Two centuries after Lieutenant-Colonel John By arrived to oversee the construction of the Rideau Canal, Ottawa is preparing for one of the biggest civic milestones in its history: the 200th anniversary of Bytown.
Under the banner “Celebrate Together,” Ottawa 200 will feature events spanning music, arts, Indigenous storytelling, food, architecture and local history.
The official anniversary marks Sept. 26, 1826 — the founding date of Bytown, the rugged canal settlement that would eventually become the City of Ottawa. What began as a frontier construction camp beside the Rideau Canal evolved into the political and cultural centre of Canada.
Among the largest events tied to the anniversary is Ottawa Bluesfest’s Ottawa 200 celebration on July 19 at LeBreton Flats. The festival announced Canadian rock band The Guess Who as the headlining act for the evening.
“The Ottawa Bluesfest team is looking forward to being a part of Ottawa 200,” said Ottawa Bluesfest executive and artistic director Mark Monahan. “This is a tremendous opportunity to add to the rich cultural history of our city through music, and we look forward to contributing even more by creating great memories this year and for many years to come.”
Music programming will continue throughout the year with Deux Voix, Une Capitale, a monthly concert series running from March through December at the Bronson Music Theatre. The bilingual series will pair established Francophone performers with local opening acts to highlight Ottawa’s French-speaking heritage and contemporary music scene.
Michel Pagliaro, a rock singer, songwriter and guitarist from Montreal, will perform on Sept. 5, followed by record producer Daniel Lanois on Sept. 27. The Gatineau-born musician has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd.
The 51st edition of the Festival Franco-Ontarien will also incorporate Ottawa 200 programming through The Voices of Bytown, a 360-degree virtual reality experience debuting in Major’s Hill Park from June 11 to 13. The installation follows four characters — an Algonquin resident, a French-Canadian canal worker, an Irish immigrant and a contemporary Ottawa artist — through two centuries of local history using music, narration and immersive visuals.
Several projects funded through Ottawa 200 place Indigenous perspectives at the centre of the city’s historical narrative. Indigenous Experiences will tour The Chief Speaks throughout the city from June to December, featuring a mobile wigwam installation and holographic storytelling narrated by Elder Merv Sarazin.
At the Ottawa Art Gallery, Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg artist Jay Odjig will project animated short films onto the gallery’s exterior and the National Arts Centre Lantern as part of “Indigenous History in Motion.” This exhibition examines Ottawa’s history through Indigenous perspectives.
Métis artist Jim Logan will also be the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at S.A.W. Gallery from May 1 to June 27. Requiems: Jim Logan will bring together more than 40 works from collections across Canada while transforming the exterior of Arts Court with a 200-foot banner installation and public programming.
Classical music festival Music and Beyond will stage Bytown 200 – A Musical Journey Through Ottawa’s History from July 4 to 17, a five-concert series combining narration, archival imagery and newly commissioned compositions tied to different eras of the city’s development.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival will contribute to the bicentennial through O-Town Animated, a public art trail launching Sept. 18 that will display three animated short films inspired by archival Bytown photographs on Rideau Street digital projection poles through the end of the year.
Other events take a more unconventional approach to commemorating the city’s history.
On June 7, Shawarma Fest 2026 will attempt to set a Guinness World Records title for the world’s longest shawarma in the ByWard Market. Organizers say the 160-metre shawarma will be assembled alongside live entertainment and more than 60 vendors, with portions later donated to food security organizations.
Other programming highlights include A Night of Inuit Excellence, a concert series presented by Qamaniq Records featuring Inuit musicians and storytellers from across the Arctic, and Happy 200th Birthday, Ottawa!, a Capital Pride drag showcase featuring Ottawa contestants from Canada’s Drag Race and performances exploring the city’s history through queer and trans artistic expression.
Bytown Museum marks 200 years with new community portrait exhibition
Inside the Bytown Museum’s newest exhibition are portraits of Ottawa residents past and present — and in some cases, people whose names have long been forgotten.
The museum has launched a new temporary exhibition, “What’s in a Frame? 200+ Years of Community Portraits,” which looks at Ottawa’s history through portraits, objects and community stories.
“We’ve been using the messaging of 200 plus to acknowledge that the history of the area did not begin in 1826,” said Chloe Dennis, the museum’s exhibition and collections manager. “There’s a long history of this land with the Anishinaabe Algonquin, who occupied this territory for millennia, and the land is still unceded today.”
The exhibition includes historical portraits, object portraits, unknown portraits and contemporary portraits of Ottawa residents. One section focuses on photographs of people whose identities have been lost to history, while still using those images to tell broader stories about Ottawa’s past.
“We are talking about people who we know who they are, but we don’t know what they look like, so their portrait is unknown to us,” Dennis said, pointing to the story of Algonquin Chief Pinesi, whose legacy is explored through text and artwork despite no known portrait existing.
Featured figures in the exhibition include early Bytown residents William and Catherine Stewart, local drag king Morgan Mercury, community volunteer Lily Lee, Bytown Shoe Repair owner Paul Moussa, and students from Elgin Street Public School.
Visitors are also invited to contribute their own portraits or statements to an ongoing community portrait wall.
The museum is also planning a busy year of anniversary programming. National Indigenous Peoples Day programming will return on June 21 with a pop-up market and possible performances. Colonel By Day over the August long weekend will include costume interpretation, performances and a Celtic Cross ceremony with the National Capital Region Irish Society.
The biggest event will be a three-day anniversary weekend from Sept. 25 to 27, marking the moment Colonel By arrived and chose the site where the canal would begin. Programming is expected to include projections, performances and a lumberjack breakfast.