Everything to know about Capital Music Week 2026

# What changed this year

# Who the week is for The event continues to serve the music industry: managers, promoters, venues, DJs and others will find conferences, panels and networking parties. At the same time, the schedule includes several events designed for fans, creatives and curious residents, including free activities and accessible workshops.

# Industry programming to note

• An indie music-biz conference and a series of networking parties are on the schedule.
• Canada After Dark, Ottawa's nightlife forum, returns with a keynote by Ariel Palitz, described as the nightlife mayor of New York City.

These sessions are useful for people involved in venue operations, nightlife policy and artist development.

# Public events and highlights Below are five events highlighted in the program that are open to the public and represent the range of what's planned Oct. 2–10.

A collaboration called Ottawa 200 paired eight established Ottawa-area photographers with emerging photographers and assigned each pair a café to document local music life. The resulting photo gallery will be shown during October at several locations, including Art House Café, Drip House and five Happy Goat cafés.

A site-specific immersive performance at the Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre will feature the building's large pipe organ alongside musician Kim Farris-Manning and multidisciplinary artist Kwende Kefentse. They will create and layer sound and video in real time. Tickets are $30 and are available at showpass.com.

Songwriting workshop with Kalle Mattson (Oct. 5) Juno-nominated songwriter and Carleton University instructor Kalle Mattson will lead a free, hands-on songwriting and lyrics workshop at Irene's Pub (885 Bank St.) at 7 p.m. The session covers fundamentals Mattson teaches in upper‑level university courses, including five core lyric categories and practical songwriting exercises. RSVP at frontdoorplus.com.

Multiple free or low-cost events make the week approachable for people who are curious about the local scene but not part of the music business. Check event pages for RSVPs, ticket links, exact times and venue addresses.

# What to plan for

• Dates: Oct. 2–10, 2026.

• RSVP: Some workshops require RSVP (e.g., Kalle Mattson's session via frontdoorplus.com).