the Kpass by Tourism Kingston but as always, all views are his own. 

Reducing waste (and still enjoying fast food)

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If you think this is another post condemning your actions and trying to guilt you, think again!

We are ALL part of this modern world, with uber convenience at every corner. I’m the first to admit I buy into this convenience at times - getting a coffee from Second Cup at work, or picking up the pre-roasted chicken on my way home from work.

But having been an eco-activist since early childhood, I also make great effort to be conscious of how every single one of my actions can affect Mother Earth. And with recent news that we are coming closer to annihilation, I’m feeling a greater need to speak out and encourage those of us who maybe JUST DON’T KNOW how to make a difference (and I realize that true change is going to need to come from giant companies who are responsible for this mess….but we can still take action, and apply as much pressure as we can!)

In CBC’s recent post, it was found that about half of the plastic trash found on Canadian shorelines could be traced back five companies: Nestlé, Tim Hortons, PepsiCo, the Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's.

Now, I get y’all love your double double and Big Macs. I’m not here to tell you to stop drinking/eating at these establishments (although if you WANTED to boycott, that would also be truly awesome) However, if you’re eating at fast food joints, here are a few tips for making a real difference in the waste you generate.

Waste Reduction Tips

  • Refuse the bag: honestly, you don’t need your food wrapped up, and then placed in a bag. Just ask them to hand over the sandwich and no one gets hurt.

  • Bring your own reusable mug: please…just do this. It’s so simple. Go to store. Buy a mug. Bring it with you every time you go out. Same with a stainless steel water bottle. Make it a daily habit that you are always carrying these vital pieces.

  • Specify you are eating in: some places (Tim Horton’s) will serve your soup or coffee in….gasp….actual dishes!!!

  • LEAVE NO TRACE: remember that camping rule? When you’re out in the wild, you are supposed to leave no trace that you ever visited, which means you pack your garbage to go. You can do the same at fast food restaurants!! I always pack up our garbage and sort it when I get home. Cardboard can be recycled and paper food packaging and food waste can be composted (yes, you heard right….if it’s dirty paper or cardboard, it goes in the green bin!) Some coffee cups can even go in the green bin if they’re not coated in plastic.

Leaving without a trace is not as messy as you think. Most food can be sealed up in containers, which you can tuck into your bag or purse. If something is truly gross (like ketchup) I will use the garbage at the restaurant….but I make this a last resort.

So go forth and eat your greasy food. But please, for the love of our Earth…do it with a conscience!! Remember - your kids are watching you and learning from your actions.

Trick or Treat to a Wicked Beat!

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Looking for something fun and different to do this Halloween season? On October 27th and 28th at 2:30pm the National Arts Centre will be hosting a fun bilingual family event called Trick or Treat to a Wicked Beat! A great way for the entire family to sing and dance in the Halloween season!

Dress up and join Samara the Witch, dancers and the NAC Orchestra as they perform spooky classics like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Danse Macabre, The Witch’s Dance and many more. 

Trick or Treat to a Wicked Beat is part of the Family Adventures with the NAC Orchestra series. Geared to kids aged 5+ this fun and interactive series introduces children to the wonders of orchestral music. Each bilingual performance lasts one hour and features the NAC Orchestra and special guests! Be sure to arrive 45 minutes early to participate in hands on pre-concert activities!

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the NAC official website. And be sure to learn more about the Family Adventures series and upcoming performances.