Up to date information on the comings and goings in The Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum. Also a behind the scenes look at how the museum operates and how the museum team is working after our capacity expansion project to which grew our capacity from 60 to 420 in July 2010!

June 5: Doors Open 2010!

Posted by Eric Espig On 10:02

The Diefenbunker will be participating in Doors Open again this year. Our doors are always open, but on Saturday June 5th visitors will be able to come into the bunker and, for the first time, experience our new capacity increase and get lost on a self-guided tour throughout the building.


Get your Doors Open Ottawa program guide in the Saturday, May 29 issue of the Ottawa Citizen. Copies are also available at all Bridgehead Coffee locations.


or simply download this PDF






June 15: Cold War Cinema - Dr. Strangelove!

Posted by Eric Espig On 12:32





Consistently ranked as one of the greatest films and the greatest comedy made, featured in June is the Stanley Kubrick classic about the string of all-to-possible errors leading to the third world war and global nuclear annihilation. Viewing this masterpiece inside of the Diefenbunker is an amazing and truly unique and surreal experience.
"Kubrick next chose to tackle the subject of nuclear annihilation. He began by researching the science and philosophy of nuclear war and optioning Red Alert, a serious dramatic novel by Peter George. Although Kubrick had long been personally terrified by the potential of an all-out nuclear war, he eventually turned his devilish sense of black humor on the project. Novelist Terry Southern turned the original story on its head and the film was renamed Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Shooting in black and white on a soundstage in England, Kubrick was in supreme command of the content and the visual style of the film. Production designer Ken Adam who had created the look for the James Bond film series, invented the circular-structured War Room and recreated the interior of the U.S. bomber cockpits without receiving official permission to examine the real thing. Based on intensive research in military magazines Adam brought realism to the outrageous comedy and imagination to the notion of a War Room used to plan global conflicts. Adam and Kubrick were so successful they even fooled President Ronald Reagan, who at the dawn of his first term, anxiously asked to tour the White House War Room which only existed in movieland." 


~ Retrieved May 20, 2010 from moviemaker.com, "The Legacy of Stanley Kubrick"




Reserve early to ensure your spot at this popular event!
movie@diefenbunker.ca 

IMDB rating 8.6/10

Tour at 6pm (optional)
Film at 7pm

May 18, 2010: International Museum Day

Posted by Eric Espig On 10:11


The Diefenbunker is offering 2 for 1 admission tomorrow during our public tours at 11am and 2pm. This is a great chance to see the museum before our grand unveiling of the new tours and exhibits on June 28!



Audio/Video Tour Update - We need your help!

Posted by Eric Espig On 10:42

Do you know someone who may be interested in narrating our audio guide in their native language? This is  a great opportunity to be a part of Canadian history as well helping to make our heritage accessible to recent immigrants and international tourist. The recording session will take approximately 5 hours. Successful applicants will receive $100 in compensation. contact e.espig@diefenbunker.ca for details.

ENGLISH
FRENCH
SPANISH
GERMAN
CANTONESE
MANDARIN
JAPANESE
PUNJABI

The launch of the new audio/video self-guided tour of the Diefenbunker is June 28, 2010.  This will mark the first time in the history of the formerly top-secret bunker that the public will be granted unaccompanied access to the museum. The audio/video tour will be available free of charge via download from our website, download from our WiFi network on site, or you can borrow one of our MP4 players if you don't have a smart phone or iPod type device.