Westfest Recap

Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events.
We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on
the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season. 

Your city! Your festivals and events!
Like a good sunscreen, Ottawa Life has you covered.

Photos by Andre Gagne

As the three day free arts festival has come to a close, Ottawa Life Magazine would like to reflect back on the amazing bash!

Elaina Martin began the festival over 14 years ago, and each year she does an outstanding job putting the event together. In a previous interview with Ottawa Life Magazine, Elaina stated that for her, the festival means community. Indeed that is exactly what transpired in Laroche Park this past weekend as families and friends gathered to enjoy the best lineup, food trucks, and entertainment.

The event got underway late Friday afternoon with headliner Deejay NDN (A Tribe Called Red) and dancer Rhonda Doxtator.

This Canadian DJ is known for his incredibly popular Indigenous inspired music and commitment to giving back to the community.

Following the artist’s performance, event goers kicked off the first night of Westfest celebrations with the Queer Mafia and DJ D-Luxx at Elmdale Oyster House and Tavern.

In the spirit of community, all proceeds were donated to the Ottawa Pride Week Family Picnic.

There was lots to see and do on Day 2 of Westfest including a live graffiti art performance by House of PainT. Located in the centre of the park, the masterpiece caught everyone’s eye as they arrived at the festival.

The House of PainT crew encouraged those walking by to try their hand at graffiti art by helping to create a beautiful and colourful mural.

That wasn’t the only thing being painted at the fest!

There was never a dull moment at the Napkyn Family Fun Area where kids enjoyed face painting, bouncy castles, and obstacle courses!

As dusk began to set in, an entire audience made their way to the Thom Fountain Stage where Juno award winning trio, MonkeyJunk, delivered a skillful mix of blues and rock.

Despite the rain on Sunday, there was no shortage of attendees! Those who arrived early enjoyed a one hour outdoor yoga session with Yogatown.

The food trucks deserve a huge shout out for satisfying our favourite festival cravings all weekend long. Thank you to the Great Canadienne Poutinerie, Railroad Ribs, Original Souvlaki, Angry Dragonz, Merry Dairy, Mr.Churritos, Rico Peru, Art-is-in Bakery, and Little Victories Coffee.

The Artisan and Business Park experienced a steady flow of traffic as guests perused all sorts of vendors including Buchipop, Silver Desires, Trove Fashion, Page Cloud, State Farm, and many more!

Although the day began by putting event goers in a meditative state, Sunday night’s headliner Lemon Cash ensured Westfest 2017 went out with a bang!

Westfest has successfully managed to once again create a safe space and encourage a diverse audience of people from all around Ottawa to enjoy and partake in the best fest around! I couldn’t imagine a better way to launch the beginning of Ottawa’s music festival season than with Westfest 2017.