Home field
Ottawa
Seven events since July 2025, in four rooms and on one church lawn. If you are planning something in the capital, you are on our home ground.
proso
- Millet. A small golden grain: nothing by the handful, everything by the field.
- An Ottawa event company that works on the same principle.
We sow it.You dance
on it.
Proso Entertainment produces cultural celebrations, music and dance nights, fairs and fundraisers. We grew up in Ottawa's Ukrainian community, and we build events for anyone with people worth gathering.
01The idea
There is an old Ukrainian spring song for two rows of dancers. One row sings: we sowed the millet. The other answers: and we will trample it. That is more or less the job. We prepare the ground - a room, a stage, a table, a cause - and then a crowd arrives and dances all over it.
Our history so far is Ukrainian: seven events with the community that raised us. The craft travels. If your community, company or cause has something to mark, we would like to help you mark it properly.
- Home
- Ottawa, Ontario
- First event
- Ottawa Kupala Night, 5 July 2025
- What we produce
- Cultural celebrations, music and dance nights, community gatherings, fairs and markets, fundraisers
- On the mic
- Ukrainian-led so far, with English alongside so that every guest can follow. Tell us what your room speaks.
- Founder
- Mykhaylo Pavlov - DJ, MC and radio host (Dyktorpavlov), producer of the Ukrainian programme on CHIN Radio Ottawa 97.9 FM
02The harvest so far
Seven events in fourteen months.
Everything below happened, on the date and at the address shown. Dates, venues and line-ups come from the public event listings. The artwork is each event's original poster, not a photograph.
Original event poster The fair's second year, back inside Invest Ottawa. A craft market of handmade jewellery, artwork, embroidered shirts and home decor. A row of Ukrainian businesses and brands meeting their neighbours. A stage that ran all day with performers from Ottawa, Toronto and Montréal. Ukrainian food and drink. Free to walk in, free to park.
- Sat 5 Sep 2026
- 10:00 - 16:00
Invest Ottawa, 7 Bayview Station Rd, Ottawa
Free admission - Format
- Craft market, business showcase, live stage, food
- Open calls
- Food vendors, retail vendors, artists, sponsors and volunteers all applied through public forms
Original event poster Ivana Kupala, the midsummer night of wreaths and fern flowers, restaged in a brewery for up to 150 guests. People wove their own flower crowns with floral artist Anna Pientsova, sat for portraits by photographer Maryna Shum, and moved from a live programme into an ethno after-party. Dress code: traditional or ethno style. No bonfire. Canadian rules.
- Sat 4 Jul 2026
- 19:00 - 23:00
Overflow Brewing Company, 2477 Kaladar Ave, Ottawa
Ticketed, ages 12+ - On the bill
- Ukies Choir, Trio Zhyvytsia, Duo SOLODA, Viacheslav Nitrutsa, DJ Denis Nisim, DJ Dyktorpavlov
- Raised for
- Part of the proceeds went to COIN.TacMed and to Ukrainian Radio in Ottawa on CHIN FM 97.9
Original event poster A charity club night on the eve of 8 March. A welcome drink at the door, a gift for every woman in the room, and a two-colour wristband system so guests could signal whether they were in the mood to be talked to. Hosted by MC Tommy in Canada, with Duo SOLODA live and DJ Dyktorpavlov closing.
- Sat 7 Mar 2026
- 22:00 - 01:30
Speakeasy Tapas Lounge, 55 York St, Ottawa
Ticketed, ages 19+ - On the bill
- MC Tommy in Canada, Duo SOLODA, DJ Dyktorpavlov
- Raised for
- All profits from ticket sales went to "Kokhanyi, ya zhyvu!", a community supporting Ukrainian women who lost their husbands in the war
- Sponsor on the poster
- BCU Financial Group
Original event poster An outdoor dance in February, on purpose. While attacks on Ukraine's power grid left people without heat or light, Ottawa stepped into the cold for an afternoon of remixed Ukrainian songs, hot drinks and a children's corner on the cathedral lawn. Organised together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, with a City of Ottawa noise by-law exemption in hand.
- Sun 15 Feb 2026
- 14:00 - 16:00
Lawn of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, 1000 Byron Ave, Ottawa
Free admission, all ages - Music
- DJ Dyktorpavlov
- Raised for
- A power generator for a Point of Invincibility in Kyiv. Fundraising was managed by the Cathedral
- Media partner
- Ukrainian Radio Ottawa, CHIN 97.9 FM
Original event poster The St. Andrew's Eve gathering, where fortunes are told and nobody is expected to behave. A show programme with wax fortune-telling, the kalyta bread-biting game and contests. A Cossack table of Ukrainian dishes. A four-part photo zone by Montréal designer Ulana Sakhno. Then a DJ set from ten o'clock. Every guest went home with a handmade beeswax candle.
- Sat 13 Dec 2025
- 19:00 - 23:30
Ukrainian Banquet and Convention Hall, 1000 Byron Ave, Ottawa
Ticketed, ages 18+ - On the bill
- MCs Zoryana Shimchik-Boyanovych and Andrey Szymczyk, Viacheslav Nitrutsa, Anna Stoianova, Khrystyna and Dmytro Andronatii, Anastasia Demyaniuk (Manu), Olga Lemeshko, Maria Barkhan, Taras Borodai, DJ Dyktorpavlov
- Raised for
- Half of the 50/50 raffle went to the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, Ottawa Branch
- Sponsors on the listing
- BCU Financial (gold), UCU Limited (bronze), CHIN Radio Ottawa 97.9 FM (media)
Original event poster The first fair. Handmade jewellery, paintings, clothing and food from makers in Ottawa and beyond. A stage with performers from Ottawa, Toronto and Montréal. Lessons in motanka dolls and straw weaving with Anna Pientsova. And a silent auction running alongside.
- Sat 30 Aug 2025
- 10:00 - 17:00
Invest Ottawa, 7 Bayview Station Rd, Ottawa
Free admission - Organised by
- Ukrainian Radio in Ottawa 97.9 FM, Proso Entertainment and Dyktorpavlov Events
- Raised for
- Silent auction proceeds went toward drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Original event poster Where it started. The first Kupala Night was staged by the team behind Proso together with Ukrainian Radio Ottawa: a flower crown workshop, portraits, a raffle of gifts from local makers, vendors, live sets from Ottawa and Montréal artists, and a closing set from Toronto's DJ SoJune. Your host for the night was MC Dyktorpavlov.
- Sat 5 Jul 2025
- 19:00 - 23:30
Overflow Brewing Company, 2477 Kaladar Ave, Ottawa
Ticketed, ages 12+ - On the bill
- DJ Denys Karpov, Ola Soyka, Khrystyna Andronatii and Dmytro Prime, Viacheslav Nitrutsa, Trio Zhyvytsia, DJ SoJune
- Raised for
- Ukrainian-language broadcasting on CHIN FM 97.9, tactical medicine through the Ottawa initiative C.O.IN, and Oleksandr Kiyanitsa's fundraising walks for hospitals in Ukraine
- Attendees, per Eventbrite
- 167
03From the room
One night, kept.
Andriyivski Vechornytsi, 13 December 2025, at the Ukrainian Banquet and Convention Hall. Sixteen frames, in the order the evening happened.
We usually bring a professional photographer to our events, so the night outlives the night. At Kupala there is a portrait corner as well, for guests in their flower crowns.
01The fortune-telling corner, before doors 02The Cossack table 03Soloha, ready with candle and wax 04A full hall at 1000 Byron Avenue 05A contest, with volunteers from the tables 06A live set from the stage 07Aerial hoop, between the tables 08Accordion on the stage, a circle on the floor 09Play money in the air 10Singing straight to the dance floor 11Light-wing dancers 12After ten o'clock 13Somewhere in the middle of it 14The floor, full 15The DJ set 16Last light
Photographs: Proso Entertainment
04In the ground
Next date: not announced yet.
We would rather say that than invent one. So far the year has had a shape: a winter night in December, a dance in the February snow, a club night in March, Kupala in early July, a fair as summer ends. That is a record, not a promise. New dates go up on Eventbrite and Facebook first.
Or put your own date on the calendar- 1Kupala Night
- 2Sorochynsky Fair
- 3Andriyivski Vechornytsi
- 4Resilience Dance
- 5Women's Night
- 6Kupala Night
- 7Sorochynsky Fair
When Proso events have taken place, by month, July 2025 to September 2026
05How a night gets grown
Seven things we put in the ground.
Not a service list. This is what our events have actually been made of.
A reason
The fortune-telling corner, before doors Every event has started from an occasion that already meant something: St. Andrew's Eve, Kupala, a harvest fair, the eve of 8 March. Bring us yours - a national day, a milestone, a launch, a memorial - and we will build the night around it.
Something to do with your hands
Soloha, ready with candle and wax Guests weave their own flower crowns. They pour wax to read a fortune. They try to bite the kalyta bread without laughing. A room that has made something together stops being an audience.
A stage for local artists
Singing straight to the dance floor Choirs, duos, trios, singers and DJs from Ottawa, Montréal and Toronto have played our events. We book the people a community already loves, and a few it is about to.
A table, and at the fairs a market
The Cossack table, up close A Cossack table at the winter night. A buffet by local cooks at Kupala. Borshch at the fair, with a whole market of makers and local businesses around it. Food is part of the programme, not a line on the invoice.
A cause, named in advance
Raffle baskets, donated by local businesses When an event raises money, it says up front where the money goes: a generator for Kyiv, women who lost husbands in the war, tactical medicine, community radio. Local businesses donate the raffle baskets. Guests like to know what they are dancing for.
A dance floor
The floor, full Our nights end the same way: the chairs go back and a DJ takes over. Ukrainian club music, folk hooks, the songs everyone knows by heart. This is the part people came for.
A photographer
Last light We usually bring a professional photographer, and at Kupala a portrait corner for guests in their flower crowns. The pictures on this page are from one of those nights.
06Receipts
Receipts, not adjectives.
7
public events produced in Ottawa
July 2025 to September 2026
419
attendees hosted
Our public Eventbrite organiser profile, October 2026. The first Kupala Night counted a further 167 on its own listing.
4+1
four rooms and one church lawn
A brewery, an innovation hub, a banquet hall, a lounge, and the grounds of a cathedral
$5K+
donated directly to Ukraine
As stated on our TikTok profile
On our stages
- Ukies Choir
- Trio Zhyvytsia
- Duo SOLODA
- Viacheslav Nitrutsa
- DJ SoJune
- Denis Nisim
- MC Tommy in Canada
- Ola Soyka
- Anna Stoianova
- Manu
- DJ Dyktorpavlov
Hosted at
- Overflow Brewing Company
- Invest Ottawa
- Ukrainian Banquet and Convention Hall
- Speakeasy Tapas Lounge
- Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Byron Ave
Raised for
- A generator for a Point of Invincibility in Kyiv
- Kokhanyi, ya zhyvu!
- COIN.TacMed
- Ukrainian Radio Ottawa
- UWAC Ottawa Branch
- Oleksandr Kiyanitsa's hospital walks
Supporters credited on our events
- BCU Financial
- UCU Limited
- CHIN Radio Ottawa 97.9 FM
- Solvis Law
- Comfort Shoes Plus
- Frank's Bakery & Catering Goods
- KNYGA.ca
Do not take our word for it. Watch the whole thing.
Proso events are also listed on the community calendar of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Ottawa Branch.
07Fields
One field sown. Two in mind.
Ottawa is where every Proso event has happened. Montréal and Toronto are where we would like to work next. Nothing has been staged there yet, and we will say so until it has.
Enquiries open, no events yet
Montréal
about 200 km east
Montréal is already in the room. Duo SOLODA, singer Viacheslav Nitrutsa and designer Ulana Sakhno all travel from there to our Ottawa nights. If you have a hall, a community or a date, we want to hear about it.
Enquiries open, no events yet
Toronto
about 450 km south-west
DJ SoJune came up from Toronto to close the first Kupala Night, and the fair's programme has billed performers from Toronto. We have not produced an event there. We would like to.
08Enquiries and collaborations
Bring us a date, a room or just a reason.
Clients, communities, artists, vendors, sponsors, venues and volunteers all start in the same place. Fill in the sentence and we will take it from there.
You bringthe people.We will sowthe rest.
One email is enough to start. Tell us the occasion and the city, and we will come back with questions.
info@proso.caWrite to usAndriyivski Vechornytsi, Ottawa, 13 December 2025