Festival City: A Short Guide to Edmonton’s Summer Celebrations
All images featured are from the festival websites and/or blogs.
Let’s take a short trip down memory lane to 2015, when, along with cities like Singapore, Athens, and even Machu Picchu in Peru, Edmonton was ranked one of National Geographic’s top 10 summer destinations. Though to some it may seem that Edmonton being on this list is like playing a geographical themed game of “which of these doesn’t belong”, to us at Yogalife, we love our “Festival City”. Being natives to this beautiful patch of Albertan soil, we might take for granted how many interesting summer activities and festivals are right in our backyards. For this weeks post, we compiled a short list of just a handful of our favorite festivals to check out, but also link you to a helpful guide to all the wonderful things offered in Edmonton in 2017!
Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival
July 7 to July 16
Attracting more than 250,000 people to Sir Winston Churchill Square, this festival brings fine street entertainers from all over the world to perform. You can watch anything from stand up, slapstick comedy, to fire stunts, to professional grade acrobatics and stunts.
Interstellar Rodeo
July 21 to July 23
Set in Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre, line up for this years festival includesBroken Social Scene, Aloe Blacc, Serena Ryder and Dan Mangan. Be prepared to indulge in some tasty food trucks as well that include Fantasia Gelateria, Filistix and Little Village.
Latitude 53 Urban Garden Party
July 22
This is the second celebration amongst a unique set of Latitude 53’s summer events. The urban garden party will close down the street in front of Latitude 53 and fill it with plants and greenery sculptures. Come dressed in your finest yellow attire (that’s the colour theme for this party) and enjoy what we expect to be stunning botanical visuals.
Edmonton Folk Music Festival
August 10 to August 13
Our summer Folk Music Festival is one of Edmonton’s most celebrated events, set in Gallagher Park, whose stunning view of the city’s downtown core at sunset provides the perfect backdrop to an assortment of world-renowned as well as local musical talent. Enjoy a day of exploring the park, where you’ll find smaller stages filled with both local artists and headliners jamming together creating a unique musical experience, followed by an evening of enjoying the heavy hitters on the main stage. This year we’re lucky to have artists like City and Colour, Jose Gonzales, Brandy Carlile and The Decemberists stop by our city.
Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
August 17 to August 27
Theatre lovers are treated to 10 days of 1600 performances spread over 42 venues and 3 outdoor stages. Venue locations are spread amongst locations along Whyte Avenue as well as within Edmonton’s Downtown core. Explore performances at the outdoor spaces, akin to the street performers festival, or visit one of the indoor venues to get a more traditional theatre experience. There is definitely something for everybody!
Our city is beautiful all year round, but truly comes alive during the summer with the amount of events we’re treated to. There’s much more beyond this list of our own personal favorites. To see a full list of summer events here in Edmonton check out Taproot Edmonton’s website with listed links to all events going on. Link below!