After five years of reshaping Ottawa’s underground arts landscape, Pique arrives at its 20th edition with momentum, reflection, and an eye firmly on what’s next. On June 13, 2026, the award-winning festival series marks its 5th anniversary and 20th edition with a milestone event that honours its evolution from a pandemic-era experiment into one of Ottawa’s most vital platforms for underground and independent art.

The Operations Coordinator supports the effective planning and execution of events, volunteer engagement, and marketing initiatives. This role is ideal for a detail-oriented, adaptable professional who thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

EQUIPE Outreach Liaisons support safety, care and well-being of event participants including audience members, artists, volunteers, and staff during events and programs. Led by the Debaser Harm Reduction Lead and working in conjunction with Debaser staff and security personnel, EQUIPE Outreach Liaisons support the implementation of event policies and procedures with respect to safer spaces, anti-oppression, and harm reduction. 

With support from Ottawa Tourism, Debaser is supporting the creation of two site-specific installations to be mounted at Arts Court for Pique on June 13, 2026. We are looking for innovative site-specific installations that highlight the Arts Court layered history—from courthouse to contemporary arts hub—and its connection to Ottawa’s cultural evolution. Learn more and apply by March 15!

We want to hear from you! Our annual Audience Poll is where we invite your feedback about the year behind us, so we can better serve you in the year ahead.

Thoughts? Feelings? Opinions? Let us know for a chance to win one out of ten tickets to the next edition of Pique!

New year, new programming committee members!

We're looking for knowledgeable members of the Ottawa-Gatineau arts community (and beyond!) to help shape the artistic direction of upcoming Debaser events and programs, including our festival, Pique.

That’s a wrap Pique winter edition. What an amazing way to cap off 2025! We welcomed over 800 attendees, supported more than 20 artists, and subsidized over 280 admissions.

Genre-bending hip hop, ambient-glitch, playful installation, and the return of the Queertopia kiki ball all under one roof at Pique winter edition. Designed for discovery, community connection and radical self-expression, Pique brings together some of the boldest ground-breaking artists from across Canada to experiment and engage with the local artistic community.

Debaser is back this fall and winter with a series of captivating performances that feature radio art, Arabic and SWANA club music, modal traditions, and transcendent jazz-soul songwriting. Across these four unique events, audiences will experience the breadth of sonic experimentation and community-driven artistry.

Thank you to the 1,200+ who attended Pique with open ears and hearts! It was amazing to watch so many different creative communities come together in one place to share and connect.

On September 27, 2025 at Arts Court, Topique will bring together artists, cultural leaders, and audiences for a day of public talks, workshops, and panels designed to spark urgent conversations about the future of the arts and culture sector.

Global innovators, local creators, and underground legends converge at Pique, a building-wide party like no other

Join us in building a more inclusive, resilient future for the arts by donating to the Pique Sustainability Fund below.

Through boundary-pushing programming, steady organizational growth, and an approach centered in care, we’ve continued to build on our foundations across 2024-25.

Debaser has teamed up with Dominion City Brewing Company to strengthen sustainability efforts with the launch of a new eco-cup at Pique summer edition.

FREE.99 is an experimental “Gay” dyad making music to reduce suffering.

Ahead of their performance at Pique on June 7, we spoke with FREE.99 members Hypha and Four about their online existence, how to disrupt the social media status quo, and the inevitable nature of death.

Olivia Onuk, guest curator of Seen / Unseen multimedia exhibition at Pique summer edition, asks exhibition lighting and media designer MvB questions about her practice, how it connects to the exhibition, and what she hopes audiences will take away from the experience.