Saturday, November 21, and Saturday, November 28, each have events running from a church bazaar or arts market in the morning to a concert or a parade after dark. The other weekends are lighter and mostly set things up. Most of the holiday calendar sits on those two dates.
That's why it pays to mark the calendar now. The first event of the season is this Sunday, three days away, and the biggest night is four weeks after that.
This Sunday, the regular market comes first
The month opens with a market that has been running all year. The Heart of Orléans Market runs on the first Sunday of every month, and the BIA's event listing puts November's edition on Sunday, November 1, outdoors at Orléans Town Centre, 250 Centrum Blvd., and the Gravel Patch at Prestone Drive and Centrum Blvd. The BIA credits Amanda Watson as the organizer behind it.
The posted hours don't match. The November 1 event listing says 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the market's general information page says 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you need to arrive early or stay late, check with the organizer first.
This Sunday matters for planning because it's an ordinary market day. The holiday-specific events start a week later.
November 7 and 8, the first big holiday show
The first event built around Christmas shopping takes up a whole weekend. National Capital Artisans holds its Traditions Christmas Show on Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8, at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School, 1515 Tenth Line Rd. The event card lists a 10 a.m. start on the 7th and a 4 p.m. finish on the 8th.
This is the one major holiday show in Orléans that runs across both days of a weekend. Everything later in the month is a single-day event, which makes the dates themselves the hard part to plan around.
The weeknights in between are for Shenkman
From November 1 to November 21, most of the activity is indoors at Shenkman Arts Centre, and much of it is on weeknights.
- Tuesday, November 3, 7 p.m.: Maryna Krut in Harold Shenkman Hall
- Tuesday, November 3 and Wednesday, November 4, 2 p.m.: Matinée Café: A Concert to Remember with the Grey Jazz Big Band in Richcraft Theatre
- Thursday, November 19, 7 p.m.: CBC's Laugh Out Loud with Ali Hassan and special guests in Harold Shenkman Hall
None of these are holiday shows. They fill the weeknights during a stretch with almost nothing on the weekends between the artisans' show and the 21st. The two Grey Jazz matinées are also the only afternoon shows on Shenkman's November calendar, so they suit anyone who has weekdays free.
Saturday, November 21: three events, morning to night
This is the first of the two Saturdays, and the bazaar and the night market don't overlap. The night market and the concert do.
Morning. The Christmas Bazaar at Orléans United Church runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The listing describes handcrafted items, vintage treasures, jewellery, books, baking, freezer meals and a silent auction, with free admission and "lots of free parking."
Late afternoon into evening. The bazaar closes at 2 p.m., and the Orléans Artisan Legion's Night Market opens at 4 p.m. at Legion Branch 632, 800 Taylor Creek Dr., running until 9 p.m. It's hosted by Legion Branch 632 – Orléans, and it's the only market on this list that runs into the evening.
Evening. At 7 p.m., Susan Aglukark performs "Upinnaq—A Beautiful Christmas" in Harold Shenkman Hall. It's the first Christmas-themed concert on Shenkman's November lineup.
The night market runs until 9, so it's still open for the first two hours of the concert, and you'll have to decide whether you'll shop the Legion before or after the show. The two-hour gap between the bazaar and the night market makes the rest of the day easy to plan, and few Saturdays this season are set up that well.
The week between: Thursday and Friday shows at Shenkman
The days before the second Saturday add two more evening shows:
- Thursday, November 26, 7 p.m.: Tom Lavin & The Legendary Powder Blues in Harold Shenkman Hall
- Friday, November 27, 8 p.m.: Classic Troubadours: The Songs of Sheryl Crow & Stevie Nicks in Harold Shenkman Hall
The Friday show starts at 8 p.m., an hour later than Shenkman's other November evenings. It's a full evening the night before the season's longest day.
Saturday, November 28: the arts market and the Parade of Lights
The second Saturday is the busiest day of the season, and the schedule runs one event into the next.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free Orléans Holiday Arts Market fills the Lower Lobby at Shenkman Arts Centre, presented by Shenkman Arts Centre and YZETA Meeting and Event Management. Shenkman lists it as bilingual and open to all ages, with local vendors, children's activities and entertainment.
6 p.m. Santa's Parade of Lights starts on St-Joseph Blvd. in Orléans. Ottawa Tourism lists the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association as the organizer.
The parade site posts its route as an embedded map, with no written list of streets. For reference only, CTV News' coverage of the 2025 parade described last year's route as starting at St. Joseph Boulevard and Youville Drive, running along St. Joseph, and ending at Place d'Orléans Boulevard and St. Joseph. That was the 2025 parade, so check the map on the official route page before you pick a spot on the curb for 2026.
The parade has also shifted on the calendar. CTV listed the 2025 parade for Saturday, November 29. This year it's November 28, the same day as the Holiday Arts Market, so if you blocked off "the last Saturday of November" from memory, you're still on the right day.
That leaves two hours between the market closing at 4 p.m. and the parade starting at 6. That's enough time for dinner before the parade.
Why the season lands on two Saturdays
Taken together, the November calendar looks like this:
- Sunday, November 1: Heart of Orléans Market, the regular monthly market
- November 7 and 8: Traditions Christmas Show, the one two-day holiday show
- Weeknights, November 3 to 19: non-holiday shows at Shenkman
- Saturday, November 21: church bazaar, Legion night market, Aglukark's Christmas concert
- November 26 and 27: two more evening shows at Shenkman
- Saturday, November 28: Holiday Arts Market, then Santa's Parade of Lights
Each of the two big Saturdays has a daytime market, a short break, and an evening event. The 21st ends with a concert and the 28th ends with a parade. The bazaar, the Legion market and the Shenkman arts market each run for a single day, and the Traditions Christmas Show runs for one weekend only. If you miss one of these Saturdays, there's no second date for most of what's on it.
Two details aren't settled yet: the exact Heart of Orléans Market hours on November 1 and the 2026 parade route on St-Joseph. Both organizers have their own pages, and those pages will be updated before this list is.
If you're planning to sell in Orléans this winter, timing matters there too, much as it does for these November Saturdays. If you'd like to talk through when to list around the holidays, I'm happy to walk you through how the season tends to play out locally. Steve Brunet works with Orléans buyers and sellers in English and French. Let's Connect.
