This Family Day is the perfect time to spend time with loved ones in Ottawa. There is something for everyone from cultural experiences to outdoor adventures.
Winterlude 2023
The Winterlude 2023 fun continues! You can find all the family fun events in the 'Winterlude 2023- Family Fun Activities' Macaroni Kid article.
Go Sledding
Check out the various sledding hills around Ottawa in this article. Sledding safety tips are included too!
Family Day at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Get your Family Day off to a flying start with a visit to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum! From the Silver Dart to the Canadarm, enjoy visiting this unique collection of Canadian treasures. Sit at the controls of our demonstration Cessna aircraft, chat with one of our friendly and knowledgeable guides. or visit the Reserve Hangar which is back open for guided tours!
Family Day at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
This Family Day, a winter adventure awaits you at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum! Explore the sights and sounds of farm life as you meet the animals, stroll through the exhibitions, and participate in hands-on demonstrations. Lace up your skates and enjoy the fresh air on our outdoor skating rink (weather dependant). Discover how farm animals adapt during winter, the many uses of a bird’s feathers, and why the Chantecler chicken is so well adapted to harsh, Canadian winters! Sit back and listen to a classic children’s story, followed by a craft inspired by the book.
Monday, February 20, 2023
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Featured Demonstrations
9:30 a.m. — Storytime and Craft (Classroom of the Small Animal Barn)
10 a.m. — Rabbit Care (Small Animal Barn)
10:30 a.m. — Storytime and Craft (Classroom of the Small Animal Barn)
11 a.m. — All About Feathers (Soil Lab)
11:30 a.m. — Storytime and Craft (Classroom of the Small Animal Barn)
12 p.m. — Animals in Winter (Soil Lab)
2 p.m. — Discovery Cart: Mystery Objects (Dairy Barn)
2:30 p.m. — Storytime and Craft (Classroom of the Small Animal Barn)
3 p.m. — Meet the Chantecler Chickens (Horse and Cattle Barn)
3:30 p.m. — Storytime and Craft (Classroom of the Small Animal Barn)
4 p.m. — Afternoon Milking (Dairy Barn)
The NAC Big Bang Festival
Get ready for the ultimate musical adventure! The Big Bang Festival is back with a burst of colourful festivities at a joyful decibel this winter. Follow along for a musical journey featuring exciting concerts, surprise performances, sound machines and wild curiosities all over the building – your eardrums will thank you.
PepTides
Full of funk and irresistible flair — The PepTides are coming to the Big Bang Festival for the first time, and are bringing with them a colorful wave of songs that are sure to make the whole family groove! The four instrumentalists and five vocalists behind the Ottawa-based group combine their diverse backgrounds and talents to create a musical sensation. Picture this: a blend of Bowie, Badu, Bach, B-52s and The Partridge Family. The result is an explosion of unique musical and visual flavour that echoes on stage. Hyper theatrical and inventive, the group offers extravagant compositions that mix humour and joy to provide a tender look on the world.
Winter in Fulton
Nestled between the picturesque communities of Almonte and Pakenham, Ontario and less than 1 hour from Ottawa, Ontario, Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush is one of Lanark County’s best-loved and well-known sugar camps.
Activities:
- Enjoy the quiet solitude and fresh air of our 400-acre sugarbush filled with young and decades old maple, pine, spruce, cedar, white birch trees.
- Feel the sun on your face as you meander, ski or snowshoe our 8km of widened and lengthened trails. Soak up some much needed Vitamin D.
- Enjoy the sights and sounds of the birds and watch for animals and their tracks.
- Your favourite trail games are ready to solve.
- “Go Huts” will be at the ready.
- Playground is waiting for the laughter of kiddies.
- The beautifully weathered barn board clad buildings are here for you to admire. Take a close look at the patterns of the wood grain – you’ll find animals, birds and intricate shapes and patterns.
- Horse-drawn sleigh rides
- The info booth is the same with lots of new info…make it your first stop.
Frost and Ice
FROST & FIRE is Perth Tourism’s winter carnival.
Taking place over the long Family Day weekend in February, there will be a mix of indoor and outdoor activities for people of all ages.
Maple Tree Taping
The Vanier Museopark is pleased to bring back the traditions of maple syrup production in its urban sugar shack, located less than 5 minutes away from downtown Ottawa!
An engaging event for families: volunteer maple syrup producers are proud to share their knowledge and passion with you! Snowshoes are optional but help you navigate the trails in the Richelieu Forest.
Join us for this essential part of maple syrup production: it’s an engaging event for families and the Vanier community. Our volunteer maple syrup producers will be proud to share their knowledge and passion with you! This activity is open to everyone, so why not give it a try?
Please bring a wireless drill and charged batteries. Snowshoes are optional but will help you navigate the trails in the Richelieu forest.
Family Day Weekend at the Canada Science and Technology Museum
Prepare to be amazed this Family Day weekend at the Canada Science and Technology Museum! Watch as STEM professionals showcase some of the best science experiments and activities around. Have a look at original Lego creations or partake in a game of Search-and-Find as you visit the exhibitions.
Skating Trails
- The Best Places for Skating in Ottawa Macaroni Kid Ottawa article
See Owls at the Canadian Museum of Nature's 'Owl Rendez-Vous' Exhibition
Come face-to-face with live owls in this special outdoor exhibition!
Mysterious and fierce hunters, owls inspire stories of transformation and wisdom in cultures around the world.
In this outdoor exhibition, created in partnership with Little Ray’s Nature Centres, see owls (and an eagle!) in their specially-designed habitat enclosures:
New! Onyx, a Barred Owl with dark, ink-like eyes
Max, a Great Horned Owl, known for a distinctive hoot and ear tufts
Khaleesi, a Eurasian Eagle-Owl with striking orange eyes
Two Snowy Owls: a male (Oberon) and female (Luna). Snowy Owls are one of the few owl species that migrate
Juno, a female Bald Eagle that was rescued and rehabilitated after injury
Owls and eagles are birds of prey known as raptors. There are over 500 species of raptors around the world!
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to connect with these astonishing creatures and discover some of their amazing adaptations.
Ice Fish for FREE - Fish Ontario Licence Free – Ontario Family Fishing
Introduce a friend to fishing or go out on your own of join an event.
OFFE is a province-wide opportunity for Canadian residents to fish Ontario licence-free. There are four periods throughout the year, the 3-day Family Day weekend in February, Mother’s day and Father’s day weekends and a full 9-days in July, which coincides with National Fishing Week.
Participants fishing without a license must fish under the Conservation fishing license limits which are set out in the current Ontario Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary. With the exception of the licensing requirement, Ontario fishing regulations, fees and limits continue to apply during license-free days.
Festa de Carnaval
DJ DANM – Brasil
We’re planning a night celebrating Brazilian culture and heritage with the best in marchinha, samba, frevo, from afoxé to Axé!!✨
Florquestra & Guests:
Regina Gomes Teixeira / vocals+percussion
Julio Santos – vocals+lead guitar
Jasmin Lalande – sax
Breno Daibes – drums
Alexandre Wesley Trindade – baixo
**We’ll have Brazilian food bites and special drinks to be offered – Akai Bowl will be there and more vendors to be announced!
**Wear your best Carnaval costume for a chance to win prizes!!
Snowshoeing Under the Stars
Discover beautiful Pinhey’s Point Historic Site on a guided snowshoe tour under the stars. Learn about the Pinhey family and how they, and other early settlers, experienced winters in March Township, as well as about the natural and built heritage of our 88-acre site along the banks of the Ottawa River.
After the tour, you’re invited to step inside the nearly 200-year-old manor house to enjoy a warm beverage (cocoa or cider) and to check out the winter-themed exhibition prepared by the Pinhey’s Point Foundation. Ages 15+.
Watch 'Arctic: Our Frozen Planet' at the Canadian Museum of History
SK Films and BBC Earth announce the release of their upcoming documentary, “ARCTIC: OUR FROZEN PLANET,” produced by BBC Studios’ globally-renowned Natural History Unit and narrated by Academy Award®-nominated actor, Benedict Cumberbatch. The film is set to open in Giant Screen theatres and museums in February 2023 – beginning with the Canadian Museum of History, where the film will have its World Premiere screenings on February 4th, 2023. “ARCTIC: Our Frozen Planet” will have separate French and English screenings throughout its year-long engagement and will be accessible to all museum visitors via General Admission tickets.
Embark on a year-long adventure across the seasons in the Arctic home to more than 4 million people across 8 countries. Be immersed in the astounding world of narwhals, belugas and polar bears as they navigate ice floes. Hear the thunderous sound of stampeding caribou and muskox trying to escape hungry wolves. Be amazed by hooded seals that blow up red balloons and ice-covered bumblebees that emerge glorious from their winter lairs. As the planet’s climate is experiencing rapid changes, so is the Arctic. But the changes here are happening faster and more dramatically than anywhere else. Can it and its people keep pace?
Source: https://www.todocanada.ca/family-day-long-weekend-ottawa-events-activities/
