A Ballad for Bovines
Ottawa's music scene has seen some unusual venues, but none quite like this: on Tuesday evening, tuba player Justin Hickmott took his instrument to the Canadian Agriculture Museum and performed a full serenade for the museum's cows as they made their daily parade to the night pasture.
The performance was exactly what it sounds like — a musician, a herd of cows, and the kind of spontaneous Ottawa moment that reminds you why this city is genuinely delightful.
The Audience Was Unmoved (Literally)
Hickmott stationed himself along the path the bovines travel each evening from the barn to their nighttime grazing area, tuba in hand, and let loose. The cows, for their part, responded with the serene indifference only livestock can muster — some glancing over, others plodding steadily past, seemingly unbothered by the low brass rumbling in their direction.
Whether or not the cows appreciated the concert is up for debate. What's not up for debate is that it made for an absolutely charming scene at one of Ottawa's most underrated attractions.
About the Canadian Agriculture Museum
The Canadian Agriculture Museum, located on the Central Experimental Farm in the heart of Ottawa, is one of those places that's easy to overlook if you've lived here a while — but it's a genuine gem. Part of the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum network, it's home to working farm animals including dairy cows, horses, pigs, and sheep, giving city residents a rare chance to connect with Canada's agricultural roots without leaving the capital.
The museum offers educational programming year-round and is a favourite field trip destination for Ottawa-area school groups. The evening cow parade — a daily ritual as the animals are moved to their nighttime pasture — has become something of a quiet spectacle for visitors who time their visit just right.
Ottawa's Unofficial Farm Concert Series
There's no word yet on whether Hickmott plans to expand his bovine concert series to other animals on the property — though one imagines the pigs and horses might have opinions. Ottawa's music community is known for finding creative performance spaces, from Confederation Park to the Rideau Canal skateway, but a working farm barn corridor may be a new frontier.
If nothing else, it's a reminder that Ottawa's summers have a particular magic to them — the kind where a tuba player can wander onto a heritage farm on a Tuesday and create a moment worth talking about.
Hickmott's sunset serenade for Ottawa's most patient audience was a small, joyful thing. And sometimes that's exactly what a city needs.
Source: CBC Ottawa
