A building-wide party that extends onto the street, Pique showcases groundbreaking performances and exhibitions from local and international artists.
Anishinaabe-Algonquin land - April 30, 2025
On June 7, 2025, Pique summer edition — the boldest annual installment of Debaser’s celebrated music and multi-arts festival series — takes over downtown Ottawa’s Arts Court complex. Featuring dynamic performances, thought-provoking exhibitions, and interactive installations across indoor and outdoor stages, Pique is a convergence of creativity and innovation that bridges international cultures with local communities. Celebrated for its curatorial eclecticism, Pique brings together techno innovation, queer cabaret, laid-back indie/alternative, glitch punk, collisions of tradition and futurism, participatory installations and lots more to the festival’s summer edition. Admission is pay-what-you-can and all-ages.
Graphic design by House 9
Featuring performances and presentations by international and out-of-town artists including high-energy ghettotech trio HiTech (Detroit), Korean shamanic techno unit 64ksana, unapologetically bold lyricist Prado Monroe, lo-fi folksy songwriter Bells Larsen, glitch-industrialists FREE.99 (Pennsylvania), expansive electro-acoustic duo HxH (New York), contemporary Inuit throat-singers Silla (Nunavut), campy drag popstar BiG SiSSY, cutting-edge club DJ NASTY GLOSS, and visionary video artist MvB.
Bridging global underground communities with the local music scene, Pique will also feature local artists including bedroom-pop purveyors fanclubwallet, avant-pop balladist Orchidae, feminist comedy outfit Small Fish, jersey club DJ lilfr1dge, art-rock quartet lady grey and the phantoms, unclassifiable selector Gothbitch, a B2B DJ set by Also Cool co-founders Flleur and Lamb Fatale, and an open-decks youth showcase co-presented by Produced by Youth and Pass the Vibes.
Plus, visual and multimedia exhibitions curated by guest curators Olivia Onuk (presented in partnership with the Ottawa Black Arts Kollective) and Aedan Corey (presented in partnership with SAW) occupying multiple exhibition spaces throughout the Arts Court. With 20+ artists (more to be announced) and eight stages and exhibition spaces, indoors and outdoors, there is so much to experience at Pique!
As always, tickets to Pique are pay-what-you-can with a suggested price range of $45-75 (taxes and fees included), or choose-your-own-price. Tickets are available here.
PARTNERS AND FUNDERS
Pique is presented in partnership with the Arts Court, SAW, Ottawa Art Gallery, Axe WorldFest, Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Fringe, Digital Arts Resource Centre, Artengine, Produced by Youth, Ottawa Dance Directive, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, KOFICE, Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges, The Music Gallery, and Suoni per il Popolo, with support from Dominion City Brewing Company, Kilam Media, Postering Ottawa, Also Cool, CKCU FM, and n.10.as, and is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Government of Canada, City of Ottawa, and the SOCAN Foundation.
MEDIA KIT
View the Pique summer edition media kit for participating artists’ press images, Pique digital assets, photos from past editions, and more.