It’s lunchtime in the ACE District and Sparks Street has come alive as office workers head out for lunch. Tourists to the Capital wander from nearby attractions and boutiques to find a snack before their next destination. Downtown Ottawa’s first pedestrian street bustles as it was meant to, and floating over it all, the soft strum of guitar coming from The Shed, where a local musician has just taken the stage.
Songs from the Shed is just one of the music programs run by the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition (OMIC) in downtown Ottawa. Every Tuesday and Thursday, from noon to 1:30 you can hear a different musician performing at the Shed on Sparks Street.
“It’s actually our longest standing event,” explains Mélanie Brulé, executive director of OMIC. “And in the evening from 8 to 10 p.m. we host Live from the Booth, which features electronic musicians.
Both series grew out of City Sounds Live, an OMIC program that pops up at patios, parks and public spaces across Ottawa — a saxophone here, a folk duo there, a DJ set under the trees. The idea is simple: bring professional sound and talented local artists to spaces close to businesses, and see what happens.
“We’re kind of mixing this beautiful soup of creativity and bringing it across the city,” Mélanie says. “Multiple languages, multiple backgrounds. You might hear music you’re not familiar with already.”
A City That Sounds Like Nowhere Else
Ottawa’s music scene has a character all its own, and Mélanie thinks people are only starting to notice: “I think we punch way above our weight in talent in Ottawa There are particular quirks — of how the city works, how the people interact, our geographic area — that make it really unique. And we haven’t necessarily used that to our advantage.”
Part of what makes Ottawa distinct is the relationship its artists have with the city. Many hold day jobs and perform on evenings and weekends, not out of necessity the way a Toronto musician might hustle for rent.
“Our artists are doing it for the love of it,” Mélanie says. “So it’s a bit of a different feeling here.”
Another key element in Ottawa’s sound is the city’s unique cultural identity. At the convergence of three rivers, the region has long been a meeting place for Indigenous peoples, and today many First Nations, Inuit and Métis call this place home. The city is a hub for Francophone cultures, who come from across Ontario, over the bridges from Quebec and from around the world. And the city’s role as the Nation’s Capital means that people from all over the world flock to the ACE District, for work, embassies, business, family and more.
That diversity is at the heart of OMIC’s approach to music programming. It was also central to the celebratory song “Heart of This Place (Adàwe c’est ma ville)” which OMIC helped produce for Ottawa’s 200th anniversary celebration.
“Amanda Rheaume, our amazing artistic director, helped us ground the song in a space of respect for the land and the millennia that have been here before us,” Mélanie explains. “From there, every artist brought a different perspective, different stories, cultures and experiences. When those voices came together, they created something that feels true to Ottawa: a city shaped by many communities, woven together into one shared story.”
With an opening by Algonquin Elder, Annie St. George, the song is performed by Yaovi Hoyi, Jessica Pearson, Qattuu, Amanda Rheaume and Olivier Fairfield, and was written by Amanda Rheaume, Yaovi Hoyi, Jessica Pearson and Charlotte Carleton, with assistance from Avery Tarbell.
Capital Music Week Takes Over This October
Whether it’s on the street, in a bar, café, or one the ACE District’s growing number of venues, live music gives downtown Ottawa a regular beat. And it brings in people from across the city. That’s what Capital Music Week is all about.
This October, the biggest Capital Music Week to date will take over the ACE District and beyond with over 40 activations across nine days. The Capital Music Awards returns to Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre, a partnership that Mélanie sees as a milestone for how the city’s music scene is being recognized. Artist showcases will fill venues across the ACE District. And the Canada After Dark conference will gather national and international speakers in Ottawa for two days of conversation about nightlife, the creative economy and how cities can better support their music scenes.
“The lineup reflects the city itself,” Mélanie says. “From DJ’s, drag, and deathcore shows, to artists from the Congo and Indigenous, Métis and Francophone performers, we’re celebrating the many communities that make Ottawa’s music scene so vibrant. We want everyone to see themselves and get involved in Capital Music Week.”
What makes Capital Music Week different from other festival weeks is how it’s built. OMIC isn’t a production company running everything from the top down. Instead, they activate local promoters, co-curators and venues, braiding community-driven programming into something citywide. It might take a little more time to organize that way, but Mélanie believes the result is stronger because of it.
“Part of what we want to do with Capital Music Week is re-ignite this sense of discovery, weirdness, whimsy,” she says. “And I think the ACE District is the core of that.”
OMIC and the City of Ottawa are about to share economic impact numbers at the Canada After Dark conference this October. Early findings suggest the music industry contributed over $200 million to Ottawa’s GDP in 2025 alone.
Find It
Songs from the Shed plays Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch on Sparks Street. Live from the Booth takes over Saturday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. City Sounds Live pops up at locations across the district and beyond all summer long.
“If it’s a place that people want to live, then it’s automatically a place that people want to visit,” Mélanie says. “What we’re doing right now is really building the marketing around Ottawa’s identity. And that’s exciting.”
Follow the OMIC and the ACE District on Instagram and Facebook to find out what’s playing next.
