- Mark your calendars: The annual Winterlude festival is taking place in Canada’s capital region February 3 to 20, 2023! This epic festival celebrates Canadian winter fun, including beautiful ice sculptures, skating on the world-famous Rideau Canal Skateway (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and a gigantic snow playground for people of all ages. Most programming is free! Specific programming for the 2023 edition will be announced later this year on the official Winterlude website.
- A new zipline attraction is opening in May 2023 at Camp Fortune, a four-season recreational resort located just a 15-minute drive north of downtown Ottawa. The Peak to Peak Ziplines feature three ziplines totaling 4,478 feet (1,365 metres) that cross the Camp Fortune Valley with spectacular views of Gatineau Park. This activity, along with the mountain pipe coaster which opened in 2021, runs between mid-May and mid-October.
Find out what’s coming up in Ottawa in 2023, current campaigns, an incentive reminder, and lots of virtual resources to help you plan!
In this issue:
Look ahead to 2023
Unofficial Museums campaign
Ottawa Tourism launched a special campaign in summer 2022 to highlight some of the region’s cultural hidden gems beyond the major attractions most visitors explore. Dozens of Unofficial Museums represent the region’s culinary, outdoor, art and entertainment scenes, such as: an oatmeal café that transforms into a scotch lounge, a farm where you can play beekeeper, and hidden cat sculptures in the Byward Market neighbourhood.
VIP Incentive reminder
Don’t forget to take advantage of the Ottawa Visitor Incentive Program (VIP) before it ends! (Travel must be completed by October 15, 2022.) The program was created in June 2021 to assist you in selling Packaged Travel for either Group or FIT travellers to Ottawa.
Special exhibitions
- From Pepinot to Paw Patrol® – Television of our Childhoods - September 2022 to September 2023
- First Kings of Europe - spring 2024 to winter 2025
- War Games - June 2023 to January 2024
- Canadian Forces Artists Program — Group 9 - October 2023 to January 2024
- Outside the Lines - April 2023 to September 2024
- Battle for the Arctic - April 2025 to January 2026
- Jean-Paul Riopelle exhibition: October 2023 – March 2024
Itinerary resources
Virtual FAMs and tours
Planning a new tour to Ottawa but can’t get here right now? Explore Canada’s capital through our many virtual guided tours and FAMs.
NEW Virtually Ottawa coffee break FAMs
Brew Donkey EN
Canada Agriculture and Food Museum EN | FR
Canada Aviation and Space Museum EN | FR
Canada Science and Technology Museum EN | FR
Virtually Ottawa coffee break FAMs
Canadian Museum of History EN | FR
Canadian Museum of Nature EN | FR
Escape Bicycle Tours & Rentals EN | FR
National Gallery of Canada EN | FR
Oh Canada Eh! EN
Casino Lac-Leamy– coming soon!
Virtually Ottawa tours
Canadian Museum of Nature EN | FR
