Traffic impacts in Little Italy for the Ottawa Italian Festival

The energy and excitement of Italian culture returns as the Ottawa Italian Festival takes over Little Italy from Friday, June 19 to Sunday, June 21. With music, dancing, cars and cuisine from across Italy, Preston Street will become a vibrant hub of activity featuring street parties, vehicle displays, car parades and more.

During the festival, there will be several traffic and transit impacts in the area.

Friday, June 19:

• Queen Elizabeth Driveway, between Preston Street and Crescent Heights, is closed between 6 am and 5 pm for the Dow’s Lake Concorso d’Eleganza.
• Preston Street, between Carling Avenue and Somerset Street West, is closed between 4 pm and 1 am for the Preston Street Party.
• Preston Street, between Prince of Wales Drive and Carling Avenue, is closed between 6 pm on Friday, June 19 and 11 pm on Saturday, June 20 for the Ferrari Demonstration Zone.
• Carling Avenue, between Sherwood Drive and Bronson Avenue, is closed between 6 pm on Friday, June 19 and 11 pm on Saturday, June 20 for the Ferrari Demonstration Zone.

Saturday, June 20:

• Preston Street, between Carling Avenue and Somerset Street West, is closed between 11 am and 1 am for the Preston Street Party and Italian Car Parade.

Sunday, June 21:

• Preston Street, between Carling Avenue and Somerset Street West, is closed between 11 am and 11 pm for the Preston Street Party.

Additional parking restrictions will be in effect in the areas mentioned above. Please watch for on-street signage.

For a full list of Italian Festival events and activities, visit ottawaitalianfestival.com.

For updates on construction and roadwork activity across Ottawa or for information about traffic and travel planning, visit the City’s traffic map.

Transit services will continue to be available, with some bus detours in place on Routes 8, 14, 56 and 85 due to road closures during the event. For convenient access to and from the event, customers can use O-Train Line 2 at Corso Italia and Dow’s Lake stations. 

Additional detour information and details will be shared on the OC Transpo alerts page. You can also connect with OC Transpo through Facebook, X, Bluesky and Instagram.