Event & Festival Catering in Ottawa

The events we cater

Festivals and street fairs, cultural days, markets, school and church fundraisers, community picnics, sports tournaments and company family days: wherever an organiser has a team to feed or guests to host, the table comes to the site. OH! plans for roughly 12 to 50 guests per table, and a larger crowd is a question to send us with the date; the reply says plainly whether we can take it.

• Volunteer and staff meals, timed to the shift change
• The artists’ or speakers’ green room
• The sponsors’ or VIP tent
• The opening reception and the organisers’ thank-you evening
• Company picnics and family days

Feeding volunteers and staff

An event day starts hours before the gates open, and the people setting it up eat in shifts, standing, between radio calls. A share table suits that: nobody waits for a plate, each shift takes what it needs, and the table is composed on site in 45 to 90 minutes before the first break. Where it is the main meal of the day, plan on ten to fourteen pieces per guest and 300 to 400 g of food per person, with substantial savoury items carrying the shift.

The green room and the sponsors’ tent

Artists, speakers and sponsors arrive across the afternoon and want something good within reach between commitments. A grazing table of cheese, cured meat, fruit, dips and bakery holds through that window with every item labelled, and medovik, kartoshka cakes and nalysnyky make the sweet run for after the set. Our grazing tables page carries the format in full.

Outdoors, under a tent

A table outside needs shade, a cold base under the dairy and the cured meat, and a plan for the wind. A table holding dairy and cured meat comes down after about two hours at room temperature, and after about one hour once the space is warmer than about 32 °C. That is Health Canada’s rule for perishable food, and on a hot site the table goes out in two waves around it. Our backyard party catering page sets out the outdoor plan in detail.

A food stand at your festival

On 13 September 2026 OH! ran its own food stand at UAFest 2026, in Riverside Park, Carleton Place, from noon to six: varenyky, grilled Ukrainian sausage, medovik, kartoshka cakes and nalysnyky were among the dishes sold from the tent. An organiser looking for a food vendor can send us the date, the site, the hours and the expected crowd, and the reply says whether we can take the stand and which dishes we would bring. Our Ukrainian catering page lists the dishes.

Vendor rules and paperwork

Festivals and city sites usually set rules for every food supplier: a vendor application, a health-unit permit, a certificate of insurance. OH! has no liability policy in its own name today, so a certificate of insurance is something we cannot supply. Send the event’s vendor requirements with your first message and we check them before quoting; a team meal delivered to your own tent, hall or office is where the table works most easily.

Who is on site

Guests and volunteers serve themselves at a share table, every item carries a card, and the leftovers are boxed for you before we leave. A styled table is built to run itself, so most events need nobody standing behind it. Where yours needs hands on the floor, say so when you enquire and we will tell you straight away whether we can cover your date and what it would take.

Dietary needs in a crowd

A volunteer list is the guest list you know least about. Every card names the item first and its dietary markers underneath, and the dietary needs come with the final head count. Share dietary preferences and allergy information when you enquire. We plan suitable choices and label the table clearly. For severe or life-threatening allergies we talk through cross-contact before you book, and we cannot guarantee allergen-free preparation on a shared table.

What it costs

From $42 per guest for the food and the styled build, with the working range at $42–$65 per guest; a table that is the main meal of a shift sits at the top of it. The $600 event minimum applies before delivery and taxes, delivery and on-site styling are $45 within 25 km, and a site past that is quoted for its address before you book. Hot dishes are quoted per event on their own line.

Corporate events and working days

A client reception, a product launch or a team celebration at the office has a page of its own: our corporate catering page. Lunch on the table for a training day or a meeting is on our office catering page.

Booking an event date

Event dates are usually set months ahead, which suits a booking. A 30% deposit and a signed quote hold the date, the balance is due 3 days before, and the final head count is due 7 days before, once the volunteer roster is set. A date moved more than 14 days out gets its deposit back. Enquiries are usually answered within an hour, and always within one business day.