The Lunch Out Loud podcast looks to promote the amazing talent, food, events and music Ottawa has to offer. Every week we will introduce you to new things about Ottawa you never knew existed. ** This week: ** We meet up with Mark Monahan, the Executive Director of the Ottawa Bluesfest, CityFolk Festival and the Bluesfest School of Music & Art. ...

During this holiday season, beautiful natural Christmas trees are lighting up the state areas of the official residences thanks to a donation from the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association (CCTGA). The Canadian-grown Fraser firs, ranging from 3 to 3.6 metres (10 to 12 feet) in height, are from the Ottawa area. ...

_ Our crowdsourced list of the best events in Ottawa this week. _ ** Saturday, December 20: Bayshore Park Community Oven Open Bake Day ** Here’s your chance to try Ottawa’s first outdoor community bake oven. The Bayshore Park Community Garden and Oven is inviting people to bring their own ingredients and use the oven to bake pizzas, breads and slow-cooked dishes. ...

This holiday season, Uber Canada is teaming up with Goodwill® to make donating gently worn items of clothing even easier. This Thursday, December 18th from 10AM-5PM, Uber users can request a free, on-demand donation pickup of winter clothing in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto. ...

Thanks to Rose Simpson and Scott Troyer for sending along these photos of Christmas light displays along Dauphin Street in the Alta Vista area, just south of Smyth Road. Check out our interactive map of Ottawa Christmas light displays , where we’ve listed the best lights from every corner of town. ...

The Ottawa Tool Library is looking for quality underused tools that might be cluttering your basement, garage or kitchen. The not-for-profit tool library is a lending library that will be accessible to all of Ottawa to create Do It Yourself home, garden or kitchen projects by using tools that you might not have, or want to simply try out! ...

And so another Christmas craft show season slowly draws to a close (for those who are not quite done shopping yet: don’t panic – there are still some event listings at the bottom of the page). Based on what I witnessed at the events I visited myself as well as on the feedback I received from vendors overall event attendance was good but visitors were cautious when it came time to pull their wallets – more so than normal. ...

The Champlain Bridge centre lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) is open. In order to minimize the impact on commuters, traffic barrels will remain in place until the lane control system is functioning correctly. The barrels will continue to be adjusted to allow access to the centre HOV lane, which is open southbound in the morning and northbound in the afternoon. ...

Beginning on Sunday, December 21, Preston Street will be extended from Albert Street to the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. Full access will be available for motorists, transit users, cyclists and pedestrians. This extension has been put in place to provide an alternate route through LeBreton Flats during the closure of Booth Street for construction activities related to the Confederation Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. ...

Motorists can expect delays on the Champlain Bridge as the centre lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) is currently closed until further notice to make repairs to the bridge’s lane control system.  The National Capital Commission (NCC) urges motorists to exercise caution and to respect mobile working crews and equipment, signage and flag persons in place. ...