I worked at Bluesfest’s new Little Victories coffee stand. Here’s how it went

OTTAWA -- Reporter Olivia Belovich was working in the Little Victories Coffee Roasters coffee booth at Ottawa Bluesfest at LeBreton Flats, Saturday, July 18, 2026. Photo by Ashley Fraser, Postmedia. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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Walking up to the coffee stand inside Bluesfest, I tried to channel my past self. 

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Back in high school, I worked at a small bagel store in my hometown. There, I also served lattes and cappuccinos, but I remember it taking a while before I really got the hang of steaming the milk without it exploding everywhere. 

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Now, at a dripping-wet Bluesfest on July 18, I thought of my 16-year-old self, who felt so grown-up pouring coffee and pretending the bagels fell on the ground so I could eat them.

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The quiet was a stark contrast to country star Ella Langley’s headliner the night before, said Kyle Charron, one of the cafe’s employees, who has been working at its various locations around Ottawa for the last five years. 

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“It was our busiest night. But it’s very dependent on the weather and who’s playing,” Charron said. 

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At the beginning of each night, it was mostly volunteers and festival workers who were seeking caffeine hits to get their night started, said Charron.

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While I was on shift, a volunteer ordered hot chocolate, saying it was surprisingly chilly out. 

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OTTAWA — Reporter Olivia Belovich was working in the Little Victories Coffee Roasters coffee booth at Ottawa Bluesfest at LeBreton Flats, Saturday, July 18, 2026. Photo by Ashley Fraser, Postmedia. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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“Do you want to make a latte?” Charron said almost immediately after I had asked if I could hang around. 

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He clarified that he’d foam the milk for me and all I had to do was pour it, which I did, and tried my best to do a little swirl, which — unsurprisingly — didn’t turn out. 

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Though I wasn’t quite at latte-level yet, Charron and the others gladly let me jump on the nitro-cold brew orders, which I learned is sort of like if coffee was beer on tap.  

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Little Victories, which is at Bluesfest for the first time this year, offers pretty much its entire coffee menu from its cafes, along with an espresso martini topped with vanilla cold foam. 

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Charron said when he first found out they’d be at the festival, he was looking forward to the change in scenery. 

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“It’s generally a super excited crowd. Not your typical morning coffee crowd,” he said. 

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OTTAWA — Reporter Olivia Belovich was working in the Little Victories Coffee Roasters coffee booth at Ottawa Bluesfest at LeBreton Flats, Saturday, July 18, 2026. Photo by Ashley Fraser, Postmedia. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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One of these excited patrons was Eden Laprise, who, espresso martini in hand, told me she bought a full festival pass by herself so she could be free to do whatever she wanted. 

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She had never been to Ottawa’s Bluesfest before but loved the idea of discovering artists she’d never heard of. 

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Laprise usually works evenings at La Cage, an upscale sports bar in Gatineau. But, she told me, with rainbow stars painted across her face, she took the festival’s duration off from work so she could have a “festival summer,” and lots of time to prepare her looks for the occasion.