2026 Ottawa O-Fest Major Event
May 9th 2026 10:00am - May 10th 2026 3:00pm
Organizer: Andrew Cornett (Event Director)
Ottawa O-Fest - May 9-10 - The Ark
Kick off the local orienteering season with a bang by entering Orienteering Ottawa's 2-day O-Fest on the May 9-10 weekend. This year O-Fest returns to the wonderful wilderness terrain at the Ark, near Denholm QC, 55km north of central Ottawa. The Ark was last used for orienteering in 2023 and in early May should offer some hilly, bug-free forest running with great visibility.
This event is open to everyone: there are standard age- and gender-based classes for competitive orienteers and navigators, as well as non-competitive recreational classes at the beginner and intermediate levels. Small prizes will be awarded to those with the lowest 2-day total time in each competitive age class. Our hosts at the Ark will offer you a hot BBQ lunch after your run both days if you choose that option during registration.
Consult the O-Fest website here for further information. Pre-registration is required and is available now through Zone4 here. Lower “early bird” fees are in effect until March 31, while April 30 is the last day to register.
If you are interested in volunteering at O-Fest, please send a note to ofest@ottawaoc.ca. There are opportunities to help out at the on-site information desk and with vetting, control pick-up, arena setup, post-race nutrition, and starts.
I look forward to seeing many of you out in the woods this spring!
Andrew Cornett, O-Fest Event Director
Major Event
Major Events such as these require advanced registration and we suggest you proceed to their home page for full event information.