OttawaStart's Weekly Event Round-Up: Hot Air Balloons, Fat Cats, Urban Crafts and more

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_ Welcome this week to our newest contributor, Jean Labelle.  He leads off this week’s event suggestions with one of Ottawa’s most accessible yearly festivals – all you have to do is look up! _

** Jean Labelle ** ** , Photograher: **

** HOT AIR BALLOONS: ** From September 2 to 5, 2011, the site of the ** Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival ** will be glittering. Parc de la Baie will welcome tens of thousands of people in search of a unique experience. Our local artists guarantee that everyone will have a good time as they perform live on the Festival stages.

** Arne Berg , photographer: **

** COMEDY: ** One of the Naughty Ladies of Canadian Comedy, ** Kathleen McGee ** will be playing ** Yuk Yuks Elgin St ** on Thursday at 8:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 9:00 pm.

** Stuntman Stu from Majic 100: **

** OUTDOOR MOVIES: ** Cap off your summer this Friday night at Westboro Beach with ** Majic’s Movies on the Beach ** . We’ll be showing “Footloose”. Bring your blankets and lawnchairs. Movie starts at dusk - around 7:45p.m. And it’s all FREE! See you there!

** Josee from Frugal Fun Ottawa :

INDOOR FILM: ** The ** Festival of New Spanish Cinema ** runs from September 1 to 7 at the Library and Archives Canada, and includes the Spanish Short Film Festival from September 5 to 7. Admission to all these interesting films is free!

** Don from foodieprints : **

** ARTS & CRAFTS & FOOD: ** This Saturday, come to the ** Great Canadian Theatre Company ** to attend the first of six ** Urban Craft Markets ** . They will be held in the lobby of the theatre house every first Saturday of the month, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, until February. The fair’s permanent and rotating vendors will feature artisan handmade accessories, natural body products, innovative modern jewellery, home decor, and, of course, food. Food-wise, standouts include vegan and gluten free baked goods from Auntie Loo’s, chocolate truffles from Rochef and Koko Chocolates, Macarons and French cookeis from the Urban Baking Co., and locally roasted coffee from the Bytowne Beanery. Admission is free.

** Sara-Lynne Levine, Ottawa Capital Region Macaroni Kid : **

** PARLIAMENT HILL: ** It’s the final weekend to catch ** Mosaika on Parliament Hill ** ** . ** My two boys (age 5 and 8) loved this amazing visual sound and light show highlighting what’s best about Canada. There’s something pretty amazing about sitting steps away from the parliament, surrounded by hundreds of others, watching this spectacular light show. It’s the best and most interactive history lesson you will see. Best of all, it’s free, just remember to bring a blanket in case the bleachers are full. ( Continues until September 8. )

** Laura Nicol , aka @311Laura : **

** BASEBALL: ** The ** Ottawa Fat Cats ** have a pretty good deal going on this weekend– buy a ticket to both Saturday and Sunday’s games and if they lose you get a free season’s pass for 2012!

** Amanda Earl , poet & publisher: **

** POETRY SLAM: ** The talented and versatile ** Kevin Matthews ** is the ** Capital Slam ** feature on Saturday, September 3, 2011 at the Mercury Lounge, 56 Byward, $8; free for performers. Sign up is at 6:30pm. The event marks the beginning of the new Capital Slam season to determine who will be on the team that goes to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2012.

** Glen Gower , Editor/Owner of OttawaStart.com : **

** CYCLING: ** It’s the last weekend for ** Alcatel-Lucent Sunday Bikedays ** , which means it’s your last chance until next spring to bike down some of Ottawa’s scenic parkways without any cars. It’s also the last weekend for NCC beaches , and a few other NCC summer programs as well.

** Ryan Bresee , radio host of CKCU’s Whatever’s Cool With Me : **

** MUSIC: ** If you’ve never seen ** Tara Holloway ** live, you need to. She has a voice you wont forget and she’ll be at the Black Sheep Inn on Sunday at 4 p.m. She’ll be performing with Phil Bova and special guest Mike Dubue from the HiLoTrons. $5. That’s it. You have to go!

** Denise Deby, who writes for Green Living Ottawa : **

** BOOK LAUNCH: ** I’m looking forward to ** the launch of Pius Adesanmi’s _ You’re Not a Country, Africa! _ ** on Tues. Sept. 6, 4:30 p.m. at Raw Sugar Café, 692 Somerset St. W. The book, which won the inaugural Penguin Prize for African Writing – pretty impressive for an Ottawa-based writer – is Carleton University professor Adesanmi’s reflections on the notion of “Africa” after 15 years spent outside it.

** See also: ** Ottawa Events Guide and What’s open and closed on Labour Day Monday

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