What to Do

1. What to Do When you’re not a tourist and live in the city, these are the kinds of things that youngish people get up to.

2. Dance Parties Sometimes even bureaucrats have to let loose!

3. TimeKode • This is a sweaty mess of a DJ dance party featuring Zattar, Mimetic and Eric Roberts. • It is held on the third Friday of every month at the Eri Café, an Eritrean restaurant off Preston.

4. Kitchen Party • This slightly better ventilated dance party is brought to you by DJ’s Hobo and Sweetcheeks. • It is held at the Rochester Pub, off Preston at Beech. • It is held every second Friday of the month.

5. Tropikalo • Every first Friday of the month head out to the Mercury Lounge to listen to some afro/latin/caribbean/tropical beats from DJ’s Trevor Walker and Zattar.

6. Ceremony • The last Saturday of the month! • This dance party is held at the Ottawa Jail Hostel and is hosted by DJs Adam Saikley, Gary Franks and Eric Roberts. • This dingy atmosphere adds a lot to the dance party experience. • I say check it!

7. Briefing Sessions • This is a quarterly dance party for all them bureaucrats and their groupies, like me. • It has a rotating venue and is a surprising lot of fun!

8. Shows Aside from concerts, which rarely come to town, Ottawa has a number of shows on offer.

9. Burlesque • Ottawa has been all about burlesque the past couple years. • Babes baring almost all for an audience of entertained friends. • There are a number of groups that have made a name for themselves and have occasional shows. • Well worth having a peek ;)

10. Dr. Sketchy • Performance meets paper in this multimedia monthly event. • Burlesque performers pose for artists who sketch out the scenes in 20, 10, 5 and 2 minute competitions for prizes. • If you like to draw then there’s nothing better than this!

11. Remi Royale • In-your-face, sweaty, gnarly, offensive lounge singing from Ottawa’s only Remi Royal. • He is disgusting and hilarious. • He performs the last Sunday of the month at the Manx pub.

12. China Doll • The Chinese Restaurant Shanghai is very hip and has a Saturday night Karaoke event like no other. • The owner’s son dresses up and calls himself China Doll. • He is the MC for the evening and will help you out in any embarrassing pickle you might find yourself in mid song. • While you’re there, enjoy some delicious vegetable dumplings and a martini.

13. Lucky Ron • Lucky Ron is a legend in Ottawa and performs every Saturday afternoon at the dive bar the Laff. • His show is that of a good ol’ Southern boy with a guitar and a country twang.

14. Hilarious Events Sometimes we can get a bit stir crazy and act out. It’s Awesome!

15. Promdemonium • This is an adult prom, seriously. • It is based on the Vancouver People’s Prom. • It is a prom for people who didn’t like or go to their own prom, or people who just like to dress up, have their picture taken and dance! • Its hay day was at St. Brigid’s Church.

16. Plaid Parade • 2012 was the first year of the Plaid Parade sponsored by Victoire and Kichesippi beer. • There was a bike route taken by plaid clad enthusiasts followed by a Glad in Plaid get together at the brewery. • There is a beautiful video at http://vimeo.com/57167965

17. Harvest Noir • This pop-up picnic has pretty marketing. • It is supposed to be based on the organic and free surprise white picnics, diner en blanc, of France and Montreal. • It is expensive and you bring your own food. • The charity it is meant to raise money for is that of the organizer. • This is an event where man-children ask women out under the pretence of something romantic, but then they turn out to be emotionally abusive assholes who should be called out as the swindlers that they are.

18. Zombie Walk • Once a year, Zombies take over downtown Ottawa. • People dress up and wander the streets in search of brains. • Some people love to participate, others to watch and others to maintain a safe distance

19. Lecture Series Sometimes lectures can be fun and inspirational, take it from me, a convert!

20. Creative Mornings • Creative Mornings is an international lecture series that features innovators in the community. • It is a monthly event that takes place on Friday mornings from 8:30 to 10 and offers a free breakfast to participants thanks to local sponsors. • Every month is a different speaker who speaks for 20/30 mins and then there’s a Q&A. • So far, this innovative new outpost has featured a chef, a tattoo artist, a typographist, dress shop entrepreneurs, etc.

21. PechaKucha • This lecture series was first developed in Japan as a way for architects and creatives to get together and talk to each other about their projects. • This quarterly event invites various Ottawa creatives to discuss their craft and how it encourages Ottawa’s cultural community. • The format consists of each speaker getting 20 Power Point slides at 20 seconds each. • It is under brilliant new management.

22. Apt613 Talks • Ottawa culture blog Apt613 often hosts talks with different themes to engage the Ottawa community with some thought leaders. • It is often very well curated and well MC’ed. • Recently, they had a live Reddit talk with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.

23. HUB and SPOKE • Hub Ottawa is an interactive shared work space for social entrepreneurs. • Every once in a while they feature talks where members discuss their projects with the membership and the community at large. • It is a great opportunity to network. • Every Friday, the Hub also hosts a Wine Down, where you show up with a bottle of wine and chat with Hubbers.