Ottawa Wine & Food Festival announces first-ever Eat Drink Spring on the Farm

Spring is in the air – and the Ottawa Wine & Food Festival will help Ottawans celebrate fresh new beginnings at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, with the first-ever Eat Drink Spring on the Farm. 

In partnership with Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, Eat Drink Spring on the Farm is a new direction for the fourth annual spring-themed event, says Joan Culliton, Ottawa Wine & Food Festival’s producer.

“Spring is about fresh, new beginnings and the annual rebirth of the Earth. And that’s what Eat Drink Spring on the Farm is all about: a two-day long, outdoor love affair with everyone’s favourite season, featuring hundreds of ways to taste, sip the most on trend summer cocktails, spring wines and beer while experiencing spring at a unique working farm right in the heart of the city,” she says.

By day, activities for young and old cover every corner of the farm: vintage tractors, local artisans, a pop-up hip hop workshop, farmland story-telling and one-on-one time with the newest members of the farm animal family.  Festival-goers can taste the latest farm-to-table flavours, speciality beers and wines, all while grooving to live performances by local musicians.

On Saturday evening, attendees can salute spring with at the Barnyard Bash on the Bovine Highway, which will showcase an electrifying performance by electro-violinist, Dr. Draw. The event will serve locally-crafted, farm-to-table bites and delicious spring cocktails created by Made with Love cocktail competition winner, mixologist Erick Romolock of Fauna Food+Bar. Local craft beer and wine will also be on offer. Then, on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13, families can enjoy the festival, together with the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum’s Mother’s Day activities, including bread-making, cooking with honey and animal interactions

“We’re thrilled to bring local producers together at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum,” says Fern Proulx, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation. “Visitors to Eat Drink Spring on the Farm will enjoy an authentic, farm-to-table wine and food experience at a unique venue.”

 Highlights

 Salutations to Spring! Join us at 11.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings for the ceremony honouring spring at Discovery Park.

Trend watch! Eat Drink Spring on the Farm will have Rosé All Day, the hottest new food trends, brand new spring wines and beers and delicious spring/summer cocktails.

Sample and savour wares from more than 20 farm-to-table vendors and enjoy 100 tastes of spring.

Barnyard Bash on the Bovine Highway! Doors open at 6pm. Enjoy a whole new vibe on Saturday night with an over-19 hoedown featuring farm-to-table bites (including wagu beef!), spring-centric new microbrews by Cartwright Springs, delicious craft cocktails and so-hip-it-hurts performances by Moonfruits and electronica violinist, Dr. Draw.

 Check out the Mama Love Market, featuring local artisans and their craft products.

Get your toes tapping throughout the day and into the evening with everything from Monkey Rock Music for the kids, the Fiddle Heads children’s fiddling group, Moon Fruits, Triple Trouble step-dancing, Vintage Fiddlers, fiddler Wil Wilson, French Canadian and Celtic music and dance and Dr. Draw, a super-charged electronica fiddler performer.

Get involved! Demos by the Capital Jumpers Skipping Troupe, performances by Off Beats broom music troupe and hip-hop performers, spring-themed tales from the Ottawa Story Tellers and a floral crown making workshop.

Farmyard fun! Interactive fun on everything from vintage tractors, veggies and honey to milking, plus meet-and-greets with the newest (and cutest) members of the farm family.