Father’s Day in Ottawa 2019

On Sunday, June 16th celebrate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and all the father figures in your life with quality dad time. To help you plan ahead here is a list of things to do and see in Ottawa on Father's Day.

Billings Estate National Historic Site - Vintage Car Show

Cast your vote for the fan favourite antique car at the Vintage Car Show! The Billings’ 1959  Cadillac Sedan de Ville will also be available to view. In addition to  the vintage cars, visitors can enjoy a tour of the museum, and check out the icehouse. Families with younger children can also participate in an interactive scavenger hunt. Cash BBQ will be available. Live music by the Grumpy Old Men band (11 am to 2  pm). Cost is $17.50 per family (2 adults + children) or $6.75 per person.

Cumberland Heritage Museum: Father’s Day Heritage Workshops

Father’s Day heritage Workshop themes include woodworking, letterpress printing, gardening, and acrylic painting. Bring the whole family to the museum and enjoy fun and games on the grounds while Dad learns the ins and outs of his new trade. Workshop fee includes required supplies as well as a beverage (non-alcoholic) and light snack for the participant. Regular admission fees apply for visitors who are not participating in a workshop (museum will be open during normal operating hours for regular visitors: 10 am to 5 pm).

Pinhey’s Point: Father's Day Challenge - Interactive experience with Live History

Travel back in time to the era of the March Township Gentry and interact with costumed actors to complete a series of challenges before time runs out and you alter the course of history. Will your group be able to complete the challenge in time and save the day? The event takes approximately 60 minutes to complete and will run at regular intervals throughout the day. Final admission is at 3 pm. Cost is $6.75 a person.

Father’s Day Builder’s Event at the Nepean Museum

Work together as a family to complete three different building challenges! First build a modern structure, then give constructing an early settler log home a try, and finally explore the themes in our latest exhibition, Water: A Journey to the Source, by engineering a pipe line. Explore tools, building materials, and more! Snacks will be available for cash purchase. From 10 am to 4 pm. Cost: $17.50 per family (2 adults + children) or $6.75 per person. No registration is required.

Nokia Sunday Bike Days 

Take your dad cycling from 9 am to 1 pm along Ottawa’s parkways and experience the beauty of Canada’s Capital Region in a fun and environmentally friendly way.

Ottawa Fringe Festival

On from June 13th to the 23rd is Ottawa's Fringe Festival - a unique festival that brings artists and the audiences together. Find out if this is something your dad might enjoy here: http://ottawafringe.com

2018 FCA Ottawa Ferrari Festival

This annual festival takes place over Father's Day weekend and is a must for any Ferrari fan! Take a look at 1.3 km concourse of rare automobiles, fine dining, and fun for the entire family!

Italian Week Festival

Father's Day lands on one of the last days of Ottawa's Italian Week. Head down to Preston Street and Little Italy for celebrations, great food and more!

What to do in Ottawa for Father’s Day

On Sunday, June 17th celebrate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and all the father figures in your life with quality dad time. To help you plan ahead here is a list of things to do and see in Ottawa on Father's Day.

Billings Estate National Historic Site - Vintage Car Show

Check out the antique cars on display from local exhibitors and don’t miss out on viewing the Billings’ 1959 Cadillac Sedan de Ville! Enjoy a guided tour of the museum and explore our latest exhibition — City in Motion. Kids can take up our scavenger hunt challenge and our compass building activity is sure to be fun for the whole family! Cash BBQ and snacks will be available for purchase. Cost: $6.50 single; $10.75 pair; $17.25 family

Fairfields Heritage House - Father's Day BBQ: From Grain to Grass

Bring the family to the Fairfields heritage House for therr Father’s Day community BBQ! Explore the history of beer and how it is made. Taste wort (unfermented beer), learn about the various kiln levels of barley, and smell different strains of hops. Brian Gunther, a silver and bronze medal winner in Beau’s 2017 brewing competition, will share his knowledge on beer production. Cost: $6.50 single; $10.75 pair; $17.25 family.

Cumberland Heritage Museum: 'Pop' Culture

Explore all things ‘pop’ culture at the museum this Father’s Day! Learn to dance the Charleston and the Foxtrot, print your own newspaper advertisement, and more! Cost: $7.50 adults, $5.50 seniors and students, $19.25 families (2 adults + children), children 5 and under are free. 

Pinhey's Point Historic Site: Settler Survival

Head to Ottawa's far west end this Father's Day and find out if you have what it takes to survive the ‘Ottawa Trail’?. Take up the challenge, gather your provisions, and navigate scenarios that will recreate some of the historical challenges and turns of fortune faced by early settlers like Hamnett Pinhey as they made their new homes in the Ottawa region. Cost: Cost: $6.50 single; $10.75 pair; $17.25 family

Canadian Museum of Nature Father's Day Brunch

For the price of Museum admission plus the cost of brunch for each guest, you can treat the dads in your life to delectable breakfast fare, followed by a tour around the museum’s galleries. Don't forget - the Museum's new special exhibition Brain: The Inside Story will also be open! For more information and to book your spot, click here!

Ottawa Fringe Festival

On from June 14th to the 24th is Ottawa's Fringe Festival - a unique festival that brings artists and the audiences together. Find out if this is something your dad might enjoy here: http://ottawafringe.com

2018 FCA Ottawa Ferrari Festival

This annual festival takes place over Father's Day weekend and is a must for any Ferrari fan! Take a look at 75 Ferraris and keep your eyes out for the HRH Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia of the Italian Royal Family during the festival. 

Italian Week Festival

Father's Day lands on one of the last days of Ottawa's Italian Week. Head down to Preston Street and Little Italy for celebrations, great food and more!

Carivibe

Ottawa’s biggest Caribbean beach festival is back on Petrie Island from June 15th to the 17th. Join thousands of people of all ages enjoying non-stop entertainment and plenty of Caribbean cuisine.

Ottawa Beer Festival

Celebrate Father's Day on Friday, June 15th or Saturday, June 16th at Aberdeen Pavilion, Lansdowne. Share a craft beer with your dad or learn about beer at Beer School. There is also the National Capital Home Brew Competition, fantastic food and music.

Celebrating Father's Day in Ottawa

Growing up, my Mum would always say “ask Dad” whenever we presented her with a challenging question. Dad was the bastion of knowledge and facts. He was also the dispenser of punishments, whilst Mum was the hugger, the advice giver. Perhaps because of their differing styles, they made excellent parents and I often try to emulate their example in my own parenting. I still ask Dad tricky questions from time to time, and I always go to Mum for emotional support and advice.

Although my husband and I try not to promote particular gender stereotypes, we do find that we parent our son in very different ways. My favourite activities to do with him are reading together, snuggling, chatting and going for walks. My husband’s top picks are taking him to the park, playing with cars, playing soccer and giving him a bath-complete with toy boats capsizing and lots of splashing!

And in that way Mothering and Fathering are very different schools of parenting, at least in our house.

Of course it’s quite sexist to suggest that all mothers are nurturing and all fathers are fun, but even if they are not traditionally different, parenting styles between the sexes do differ.
Something that brings me great joy is to spy covertly on my husband when he is playing with our son. I find their father/son interactions are so radically different from the way I play with him, and I am able to see my husband in an adorable role of doting father. Some things that they do together sans Mama, include:

•    Laying on the floor, playing cars, complete with engine noises
•    Gentle teasing- “Oh no-you don’t like going to the park, do you???”
•    Chasing-around and around the living room
•    Tickling and wrestling
•    Making up silly songs (many include the word bum)
•    Wearing empty toy boxes on their heads and calling each other “box heads”
•    Watching classic Transformers episodes

In all these ways and more, I appreciate the balance, enthusiasm and affection my husband brings to our child’s life and activities.

So this Father’s day I am going to let Dad sleep in, while I take our toddler to the basement and try and take a leaf from Daddy’s playbook, get on the floor, make car noises and wrestle until we can’t catch our breath.

And then later we’ll treat Dad, by doing one of these awesome Father’s day activities right here in Ottawa and the surrounding area:

Cumberland Heritage Village Museum

2940 Old Montreal Rd, Cumberland: Take a look at all the tools and trades. Participate in a carpentry activity, and watch blacksmith, woodworking, and sawmill demonstrations.

The Aviation Museum

11 Aviation Pkwy, Ottawa - Get an up close look at all types of planes and helicopters.

Billings Estate National Historic Site

2100 Cabot St, Ottawa - Father’s Day Antique Car Show, cars, BBQ, and live music.

Pinhey's Point Historic Site

270 Pinhey Point Rd, Dunrobin - Learn about traditional crafts such as blacksmithing, woodworking, and more. 

Fiona Tapp is a freelance writer, Educator and Mum to one. Check out her blog and portfolio, and find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Question of the month : Father's Day

Father's Day is this Sunday - do you have any special plans? Special gifts ready? Tell us what you'll be doing - whether it's breakfast in bed, a special craft from the  kids, or going out and letting dad have the house to himself!

And it's not too late to join the Kids in the Capital team to Walk, Run or Roll for Rogers House - we'd love to see you there!

Walk, Run and Roll for Roger's House

by Barbara Did you catch a little running fever over Ottawa Race Weekend? My family sure did and I think that there are a few others out there who decided that they wanted to tackle a race and for them – and you – I have a nice two-kilometre run for families to do together. I'm hoping more than a few Kids in the Capital friends will come out.

On Sunday, June 19th, start Father's Day off with the Scotiabank Walk, Run and Roll for Roger's House, which is taking place at Scotiabank Place in Kanata.  Roger's house is “a comprehensive pediatric respite and palliative care program with elements of outreach, residential hospice, pain and symptom management, grief & bereavement counseling and research.”

Two kilometres might seem like a long distance for a person with short legs but your kids will amaze you! They take off fast and run hard. Then, usually, they have to walk for a bit but that is okay, as long as they keep moving. They'll want to run again soon enough and, in this way, you'll cover 2 kilometres. It's an accomplishment that is all the more special if you share it.

There will be a full morning of activities, from registration at 8 am and Welcoming Remarks at 9:00, through the Spartacat stretch at 9:30 to the main event – the run – at 9:45. Following the run, the Family Fun Zone will be open until noon.

Participants four and over must pay a $20 registration fee. There is no fee for the three-and-under set. The registration fee covers refreshments prior to the start of the event, access to the Family Fun Zone and a barbecue lunch (with choice of hamburger, hotdog or veggie burger) and a commemorative t-shirt.

Participants are encouraged to seek pledges to support Roger's House and prizes are available according to the amount of money raised. Pledge form may be downloaded (PDF) or you can raise money through the personal fundraising page that will be created when you register. There is no need to feel obligated to raise a certain amount of money.

If you're interested in joining the Kids in the Capital team, and I really hope you are, please register as a  new participant and then choose the “Team Member” option and search for Kids in the Capital. If you'd rather make a donation, that's an option, too. Let us know in the comments if you'll be able to join us. Barbara is mom to Reid, a girl who is 6 and ¾ (and takes the fractions seriously). A public servant by day she nurtures her love of writing through social media. She blogs at Tales of Life with a Girl on the Goand Losing it in Ottawa and offers shorter thoughts as @OttMomGo.