Italian Week Ottawa

Italian Week Ottawa is an annual arts and cultural festival that promotes Italian culture in the National Capital Region. Originally founded in 1975, the festival is among the longest running arts and cultural festivals in Ottawa. Our mandate is to share Italian cultural experiences with Italians, non-Italians, and visitors in the Ottawa community.

Each year, the Ottawa Italian Week Festival builds a rich arts, history, and cultural program to celebrate all aspects of Italian and Italian-Canadian life. The festival offers a variety of free and reasonably priced activities highlighting historical and contemporary Italian art, music, dance, food, literature, film, and design. Events are held throughout Ottawa, with a focus in the Little Italy neighbourhood on and around Preston Street. The Festival’s programming is emblematic of the broader impact Italian-Canadians have had both locally, and nationally. The Festival features annually recurring programming as well as new events, all linked by an overarching and unifying theme.