Summer art
With the Art Gallery of Alberta announcing their fall lineup today, it’s a good time to check out their summer offerings, if you haven’t done so already.
Exhibits winding down their time at the AGA include M.C. Escher: The Mathmagician, The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons, and Jonathan Kaiser’s Celestial Bodies. These shows will be gone when most of the new ones are open to the public.
November will bring with it more changes, so if you want to see any of the current showcases, you better find some time in your dayplanner.
Also, don’t run down to the AGA after you read this. They aren’t open Mondays.
Edmonton Events
Boring headline aside, this weekend has the potential to blow your mind.
Sometimes all you need is a good beer, a place to be, and a phone. The phone is in case you need to find a better party.
East meets West is this weekend, which is where you get the best of Edmonton’s Chinatown and Little Italy. And this year kicks off with Karibuni Afrikafest (happening now!). Three days, three cultures, three times the fun.
Good thing I check ShareEdmonton for events. I’d have never heard about the Outdoor Nite Market otherwise. That’s tonight (Friday), on 107 Avenue, and it’s got a little of everything. The best item it has is a reason for people to be out on the street at night, which encourages good things.
This weekend, Hawrelak Park has the first-ever Open Sky Music Festival. It’s all about surf rock, island rock and reggae. The weather may not say summer, but that music sure does. (If the festival’s website isn’t working for you, there are details at ShareEdmonton’s event page.)
Telus Field will be hosting a music event Saturday too. Rock The River hits our city.
Saturday night I’ll likely be checking out Bohemia for the first time. N.N., Touch it and you will say ow, and The Mystery Ponies are playing.
Eamon McGrath is at New City. That’s Saturday too.
Lady Gaga is still here. If she’s still in Edmonton this weekend I’m going to start getting worried we won’t be able to get rid of her. And I’m going to borrow her wardrobe.
Since it looks like we might have already tapped out the good weather you can always head inside to see a movie.
FC Edmonton gets its final kicks at its warm-up season Saturday. The team is hosting Miami FC. I wonder if they’re playing for the right to have FC in their name? There can be only one!
The Eskimos are home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Shouldn’t we be going to the games this season, so as to not appear as bandwagon jumpers if they get good again?
Over at the River Cree Casino there’s also the All-In for Diabetes Poker Tournament. Buy-in is $250 and you can claim $100 for knocking out bounties, such as CTV’s Daryl McIntyre. If you bring a bag of clothing as a donation you can get extra chips too.
Farmers’ Markets: Not just for the weekend
Here’s another one of those events I’ll throw out at a weird time, because I always want to mention it but forget.
The Alberta Avenue Farmers’ Market rocks 118 Avenue Thursday afternoons (2-7pm).
Like your favourite weekend markets, it’s got all the usual home and handmade goods, jams, honey, meat, pies, and snacks.
Oh, and unlike some of your favourite markets, it’s year-round because they can stay inside the Alberta Avenue Community Centre.
(There are a couple of other Edmonton markets open during the week too. Check the roundup on the Capital Region for markets like Alberta Avenue, Beverly, and Callingwood.)
Update: We’re told Westmount Shopping Centre also has a Thursday market.
Troubadour Tuesday
After a night of good times and good cake, I’m looking for something a little more low-key this evening.
Sounds like Brixx has just the thing.
They call it Troubadour Tuesdays, and tonight’s guitar-wielding singer is our old SOSFest friend Kaley Bird.
Alright, we don’t actually know Kaley that well. But she was one of the organizers of Edmonton’s newest music festival, and we like her. So there.
Ooh, and tacos are on special tonight too.
p.s. Speaking of SOSFest, the 2011 version is set, so mark you calendars and update your borkberries.
Music for lunch
We’re going to flip things today, and give you an event before the headlines.
That would be because I never get to mention lunchtime performances of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO). Today, that changes!
At lunch (doors at the Winspear open at 11:30) you can hear organ duets (on Canada’s largest concert organ), from Duo Majoya (Marnie Giesbrecht and Joachim Segger). Update: The ESO is sponsoring this performance, not a part of it.
Tickets are free and can (still?) be picked up at ATB locations in the downtown. (City Centre, ATB Place, Oliver Square).
Keep your eyes on the ESO and Winspear, since they do this free music at lunch thing every so often. It’s a more nutritious option than a hot dog.
(Of course that thing about the hot dog isn’t true. You still need to eat.)
Fast, Football, Festivals, Free, and Fantastic
Longboarders are going to have to be brave to tackle the race through our river valley. Yikes!
As for our headline…when the alliteration shoe fits…
This weekend sees the end of another year of fringing. But, fret not, the 29th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival lives on in our hearts.
Oh, and in these holdover plays.
Hope this smoke clears out because there are a few outdoor movies this weekend. Finding Nemo (another F!) is playing tonight at the Valley Zoo. (Oops! It was last night. Thanks for the heads up, Mike.)
Movies on the Square is back too, with Diary of a Wimpy Kid tonight, and Fantastic Mr. Fox Saturday night. Stony Plain has an outdoor movie too.
It’s Free Cookie Friday at Luzarra. Get over to Whyte Avenue and buy a coffee so you can get a cookie. That caffeine and sugar will only help you start the weekend better.
The tune-ups are done and the Prairie Football Conference is into the real stuff this weekend. The second-best team in the country, the Edmonton Wildcats, begin their season home to the Regina Thunder. Sunday at Clarke Park (beside Commonwealth Stadium).
The winless Edmonton Huskies also begin the regular season this weekend. They’ll take anything they can get after going 0-8 last season. They host the Calgary Colts Saturday night at Clarke.
This is actually quite a decent level of football if you can’t bear to watch the Eskimos embarrass themselves anymore. Tickets are also reasonably priced.
Another non-Eskimos option is the Edmonton Capitals. Tonight’s game is also chock full of diabetes info, courtesy of the Canadian Diabetes Association. (The Capitals are ALSO showing a movie outside, after their Saturday game. It’s The Rookie.)
DEDfest is back to scare the crap out of you, and generally make you squirm.
DEDfest may get you thinking about Hallowe’en, which may get you thinking about fall, which may get you thinking about farmers harvesting their crops, which leads me to mention the Corn Maze is open.
Let’s dip into the ShareEdmonton calendar for some fun.
Clearer air would also help the participants in the Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival, happening at Louise McKinney Park.
As mentioned earlier this week, Saturday is the Canadian Derby at Northlands. It’ll be all fancy hats, fast horses and…bikini girls…
Hawrelak Park’s got the blues. Dun, dun, dun da, dun…The Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival…Dun, dun, dun da, dun…
Don’t forget you can always seek shelter from the smoke in a nice, cool movie theatre. Gregg can tell you what’s likely worth your money.
And on Monday, we’ll be celebrating our first year alongside another one-year-old, The Unknown Studio. Come on out to Wunderbar, throw us a toonie, enjoy some fine beer, and hear life-affirming passages from celebrity autobiographies. Party pants not required.
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While messing up the Finding Nemo showtime I also forgot to mention The ARTery’s kick-ass weekend. The Get Down is playing Friday night (there’s still time, it’s still good) and Saturday is an artists’ garage sale/pancake breakfast/bbq/block party. Told you it was kick-ass.
I want to Fringe you like an animal
I’m likely never going to get another chance at a headline like that, so I’m taking it.
I don’t tend to see a lot of fringe plays when the big festival is on, and so far I’ve got one in this week. But even with just a cupcake, and the one night, I’m enjoying the 29th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival.
First of all, after learning what is in Taco in a Bag I learned, last night, that it costs $7.50.
What is wrong with you that you would pay that kind of money for Doritos and taco fixings? I could understand if it was $2 or something so cheap it was the best deal on the grounds. But that seems a little steep for something that’s fairly guaranteed to haunt you for the next few hours.
So, as I mentioned, I went to see a midnight showing of Game Face. It’s getting solid reviews, I know people involved in it, and it involves a woodchuck mascot. That’s a darn good mix of reasons to see it.
I won’t go into great detail, since we’ve learned only a chosen few should ever dare review a sacred theatre production, but I will tell you to see this play.
The actors in it are great (and all have laugh-out loud lines), there’s quite a bit of scene changing and production (which must be tougher to throw together for a Fringe play), and I want Scott C. Bourgeois and Morgan Smith (she also acts as the angriest lady ever) to write another play for next year’s Fringe, so I can see that.
That's Alex, running away from the drunk guy.
While trying to guess at the thought process of those enjoying Taco in a Bag, I caught some of the street performing. It’s actually one of my favourite parts of the Fringe.
After catching Alex Clark doing his thing near the Gateway Boulevard entrance, I highly recommend you try to see him perform. Funny and skilled, he seems to be enjoying the hell out of his gig. (Thanks to Brittney for the link.)
And he handled a drunk, dancing, walk-through (who wouldn’t leave) and an over-the-top excited participant hilariously.
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So, I give my night at the Fringe 4.0 stars out of 5.
(It would have been 4.5, but I deducted points for Taco in a Bag.)
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By the way, here are some other recommendations from Fringees:
The Fairy Catcher’s Companion (At the Kids Fringe)
Apocalypse Kow (Outdoor stages.)
A night at the races
If you’re looking for something to do on a Wednesday night, you can always check out the races.
Northlands is the place to watch, and bet on, horses running around the track.
And by bouncing around their website (so much purple…) I see it’s almost time for the Canadian Derby (This Saturday, August 21).
I’m still not sure bikini girls are going to interest me enough to head out to that big race, but there will be plenty of fancy hats.
Time to get my Game Face on
Of course, that headline is reference to the fact I plan to see the Fringe 
play “Game Face” tonight.
I know a couple of people involved in this one (Isn’t that how we end up at a lot of Fringe plays?) and it will be my first play of this year’s Fringe.
Although, I did venture over to the Fringe grounds for a cupcake from Big City Cupcakes last night. (They’re opening in Kingsway soon.) But that hardly counts as culture.
What have you seen at this, the 29th annual, Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival?
Any recommendations? Any stinkers?
Explore Edmonton
Today’s event selection is not really one you could accomplish (in its entirety) in one evening, or even one full day.
You may remember me talking about the Edmonton Community Challenge (put on by the Next Gen committee and Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues) back in June.
Our scrappy little team from Strathcona Centre placed a respectable fifth, notable due to our handful of active members. While we were darn proud to have collected the most food for the Edmonton Food Bank in the sculpture challenge (King Edward School gets a lot of the credit) I think it’s safe to say the core of our team had the most fun in the city-wide photo scavenger hunt.
By checking Flickr, I would say the other top teams also had a blast with this.
We had to run all over Edmonton, taking photos of ourselves in front of historically significant buildings, on bridges, shopping in all of the Business Revitalization Zones (BRZ), spending time in our favourite parks and local haunts, high-fiving councillors, and hitting up each branch of the Edmonton Public Library.
I learned that Edmonton has WAY more bridges than one could get to in a day, or even a week. Especially if you start counting footbridges. The libraries are spread out, and it took many hours to get to all of them (the EPL Go at the University of Alberta is also the cutest little library).
Somehow we completed every task on the photo scavenger hunt, even getting to the whale at West Edmonton Mall before it was removed for the opening of Victoria’s Secret. (There may be an item or two you can’t do right now.)
Living in one of the city’s oldest, most vibrant, neighbourhoods sure helped too. Strathcona has plenty of historically recognized buildings, it’s a BRZ right now, has any type of business needed for the photo challenge, a library branch, giant trees, and plenty of people to start a parade.
Prior to this challenge, I had never been to a bottle depot. I feel more like an Edmontonian now.
So today I offer you a chance to explore Edmonton like you probably haven’t before. Take a scan through the scavenger hunt from the Edmonton Community Challenge and choose a few items to track down, or try, before the summer is out.
I bet, just like I discovered how historically significant my work neighbourhood is, you find out a few things about Edmonton you didn’t know.
(It’s a lot of fun to see how many U of A bunnies you can get into one picture. Those suckers are fast.)
Let me know if you do any of these, or have photos of them already. You can always toss them into our Flickr pool too.
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Keep in mind you should play safe and not break any laws. Also “team” is you.
Here’s what you could do: (more…)
The Fringiest Events
Of course it’s the Fringe!
The 29th annual Edmonton International Fringe Festival is all the arts pages will be talking about for the next week. There’s also lots of stuff happening around Old Strathcona that doesn’t take place in a theatre or on a stage. This is the big one, Edmonton.
Morgan had a good point, don’t just try to see the 5-star shows. Ask people what’s good, what’s interesting, what they think you might like. You can always poke around Twitter, and try #yegfringe, for just such questions and inquiries.
Hawrelak Park is busy again this weekend, with the Celtic Festival. BluesFest is next weekend (in Hawrelak Park)…so get warmed up at Rusty Reed’s with Dave Babcock and the Night Keepers
EastwoodFest is Saturday, in the Eastwood neighbourhood. (118 Avenue, 85-87 Streets.)
Churchill Square, which the City has been trying to fill with more events and happenings, in between festivals, has the Latin Festival this weekend. Cha-cha-cha.
There’s Tomoto Fare too. That’s about tomatoes.
West of the city, it’s the Stony Plain Cowboy Gathering Society get-together. You can expect cowboy art, culture, poetry, and music.
Lots of new movies are out this weekend, like Eat, Pray, Love and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Gregg’s got your lowdown.
In music…N.N. plays an EP release show at the Starlite Room tonight, with Van Gohost and I.E.D. Sunday night at the Starlite Room it’s Fran Healy from Travis.
Falklands are at Wunderbar Friday night.
The Black Dog has some Hair of the Dog Saturday afternoon.
Over at Lyve on Whyte, Friday is Soul Train (with Crowded City Skyline and Hot Hand Phenomenon), Saturday it’s Rocky Mountain Rebel Music (with Brash Tax and The Party Martyrs).
Eddie Shorts has The Frolics Friday and Gaye Delorme Saturday.
Cirque du Soleil is in Edmonton, with Alegria.
In sports…The Prairie Football Conference (PFC) kicks off this weekend. 
Edmonton’s got two teams in that league. The Edmonton Wildcats are coming off a season in which they were western champs, and fell in the Canadian junior football championship. The Edmonton Huskies stunk it up last year, winning no games, and are looking for redemption in 2010. Those games are Saturday and Sunday, at Clarke Park.
From ShareEdmonton: FC Edmonton is hosting the Spokane Spiders (that means we could see Edmonton on all the Spokane affiliates! I hope Ana Cabrera talks about Edmonton.)
Whew!
It’s time to Fringe
As I write this, earlier in the week, we are yet to be bombarded with Fringe-related information.
I bet, by the time this event is posted, we’ll already be seeing reviews of plays (probably thanks to performances in other cities, and sneak previews), and everyone will be deciding which plays they’ll be checking out.
Yes, it’s time for the 29th annual Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. This year’s theme: We’ll show you ours.
Sexy.
The neat thing about living in Old Strathcona is that I don’t even need to pay much attention to when the Fringe actually starts. I know, when the roads start to close, tents and stages start getting set up, and the mini-donut (and other food vendors) start rolling up in front of the farmers’ market.
Thursday night kicks things off with the performer’s parade and a free-for-all where people will be pitching their plays in 5-minute blocks.
Fringe away!
Oh, you’re probably going to want to see what’s playing…
Take yourself out to the ballgame
Just because the Edmonton Capitals had to find a new manager doesn’t mean they don’t still deserve our support.
The whole team isn’t prone to homophobic outbursts, and they’re doing pretty well in this year’s Golden Baseball League sesason. So head down to Telus Field and let the players know you still like what they do.
You can also tell the team, and management, that you’re looking for more diversity training. Perhaps come up with some kind of rallying chant for that.
And speaking of the Edmonton Capitals, you can bring your dog to the game this Sunday, to support the Edmonton Humane Society. Yes you can bring your actual dog, this isn’t some odd reference to hot dogs.
Check out the river valley
I’m making a meaningful effort to get out on my bicycle more this summer. I’ve got the darn thing, we have short summers, I should get out and ride.
So, Saturday night I went for a ride through the valley.
I cycled along the river on bike trails, paths, roads, and some single-track, through Emily Murphy, Hawrelak, Buena Vista, and Sir Wilfred Laurier Parks.
The thing that always blows me away about the river valley is how quiet it can be. You are in the middle of the city but it feels like you’re out at the lake, hours away. It’s so quiet, so surreal, to be in such a non-urban setting.
So, this afternoon or evening, even with a small chance of rain, wander down to the closest part of the river valley. Or hop on transit and find your way to our amazing urban wilderness.
If you’re looking for cycling routes to, and through, the river valley, you can always check out the City of Edmonton’s bike map (PDF).
You can see something you'd never see otherwise, in the valley.
And away we go
Man, when Edmonton’s festival season is in full swing it is a happening place to be.
This weekend you’ve got your Folk Fest, your Animethon, CariWest, Fragapalooza, but it’s also Rock’n August in St. Albert and Monster Truck Madness south of the city.
Woo!
A couple of traffic notes about those festivals, watch for people congestion at the top of the hill into Gallagher Park for Folk Fest, and the CariWest parade happens Saturday, at noon, on Jasper Avenue.
The Eskimos begin the post-Macioacoa Machocha post-Maciocia era, and go for win number two in 2010, tonight against the Argos.
Slow Food Edmonton hosts its annual summer Beer and Boar BBQ this Sunday, at Alley Kat.
For the family, Fred Penner (I saw him at my music store, and coffee shop, one time in Winnipeg) and the Doodlebops will be at the Valley Zoo, Saturday. You could also party like it’s 1849, this weekend.
The Starlite is hosting Metal Fest this weekend. METAL! Friday and Saturday.
Hey, if metal’s just too heavy for you, but you want to see some live music Friday night, why not duck downstairs to Brixx, and check out The Mystery Ponies. They play with Dirty Picture Show and The Bridle Party.
Also in non-Folk or Metal music news, Christian Hansen and The Autistics play On The Rocks Sunday night. Bring your dancing shoes.
I still check ShareEdmonton, a lot, because it’s a great events resource. Now I know there’s a Handmade Mafia happening Saturday.
What else are you up to this weekend?
A patio sounds nice right about now
It’s a good thing Latitude 53 has their Summer Rooftop Patio Series
then.
We talked about the Thursday night patio parties when things got going back in June, but things are coming to an end.
Tonight is but the second-last chance for you to enjoy summer from Latitude 53′s downtown patio. Next week is the last.
This evening’s guests hosts are the Latitude 53 board of directors and artist Gerry Dotto.
It’s nice and hot outside, so enjoy summer while you can. And take in some art while you’re at it.
F it
Since I forgot to post a pending event yesterday, I’ll give you two today.
And they’re both brought to you by the letter F.
You’ve probably already got your tickets for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival (it starts tonight with Van Morrison). I hope you have your tickets. If not, you’re, ummm, how can I tell you this…out of luck.
I’ve been noticing the work on Gallagher Park as I bus it from downtown Edmonton. Hope the weather works out for all you folkies.
If you’re still trying to be a folkie, check that Twitter hashtag I link to, below. You may have to watch all weekend for people offering up passes.
Over in the Leduc Recreation Center, Fragapalooza starts tomorrow. That’s going to be all about video games, shooting each other, and the Rock Band competition. Stock up on energy drinks and coffee.
It’s actually kind of neat. 300 participants bring their own computers, hook up to the network and game away. You should also be able to find one or two people blogging from this gaming festival.
Hey, both of these events have their own Twitter hashtag too. Follow #efmf for all things Folk and #yegfrag for all things Frag.
This will clearly be the most times, in 200 words, I’ve used the letter F.
A real taste of Edmonton
As I’ve been mentioning again and again, this weekend was my first trip down to Hawrelak Park for the Heritage Festival.
A trip worth taking.
Since I didn’t want to crack the ETS code of when the shuttles left and how frequently they were leaving I decided to bike down to Hawrelak. (more…)
Long weekend = One more day of fun
It’s the Heritage Day long weekend, Edmonton, so get out there and soak in all that summer.
Over the next four days (counting Friday night) there’s a lot to do in Edmonton.
Capital Ex continues at Northlands. A Taste of Edmonton is still at Churchill Square. (Both run until Sunday.)
And, of course, Heritage Day means Hawrelak Park becomes the Heritage Festival. It’s the 35th go-round for Heritage Fest, with more than 60 countries and ethnicities represented. There will be culture and food, all three days of the weekend, in the park. Plan your adventures with the map.
The winless Eskimos play tonight. Meh.
Friday night is a really good music night. Juliette Lewis is playing the Starlite Room, Metric (and Hot Hot Heat) are at Capital Ex, Fred Eaglesmith is in Stony Plain at the Blueberry Bluegrass and Country Music Festival, and there’s that little thing called the Big Valley Jamboree over in Camrose.
On Sunday, The Old Wives are playing at Lyve on Whyte and Audio/Rocketry is at the PawnShop.
And Capital Ex has more music at the Telus Stage Saturday and Sunday. Plus, The Be Arthurs can be found at Centre Stage.
There are dinosaurs!!
ShareEdmonton had an event that really caught my eye. (What can I say, I have a soft spot for chess.) This weekend is the Edmonton Chess Festival. Checkmate.
I also keep forgetting to mention Saturday as a great farmers’ market day. You’ve got the year-round Old Strathcona version, or summer’s City Market Downtown.
It’s the end of the month, so you can check Gregg’s July movie preview and his new look at the August releases, if you’re hitting the movie theatre.
Don’t tire yourself out this weekend, since Folk Fest starts Wednesday night, and the Fringe is on the horizon.
And, because I’m going to mention it all of the time, the edmontonian and Unknown Studio will be celebrating their first birthday(s) Monday, August 23.
Yumeeeee Wooooooo!
Even with the parade done and the Monster conquered, Capital Ex continues its unrelenting push for fun.
Along with the midway, shopping, games, food, the Telus Stage (Shane Yellowbird tonight, Metric tomorrow, Hedley Saturday, Default Sunday), casino, stuff for the kids, and the food and wine experience (Sip!), you can also just people-watch. 
Plus there are fireworks. And mini donuts.
You know, when you write it all down, there actually does seem to be quite a bit going on up there at Northlands.
Great night for a ballgame, let’s play two
While there may be a chance of rain through the evening, sometimes you’ve just got to roll the dice.
If tonight is a night to venture out, regardless of rain probability, then maybe you should really throw it in Mother Nature’s face and sit out at the ballpark.
You’ve got two options this evening.
It’s Weiner Wednesday at Telus Field for tonight’s game between the Edmonton Capitals and Calgary Vipers.
The Capitals also have a new mascot, Captain Capital.
(You know what they don’t have? A “home” button on their website.)
It’s also the last game of the season for the Edmonton Prospects. They’ll be playing Okotoks at 7:05, at John Fry Park.
Fans are all going to be getting something for attending the last game. Hotdogs and concessions are also on sale.
Ukrainian rock
Some days, I won’t lie to you, I’m just looking around for stuff to highlight as a good event in our city.
Haydamaky
Most of the time it’s because I’m not going to mention the same week-long event again and again. Or I’ve missed a fun event by a few hours (like pancake breakfasts, I always forget about early morning stuff).
But I always find something. Because there’s always something happening in this city.
Today I’ve found one, thanks to ShareEdmonton and YEGLive.ca, that I didn’t know about. But it sounds like a good time.
Haydamaky and the Kubasonics are playing the Edmonton Event Centre this evening and it’s probably going to be one raucous Ukrainian party.
Kubasonics
Haydamaky is from Kyiv, Ukraine, while the Kubasonics are from right here in E-Town.
They both play what would be considered somewhat traditional Ukrainian music, but turned on its head, mixed up with rock (and other forms of music) and thrown out there in a new, eclectic, exciting mix. I’ve been grooving to their MySpaces while writing this.
I also enjoy the fact Haydamaky’s next few shows are here, Winnipeg, and Dauphin, Manitoba. We prairie folk keep it old country.
Tasty
Fitting, that after talking about the Samsonowich, we’re going to choose A Taste of Edmonton for our event selection today.
I already feel full just talking about all of this food.
Yes, A Taste of Edmonton has 40 restaurants ready to serve a pair of their menu offerings. For $10-20 you’ll probably get a nice selection of items from a couple of your favourites, or some new winners.
If you’re not heading down during your work day (or perhaps, even if you are) they’ve also got a nice selection of beer and wine to try.
I haven’t been down this summer, yet, so let me know what I should be eating, and what I shouldn’t waste precious food tickets on.
Sally is likely just going to use all of her tickets on deep-fried Mars bars.
Set your phasers to Festival
(As always, this isn’t a definitive list of what’s going on in Edmonton. Just stuff I know about or want to check out. ShareEdmonton and YEGLive are way more definitive.)
This is where your mettle for festival season begins to be tested, Edmonton.
We’ve had great festivals this summer, like the Jazz Fest, SOS Fest, Doors Open Edmonton and the Street Performers Festival. But now, now, is when you need to hydrate and find sleep when you can.
Now is when Edmonton becomes an endless string of carnival rides, mini donuts, race cars, deep-fried food, arts, music, theatre and parties.
This weekend we’ve got the Honda Indy Edmonton. That’s three days of race action at the City Centre Airport. There will be spin-off parties, including the tent on Jasper and the Race Week Music Festival at the Sutton Place hotel. (Side note: Drake is playing the Edmonton Event Centre, Saturday, with an after-party at the tent.)
Capital Ex kicks off its ten day run today. The only way you’ll be slowed down here is if you eat that giant hamburger they’re calling The Monster.
The Freewill Shakespeare Festival is into its final days of Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing.
Churchill Square is full of food. That’s because Taste of Edmonton is back to fill your stomach with a selection of tasty treats from city restaurants.
You can draw at Draw. The annual arts event that includes, umm, drawing, DJs, food, dancing, and who knows what other kinds of fun. It’s at more than one location this year. Find yourself some space to express yourself visually at Latitude 53, Harcourt House, and SNAP. Things finish off at FAVA.
And that’s just the festivals.
We’ve got live music all over the place, including some Old Ugly action at Axis Cafe, featuring Kumon Plaza, Jessica Jalbert, and Jaded Hipster Choir. Wolf Parade is at the Starlite Room. A guy you’ve probably heard of, Neil Young, is at the Jubilee tonight.
You can refuse to believe the rumors, but SkeptiCamp Alberta is happening Saturday, at the U of A.
For the family, Sesame Street Live is at Rexall for shows throughout the weekend.
The Edmonton Prospects are home to Medicine Hat at John Fry Park.
Don’t forget you can seek air-conditioned refuge in a movie theatre.
Remember to pace yourself. Right after Capital Ex and Taste of Edmonton we’ve got the Heritage Festival, Folk Fest, the Fringe (and the edmontonian and Unknown Studio birthday party). It’s going to be September before we know it. (And once it is September we’ve got Symphony Under the Sky.)
p.s. If you’re by a computer Saturday night, at 9pm, why not come right back here and catch our attempt at a TV talk show: “Saturday with Samsonow.” It’ll be something. It might even be good.
