Before the headliner took the stage, CHEO’s 2026 Champion Kayden Dussault worked the Bluesfest crowd .
“The Lumineers like to say ‘Hey, Ho,’ but here in Ottawa we like to say CHE-O,” chanted Dussault, 13, a cancer survivor and former patient turned ambassador for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).
Dussault amped up the crowd between sets to help spotlight a partnership between Ottawa Bluesfest and the CHEO Foundation that returned Sunday for a sophomore performance.
July 12 marked the second CHEO Night, as festival organizers worked to drum up awareness for the largest fundraising campaign in the hospital’s history.
The “Kids These Days” campaign aims to raise $220 million for an ongoing overhaul of the hospital’s Smyth Road campus that will bring a range of health professionals together in a new integrated treatment centre, among other upgrades.
“(Bluesfest) really helped us get our message out to the community about how important CHEO is to the kids and families of our region,” said Steve Read, president and CEO of the hospital’s fundraising arm.
“We’re very fortunate and proud to be back again this year.”
The foundation’s financial commitment will go toward a 10-year campus redevelopment project estimated to cost $818 million. The rest will be funded by the government of Ontario through a cost-sharing model, some of which is yet to be confirmed.
Spokesperson Julia Lombardo said the provincial government has invested $371.37 million to date in the new centre.
Plans for that six-storey, 220,000-square-foot building feature a gym, school, indoor and outdoor therapy and play space and room for dozens of outpatient services and clinics.
The facility is set to open in January 2028.
Mark Monahan, executive and artistic director of Ottawa Bluesfest, said the partnership with the CHEO Foundation sprang out of a brainstorming session a couple of years ago.
Throughout the organization, Bluesfest felt the partnership with CHEO was a good fit, Monahan said.
“I’ve raised four kids in this community, and everybody has a tie to the hospital in some way,” he said.
“We’re a homegrown festival, and CHEO is a locally run organization that benefits so many.”
CHEO will be the only charity on-site during the festival’s nine-night run. In its debut, CHEO Night raised money through a range of streams, including a web portal prompting donations and a 50-50 draw.
This year, Monahan said, Bluesfest took a slightly different approach.
The website still featured a link to donate, and QR codes were scattered throughout the venue, but beverage stations at the festival also solicited donations during the first weekend of the festival.
This time around, festival organizers also focused on ensuring buy-in from every volunteer.
So far, he said, the results have been encouraging.
“Last night, for instance, someone who was just sitting in the platinum area made a random $2,500 donation online,” Monahan said on Sunday.
Last year, the partnership raised a little more than $50,000 in donations.
Monahan is hoping the tweaks this year bring in even more for the cause.
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