This past weekend was Westfest, a 6-year-old outdoor annual arts festival in one of Ottawa’s hottest ‘hoods, Westborough. Tens of thousands of visitors enjoy this family-friendly and free event, which features all sorts of creative talents — anything from spoken word to visual media, from theatre to performance art — and it is driven by one tireless and passionate Elaina Martin, founder and producer of the annual mindblowing weekend, and her army of volunteers.

As a music-head, I tend to get most excited about the singers and groups who come through. Below are a few highlights from Saturday and Sunday…

I had seen Lake of Stew earlier this spring, and was keen to see them again. They did not disappoint — here they are, performing “Down, Down, Down”, in front of a mini-mosh pit:

On Sunday, producer Dave Draves showed us his performing side, and was joined by friends on stage. I shot this video of lovely local singer/songwriter Jill Zmud, who will soon be releasing her first cd, performing “Reconcile” with Dave, Chris Page, and Christine and Jerusha from Ottawa’s Voices of Praise Choir:

The highlight of my weekend was The Acorn, who headlined Sunday evening. I’d seen them a handful of times, but it’d been about a year and a half since I’d last seen the local sweethearts play; since then, they’d gotten a shout-out on Kanye West’s blog (!!!) and did a European tour… and well, they rocked my socks. They seemed incredibly together, comfortable, spot on, and still keen about the music and performance. I’ve always been awed by Jeffrey Malecki’s drumming (so intricate, deliberate, understated) so wasn’t sure what a second percussionist would add, but Pat Johnson put me in my place. Everything was just so. Here’s my 5′ 3″-view of them performing “Brokered Heart”:

What an inspiring event, all ’round… I’ll be back there for Year 7!

music Dave Draves, Elaina Martin, Jill Zmud, Lake of Stew, The Acorn, Westfest 2009