Why Go Schedule Special Events Essentials Getting There Tips FAQ

🐎 Ottawa Dressage Festival 📅 May 28 – 31, 2026 📍 Wesley Clover Park, Nepean 🅾 Free Admission & Parking 👶 Family Friendly 🏆 CDI/CPEDI International

Ottawa Dressage Festival 2026 — World-Class Riding in the Capital

Most people who’ve never been to a dressage show picture it as quiet, polite, and a little hard to follow. Then they actually go to one — preferably an international one — and realise it’s closer to watching a figure skater and a ballet dancer share one body, except the body is a 1,200-pound horse and the choreography is invisible.

The Ottawa Dressage Festival — aka ODF — is the city’s annual taste of that, and it’s one of only a handful of CDI/CPEDI-sanctioned shows in Canada. From May 28 to 31, 2026 at Wesley Clover Park, top Canadian riders and their international counterparts will compete across Grand Prix freestyle, Para-Dressage, Rising Stars, Western Dressage, and a full Gold & Bronze national show. And the best part for spectators? Admission and parking are completely free.

🏆 CDI/CPEDI international classes 🔮 Gold & Bronze national show 🎧 Grand Prix Freestyle ⭐ Rising Stars (youth) 🤠 Western Dressage demo 🛒 Vendors’ Village

👀 Spectator Info Official Website → 📍 Get Directions

💡 Riding times are now posted for both the CDI/CPEDI and the Gold & Bronze Show on Equestrian Hub — handy if you want to time your visit around a specific class or rider.

✨ Why This Festival Is Worth Your Time

A CDI is an international dressage event sanctioned by the FEI — the same governing body behind the Olympics. A CPEDI is its Para-Dressage equivalent. Ottawa hosts one of the few in the country each year, which means you can watch riders at this level without ever leaving the city, and you can do it for free.

If you’ve never watched dressage in person, the Grand Prix Freestyle on Saturday evening is the best place to start. Riders choreograph an advanced routine to music — sometimes classical, sometimes a pop remix — and the result is genuinely strange and beautiful: a horse appearing to dance, while the rider does almost nothing visible. It’s one of those events that converts skeptics on the first try.

There’s also plenty going on around the rings. A Vendors’ Village with equestrian gear, artisan goods, and gifts. A Western Dressage demo on Saturday for the curious. A youth-focused Rising Stars program with its own welcome party and ride-off. And a covered hub tent (“The Hub”) where you can watch the main ring, grab popcorn, and join in on the receptions and pizza parties.

📅 What’s On: Day by Day

Four days of competition, with the biggest spectator moments concentrated Thursday afternoon through Saturday evening.

🎉 Special Events at The Hub

“The Hub” is the main tent and the social heart of the festival. Open to everyone — competitors, families, casual spectators — and home to most of the bonus programming.

📍 The Essentials

🚗 Getting There

Wesley Clover Park sits at 401 Corkstown Road in Nepean, just west of central Ottawa near the Greenbelt. There’s a large on-site parking lot, and parking is completely free for the festival — one of those small details that makes a big difference when you’re bringing the family.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

🎧 If you only come for one event, make it Saturday afternoon/evening. The Rising Stars Ride-Off at 1pm, then Reception at 4:30pm, then the Grand Prix Freestyle — you get a full sampler of the festival in about five hours.

🔔 Check the riding times first. They’re posted on Equestrian Hub for both the CDI/CPEDI and the Gold & Bronze show. Pick a few classes you want to see and plan around them — otherwise it’s easy to arrive at a quiet ring.

🌿 Dress for outdoor weather. Late May in Ottawa can swing from sun to wind to chilly evenings. Layers, comfortable shoes (you’ll walk on grass and gravel), and sunscreen.

👶 Bringing kids? The Pony Cup pizza on Friday, the Rising Stars Ride-Off on Saturday, and free popcorn at the Pony Cup booth in The Hub all add up to a surprisingly kid-friendly day. The horses themselves are usually the best part for first-time young viewers.

🛒 Save some time for the Vendors’ Village. Equestrian gear, artisan goods, and small Canadian makers. Even non-riders tend to find something they didn’t know they wanted.

❓ Common Questions

A Free Weekend with World-Class Riding 🐎

It’s rare to get a four-day FEI-sanctioned event in your own city without paying a cent for entry. Bring friends, bring family, bring someone who’s never seen a horse compete — ODF is one of Ottawa’s quiet gems.