A Montrealer’s Guide To Ottawa Bluesfest 2015

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Summer is finally here, and with it comes festival season. As Montrealers, we are spoiled with amazing festivals to check out all summer. From comedy to music, there is definitely a festival out there for everyone. Outside of Montreal, there are other festivals which can be the perfect excuse for a weekend get away. Coming up in July, there’s the Ottawa Bluesfest to consider. With over 200 artists, and Ottawa not being too far away from Montreal, it’s ideal for any type of music lover.

Getting Tickets
What is very unique and awesome about this festival is that you can choose the dates that suit your taste. As the festival goes from July 8^th to the 19^th there are many dates to choose from and so many artists on each night, you can’t really go wrong. There are two multi-day options, a 3 day and a 5 day pass. For information on multiday tickets click here. If there is only one date that you want to check out, you can also buy single day tickets. Click here to buy day passes for the Bluesfest in Ottawa.

Getting There & Staying There
If you have a car, you could always drive to Ottawa and even carpool with friends. Then again, if you are more of a cyclist you could even cycle from Montreal to Ottawa. More realistically speaking I would suggest either taking the train from downtown Montreal to Ottawa. Alternatively, you can also take a bus from Montreal to Ottawa; information available on buses here. After you arrive, you can take advantage of the hotel deals the festival has arranged in the downtown area. You can head here to find which hotel deal suits your mood. Otherwise, you can try camping or Airbnb. Now once you’re in Ottawa, the festival is at LeBreton Flats – which is close to Parliment Hill and even closer to the Canadian War Museum. Here is a very useful map of the festival grounds, you’ll need this to navigate from stage to stage.

 

My Music Picks

Here’s my top picks for Ottawa’s 2015 Bluesfest, by date:
1. Jack U – July 8^th
2. Mariana’s Trench – July 10^th
3. Kanye West – July 10^th
4. Alvvays – July 11^th
5. Lynyrd Skynyrd – July 14th
6. Hedley – July 15^th
7. The Tragically Hip – July 17^th
8. Purity Ring – July 17^th
9. Milky Chance – July 18^th
10.  Deep Purple – July 18^th

The festival seems like it will really be fantastic. The music choices are great, Ottawa is a beautiful and fun city, and as long as the weather cooperates I don’t see how it can go wrong. All that’s needed is a few friends, some cold drinks, and the Ottawa Bluesfest 2015 will be one of the best parts of summer.