Ottawa turns 200: City celebrates Bytown's Sept. 26, 1826 founding with music and art

Ottawa celebrated its 200th birthday on Saturday, September 26, marking two centuries since the city's founding as Bytown on that date in 1826. The City of Ottawa hosted a block party running from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., where live spray-painting artist Ryan Smeeton worked on the Ottawa 200 mural project at City Hall throughout the day.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe remarked it was "a beautiful day to celebrate Ottawa's birthday." The evening featured the SoundScape festival, which opened its doors at 6:30 p.m. with performances beginning at 6:45 p.m. by Ryan Stec and Lucas Verreman. Four thousand people registered for the free event, with organizers anticipating higher attendance. At 8 p.m., performances included Randy Kakegamick with a Ponca tribe fast dance, Amanda Fox performing Anishinaabe jingle dress dance, and the SpiritWolf Singers, a traditional powwow singing group based in Ottawa. The festival ran until 11 p.m.

SoundScape festival director Jordan Foster urged people to return in the evening, saying "It's cool here during the day, but it's nothing like what it's gonna be in the evening, when it's all lit up (with the) ceiling projections." This was the third SoundScape music event held in September.

At the Cumberland Heritage Museum, Emmanuel Doucet, who has worked there over 20 years, demonstrated a 1940s Kelcey Press (5 by 8 dimensions) using baby oil and safe wash ink. Doucet's designs featured silhouettes of trees near Bytown Museum and a canoe on Rideau Canal, with the final product printed as "Bytown 1926-2026." Daniel Richer dit Laflèche, Ottawa's official town crier since 1981 and a fully bilingual First Nations public announcer in North America, was also part of the celebrations.