The Beechwood Market at New Edinburgh Park, 203 Stanley Avenue, holds its last Saturday of the season this weekend, Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. After that, most of the neighbourhood's calendar moves to the far end of Beechwood Avenue. Between Nov. 3 and Dec. 6, Beechwood Cemetery at 280 Beechwood Avenue has eight public events on its calendar. The New Edinburgh Park Fieldhouse has four over the same stretch.
The month opens with ceremonies at military headstones. It moves into a poetry night and a Bytown singalong, reaches the back lanes on Nov. 28, and ends with candles at the cemetery on Dec. 6. Here is the full run, in order:
- Tue. Nov. 3, 10:30 a.m.: No Stone Left Alone, National Military Cemetery at Beechwood
- Sun. Nov. 8, 10:45 a.m.: RCMP Veterans' Week Memorial Service, with arrival by 10:30
- Sun. Nov. 8, 2 p.m.: Amicitia France-Canada Remembrance Day ceremony
- Wed. Nov. 11, 10:30 a.m.: National Military Cemetery's annual Remembrance Day service
- Thu. Nov. 12, 1 to 3:30 p.m.: Seniors Social Group speaker, the Fieldhouse
- Tue. Nov. 17, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: an evening celebrating Archibald Lampman, Beechwood
- Sat. Nov. 21, 10:45 a.m.: Lebanese-Canadian military remembrance ceremony, with arrival by 10:30
- Sun. Nov. 22, 1:30 to 3 p.m.: Songs of Old Bytown singalong, Beechwood
- Tue. Nov. 24, 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Acoustic Music Circle drop-in
- Thu. Nov. 26, 1 to 3:30 p.m.: Seniors Social Group tea, the Fieldhouse
- Sat. Nov. 28, 4 to 7 p.m.: Holiday Lights Gathering, the Fieldhouse
- Thu. Dec. 3, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Seniors Social Group potluck luncheon, the Fieldhouse
- Sun. Dec. 6, 6 p.m.: Christmas Candlelight Service, Beechwood
- Tue. Dec. 8, 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Acoustic Music Circle drop-in
The first week belongs to the headstones
The season starts on a Tuesday morning. At No Stone Left Alone on Nov. 3 at 10:30 a.m., participants place poppies on soldiers' headstones in the National Military Cemetery. It is a hands-on ceremony, and it sets the tone for the month.
Sunday, Nov. 8 has two ceremonies on the same grounds. In the morning, the RCMP Veterans' Week Memorial Service takes place at the RCMP National Memorial Cemetery inside Beechwood. Guests are asked to arrive by 10:30 a.m. for the 10:45 a.m. service. At 2 p.m., the Amicitia France-Canada Remembrance Day ceremony gathers at the Amicitia monument in Section 27. It includes wreath-laying, remarks, both anthems and the Act of Remembrance.
On Nov. 11 itself, the cemetery lists the National Military Cemetery's annual Remembrance Day service at 10:30 a.m. Military members of the National Capital Region and their families and friends are invited.
That makes four ceremonies in nine days, and all of them are within walking distance for most of New Edinburgh and Lindenlea. Beechwood allows visitors on the grounds daily from sunrise to sunset. Anyone who wants a quieter visit can come on any of the in-between days.
Mid-month, the cemetery turns to poetry and song
Once Remembrance week is over, Beechwood's programming changes. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., the cemetery hosts an evening of poetry celebrating Archibald Lampman. The cemetery calls him one of Canada's most important early poets. The evening is presented with Ottawa's Poet Laureate, with support from the League of Canadian Poets and Arc Poetry Magazine.
Remembrance continues that Saturday. On Nov. 21, the third annual Lebanese-Canadian Military Remembrance Ceremony takes place at Beechwood's Sacred Space during Lebanese Heritage Month. Arrive by 10:30 a.m. for the 10:45 a.m. start. The public is welcome, and a short reception follows.
The next afternoon is the most local event of the month. The Historical Society of Ottawa presents Songs of Old Bytown with Maura Volante, a free, all-ages singalong of traditional Ottawa Valley folk songs. It runs Sunday, Nov. 22, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre. The Society ties it to Bytown's 200th anniversary this year. The cemetery's listing describes it as a chance to learn "the soundtrack to old Bytown," including songs the loggers sang about their lives.
The poetry night and the singalong are the first cemetery events this season that are not ceremonies, and they open Beechwood's calendar to evenings and weekend afternoons.
The Fieldhouse holds the weekday afternoons
While Beechwood has the larger events, the New Edinburgh Park Fieldhouse at 203 Stanley Avenue keeps a steady weekday rhythm through the New Edinburgh Seniors Social Group. Local historian Janet Uren speaks there on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. The group gathers again for tea on Nov. 26 in the same time slot. The season wraps with a seasonal potluck luncheon on Dec. 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and attendees are asked to bring a dish.
For musicians, the Lindenlea community association passes along a Rockcliffe Park Library notice. Drop-in Acoustic Music Circle sessions for players aged 16 and up run Nov. 24 and Dec. 8, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 28 brings the season into the back lanes
The Fieldhouse's biggest night is the Crichton Community Council's annual Holiday Lights Gathering on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. The Christchurch Cathedral Choirs and the New Edinburgh Choir perform. There is an outdoor fire and ornament-making, and hot chocolate and mulled wine are for sale. Santa arrives by horse-drawn wagon at 5 p.m., and an elf with a tripod will take photos with your camera.
The horse-drawn wagon takes riders past the holiday lights, and the Council's page describes those lights as being on the back lanes. In the Council's words:
"Residents are put additional effort every year into illuminating their homes, garages, fences, and yards facing the back lanes."
The Council also asks the neighbourhood to "light up the neighbourhood by the end of November." The gathering on Nov. 28 falls in the last weekend of that window. Guests are asked to bring finger foods to share and non-perishable food items for people in need.
Dec. 6 brings the season back to Beechwood
One week after the back lanes light up, the season returns to the cemetery. Beechwood's Christmas Candlelight Service runs Sunday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. The cemetery describes it as a non-denominational service and a way to remember loved ones.
The season that began with poppies on a Tuesday morning ends with candles on a Sunday evening. Both events are in the same place.
Between stops on Beechwood Avenue
The walk between the Fieldhouse and the cemetery runs along Beechwood Avenue. That stretch is also the subject of the City's Beechwood Avenue Public Realm Plan, a functional design study covering the street from the Vanier Parkway to Beechwood Cemetery. The design goals include sidewalks at least two metres wide, a raised cycle track and protected intersection elements. The plan also proposes partial one-way access at Douglas Avenue, Commanda Way and Champlain Avenue, plus a possible closure of Chapleau Avenue to general traffic from Beechwood, with access kept from Putman Avenue. All of these are proposals. The comment period has closed, the City says the design is subject to change, and the study is described as a first step toward a later construction project. No construction date is posted. The project page was last updated Oct. 23, 2026.
Two smaller changes are closer at hand. Bus-stop work running through early December includes reinstating the shelter on Crichton Street east of Beechwood Avenue. On Crichton between Union and Queen Victoria, enough residents supported 90-minute weekday parking limits and Residential/Guest Permit zones to pass the 66% threshold, and implementation was expected this fall. Anyone driving to the weekday seniors' gatherings may want to check the signs.
Some places to warm up before or after an event:
- Beechwood Diner, 55 Beechwood Avenue, lists hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. That covers a coffee before a 10:30 a.m. ceremony or a meal after the Candlelight Service.
- La Taqueria, 51 Beechwood Avenue, opens daily from 4 to 9 p.m. It suits the evening events: the Lampman night, the Holiday Lights Gathering and Dec. 6.
- Union Street Kitchen Café, 42 Crichton Street, says it is open every day for takeout. It is the closest of the three to the Crichton end of the neighbourhood.
The Fieldhouse's last event of the season is the Dec. 3 potluck. The cemetery's is the Dec. 6 Candlelight Service. If you'd like to talk through how this part of the city fits what you want next, whether that's staying close to Beechwood or moving somewhere new, Serge Papineau and the team are glad to start with a conversation. Book a Discovery Call.
