Road closures in Little Italy for the festival this weekend. Here’s what to expect

The Italian Festival is taking over Little Italy this weekend, set to take place from Friday, June 14 to Sunday, June 16.

Founded in 1975, Italian Week Ottawa celebrates Italian culture highlighting traditional music, cuisine, performances, an annual car parade and more.

While Italian Week Ottawa kicked off on Wednesday, June 5th, the Italian Festival finale weekend will take over the streets June 14 at 6 p.m. until Sunday at 11 p.m.

The festivities — including street parties and car parades — will take place on Preston Street, running between Scott Street in the north and Prince of Wales Drive and Queen Elizabeth Driveway in the south.

During the festival’s final weekend, there will be several traffic and transit impacts, the City of Ottawa wrote in a news release.

The following is a list of road closures from Friday to Sunday:

Friday, June 14:

• Queen Elizabeth Driveway, between Preston Street and Torrington Place, closed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the Concorso d’Eleganza.
• Preston Street, between Carling Avenue and Somerset Street West, closed between 3 p.m. and 1 a.m. for the Italian Street Festival.
• Carling Avenue, between Preston Street and Sherwood Drive, closed between 6 p.m. on Friday, June 14 and 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 16 for the Ferrari Demonstration Zone.

Saturday, June 15:

• Preston Street, between Carling Avenue and Somerset Street West, closed between 11 a.m. and 1 a.m. for the Italian Street Festival and Italian Car Parade.
• Carling Avenue, between Preston Street and Sherwood Drive, closed between 6 p.m. on Friday, June 14 and 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 16 for the Ferrari Demonstration Zone.

Sunday, June 16:

• Preston Street, between Carling and Gladstone Avenues, closed between 7 a.m. and 9:30 p.m for the Preston Street Bike Races.
• Preston Street, between Carling Avenue and Somerset Street West, closed between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. for the Italian Street Festival.

Parking restrictions will be in effect in the areas mentioned above. The City of Ottawa is asking residents to refer to on-street signage.

OC Transpo will be available, with minor detours due to road closures during the event.

For service updates, visit OC Transpo’s Alerts page. Residents can also find updates via OC Transpo’s Facebook, Twitter (X) or Instagram pages.

For a full list of events and activities, click here.