Our Friday night downtown - Busker Fest, Confederation Park, Byward Market

Last night we made the trek from the exciting suburb of Stittsville all the way to downtown Ottawa with our two daughters (almost 5-years-old and nearly 3-years-old). The plan was to check out the Busker Festival on Sparks Street. Here’s what happened:

 1. 
Parked at World Exchange Plaza.  Walked through the main level, where the kids surprised us by identifying the
[
 flying whales
](http://www.flickr.com/photos/zjmac/2462349999/)
as Narwhals and Belugas.

 2. 
The first show we saw on Sparks Street featured a performer who juggled a chainsaw, then mounted a bike atop a 30-foot poll and juggled knives and torches.  He may or may not have been
[
 Bike Boy
](http://bikeboy.net/)
.

 3. 
Walked down Sparks Street, and found
[
 Silver Elvis
](http://www.silverelvis.com/silverelvisPage.htm)
at the corner of Elgin. He's a coin-operated miming Elvis impersonator, dressed from head to toe in silver.  The girls loved this guy.  They emptied my pockets looking for coins to make him dance.  (Overheard one spectator asking "is he real?")
[
 ![](/legacy/00301.jpg)

](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Late-July-2010-045.jpg)

 4. 
Crossed the street and found the Oscar Peterson statue.  Older daughter liked it, younger daughter was terrified that it would come alive, just like Silver Elvis.
[
 ![](/legacy/00302.jpg)

](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Late-July-2010-015.jpg)

 5. 
From there, we thought we'd try to find the
[
 Shoescape art installation
](http://brownamazon.vox.com/library/photo/6a00c2252585da549d0137e02d1f10860e.html)
at Confederation Park, part of the
[
 Rideau Canal Festival
](http://ottawastart.com/festivals.php)
. It was smaller than we expected but our girls love footwear so it was a hit.
[
 ![](/legacy/00303.jpg)

](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/shoes.jpg)

 6. 
Next stop was dinner.  We asked ourselves, "what is the most touristy place we can think of downtown, hence the most likely to be kid-friendly".  Answer: "Hard Rock Cafe" in the Byward Market.  The food was nothing to rave about -- but our booth was right below a Queen electric guitar and the girls thought the Beatles Room was cool.  (They are already rock nerds like their dad.)

 7. 
Strolled down William Street, checked out the Crocs store, and then sunglasses at Le Xuan.
  


 8. 
Dessert in the Byward Market at Pure Gelato.  Busy night outside on the patio.

 9. 
Then we splurged on a rickshaw ride to take us back to Sparks Street, where the girls were mesmerized by Silver Elvis, again.
  


 
 
 
 

  


 

 10. 
Home for bedtime.

** Related: ** Ottawa Busker Festival Guide