Heritage Weekend
This is it Edmonton, the long weekend we’ve been waiting for all month. (I said long weekend, not log.)
It’s also one of those peaks of festivals that mark our summer. Here’s what I mean:
Heritage Festival (It is the Heritage Day weekend… Also, you can’t drive your car to Hawrelak for all of the fun.)
DRAW (drawing. obvs.)
Capital Ex (Woot!)
Taste of Edmonton (Deep fried deliciousness – alright, mostly deep fried.)
Food Day Canada, where restaurants create entirely Canadian-sourced meals (with Culina Mill Creek, Culina Muttart, Culina Highlands – now the Highlands Kitchen, D’Lish, The Marc, )
Yeah!
In sports…the Eskimos are home tonight to the Toronto Argonauts and the Capitals play host to the Lake County Fielders. The Fielders are having all kinds of off-field troubles this season.
On a more serious note, there will be a vigil for a Fort McMurray woman missing for the last year.
Wicked continues to play at the Jube.
Edmonton comedian Jon Mick records a live comedy album, at Wunderbar. You can not only enjoy a night of fine Edmonton comedy (and comedians) but listen for your laughter on his recording. And if you want you can help him pay for the album by throwing him a few bucks. Pretty solid night.
In music, it’s a pretty solid weekend. Sister Gray is playing New City Legion tonight with Cygents, The Frolics, and Very Dangerous Animals…Luke Doucet and the White Falcon is with Michael Rault, at the Starlite Room…Capital Ex has plenty of music, including Ace of Bass Sunday night…Taste of Edmonton also has lots of live music…
On Saturday, there are two great afternoon shows on Whyte Avenue, with Tyler Butler and F&M at the Black Dog for Hair of the Dog, and The Provincial Archive at The Empress with Montreal’s Charlotte Cornfield…
Saturday night…Toy Singers have a farewell show, with Old Uglians Jessica Jalbert, Liam Trimble, and Sugarglider at the Haven Social Club…across the city, The ARTery’s got the Beehive Bonanza Mini Market and Show, with Rocktimus Crime, Service:Fair, and Jom Comyn…
Sunday night sees a long weekend showcase at the Pawn Shop, with Matt Machete ready to blow things up…On the holiday Monday, Jeff Morris kicks off his tour at the Black Dog…
Now, to get this party started, let me present to you the new album from our pals The Fight. (The whole album is embedded here, just flip through the tracks. Oh, and buy it if you dig it.)
See you Tuesday!
p.s. Speaking of The Fight, Jom Comyn, Service:Fair, Jessica Jalbert, Liam Trimble, The Provincial Archive, Tyler Butler, and Sugarglider, this Sunday night is likely the last time you’ll be able to catch the edmontonian presents on ShawTV (channel 10 on Shaw cable), so tune in at 9pm and be able to tell your space-grandkids you saw it on an actual television set.
Shut Your Mouth, It’s Art Crawl
While Whyte Avenue’s Art Walk has nothing to do with the TV comedy Bob’s Burgers, they do have streets of art in common.
Yes, today through Sunday you can find artist after artist all around Whyte Avenue and Old Strathcona. More than 200 artists will be selling their paintings, drawings, photos, sketches, and anything else they can fit onto the sidewalk. It’s always a busy weekend, and remember to bring cash.
It’s a Handmade Mafia weekend, so get yourself over to the Strathcona Baptist Church for plenty o’ fun. (It ties into the Art Walk too.)
If you’re into rabbits you’re going to want to check out the Year of the Rabbit and Hare Band Cabaret at the Catalyst Theatre. Even if you’re not a fan of rabbits, the stone and canvas art from Jason Carter and a play by Bridget Ryan may be just the ticket.
In other festival news…
The Freewill Shakespeare Festival continues in Hawrelak Park, with Othello and Twelfth Night. The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival is in Churchill Square, with some late night madness this weekend to close things out. The Edmonton and Northern Alberta Historical Festival wraps up this weekend too. That seems so timely with all the history and heritage in the news this week.
Race Week Edmonton officially begins on Monday, but the annual Soap Box Derby is Sunday on Victoria Park Hill. Also in racing this weekend, the Sourdough River Festival (and raft race), in Terwillegar Park.
In live music…
The Grapes of Wrath play two shows at the Haven Social Club tonight…Samantha Schultz will wow you with her guitar skills at the Blue Chair Cafe tomorrow evening…Ghost Cousin releases a new album Saturday night at Wunderbar…and our old pals Boy and Gurl come up from Calgary for a show at On The Rocks Sunday…
On Sunday, a new Fork Fest begins. Get your eat on!
The Eskimos, FC Edmonton, and Capitals are all home for games this weekend.
Food-Filled Events
It's gonna be like this, times 100.
Today you can eat some BBQ and chat with local producers and farmers at Wild Earth Foods’ Open Air Market, 2-8pm. You can also get some street food at What the Truck?!, 4-8pm. I hope to see you at one, or both, of these.
I am going to eat so much today…
Sticking with food…Saturday is market day! There’s the City Market (downtown), Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market (Whyte Avenue area), and St. Albert Farmers’ Market. On Sunday it’s the Callingwood Farmers’ Market (southwest Edmonton).
More food!!
To the festivals! Opera Nuova’s Vocal Arts Festival wraps up this weekend. Alberta Dance Alliance’s feats Festival of Dance has begun! The Works is on, in Churchill Square and around downtown Edmonton. The Edmonton International Jazz Festival is also on now. Improvaganza is still making with the funny. June isn’t done yet, so Bike Month continues too.
Holy cow we have a lot of festivals!
Fans of the TV show Firefly (and the movie Serenity, I presume) are fundraising at Can’t Stop the Serenity.
Perhaps a movie is in order this weekend? I hear there are plenty of great sci-fi options.
For the family…the John Janzen Nature Centre is open again. I guess this could also be for nature-lovers. Saturday, you can head on down to Rundle Park for Paddlefest.
It’s a great music weekend in Edmonton. The Works is packing Churchill Square with fantastic acts like Doug Hoyer, The Fight, and The Joe. The Edmonton Jazz Festival is, of course, all about music, from homegrown talent like Krystle Dos Santos to International artists like Trombone Shorty (Troy Andrews). The Apresnos are at Haven Social Club tonight…
(Totally forgot to try and embed an Apresnos song, so check them out completely here.)
Saturday’s Hair of the Dog (at The Black Dog) features Jessica Jalbert. Get on board with Jessica Jalbert now, Edmonton. Edmonton music blogger New Music Michael is having a birthday party with with One Way State, kickupafuss, and Honheehonhee, at New City.
Sunday, The Sadies and The Sheepdogs play the Pawn Shop.
It’s a good sports weekend in Edmonton too. The Edmonton Eskimos are home to the Calgary Stampeders in pre-season action. FC Edmonton hosts the Montreal Impact. The Edmonton Capitals are home to the Yuma Scoropians. And the Edmonton Energy have the Albany Legends in town. That’s a lot of guys giving 110% and leaving it all out on the floor/field/diamond.
February 23 Edmonton Headlines
That's where laws are made.
The Alberta Legislature is back in session!
I’ll let you settle down before we continue.
…
You reign in all that excitment? OK. (more…)
Hallowe’en Events
We have nearly made it through ten months of 2010.
This weekend’s got the Edmonton Photographic Tradeshow.
In music…it’s a pretty decent weekend. The Rural Alberta Advantage is going to blow the roof off the Myer Horowitz through sheer force of awesome…our old (jazz) pal Jerrold Dubyk is at Jeffrey’s…The ARTery has outlaw harmonica player C.R. Avery with Low Flying Planes…over at the McDougall United Church it’s Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band…
And…
REBA!
The Eskimos and Oil Kings are losing in Edmonton this weekend.
It’s coming up to about that time of year, so you best get prepared with the Edmonton Ski and Snowboard Show.
It is exactly that time of year for events that include the word “scream” and “scare” and “pumpkin.”
There’s magic and mayhem mixed with the music at the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Any Night is a psychologically spooky play.
And, of course, on Sunday you can go around to stranger’s houses and demand they give you candy. They have to give you candy. It’s the law.
Of Edmonton Events
We have come upon our first weekend in the post-2010 election era. I expect candidates and councillors to be sleeping in the next couple of days.
There are a number of things happening if you’re not napping.
On your way home tonight you could stop in at The ARTery and raise money for HIV Edmonton while enjoying the end of the work week. Friday night, Dan Hill plays the Shaw Conference Centre for a Canadian Diabetes Association fundraiser. Justin Rutledge is at the Haven Social Club. Library Voices swing into the Avenue Theatre.
Still Friday, there’s a Bicycle-powered party at the U of A.
Saturday night, Falklands returns home from a cross-country tour to play Teddy’s. Yes, Teddy’s. This should be a good one.
M.A.D.E. In Edmonton closes out “Edmonton Design Exposed” with a party at Bohemia. It’s a little spot that’s out of the way but worth trekking to.
We are starting to see all of the Hallowe’en movies now. Watching movies is still a viable pastime.
The Oil Kings, Eskimos, and Oilers are all home this weekend. There’s roller derby at the Edmonton Sportsdome (and it’s even got a nice Hallowe’en theme to it, with Regina’s Pile O’ Bones in town).
The City of Edmonton continues its series of Hallowe’en events with Pumpkins & Pirates at the Muttart Conservatory.
By the way, it’s Friday, which means it’s Free Cookie Friday over at Luzarra. Head down to Whyte Avenue for a coffee and mention Luzarra’s free cookie tweeting. Then you’ll get a free cookie.
And, as always, the geniuses at ShareEdmonton.ca and YEGLive.ca helped me fill out your social calendars. Those guys are awesome.
This is also happening all weekend long. Pure Spec is at the Radisson south.
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.
Hold onto your potatoes
We’re right into the heart of Edmonton summer now, jam-packed with festivals. This is our time to shine, our time to live it up.
This weekend’s choices are plentiful. (And I realized, after I started linking, that events from ShareEdmonton and YegLive.ca are integrated today. Just mixing it up.)
Tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday there’s the SOS Fest, all over Old Strathcona.
We think it’s going to be so much fun, so many bands and musicians in lots of venues, that we’ve set up a separate blog just for the SOS. We’ll post through the weekend (which is not something we ever do) over there and wrap it all up here, Monday. Let us know who we should check out, which venues we should experience, and show us where the most fun is happening. We’ll see you on the street.
Oh, and Sunday also sees Whyte Avenue shut down for its annual street sale, plus two stages of live music for the SOS Fest. (I told you it was the place to be this weekend.)
Still in the neighbourhood, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is playing at the Walterdale.
In sports, there’s the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands, Sunday. Bars will be busy, I’m sure. The Capitals and Prospects are on the ball diamonds, and the Eskimos are home to the Montreal Alouettes.
The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival is back at Churchill Square.
Doors Open Edmonton and the Edmonton & Northern Alberta Historic Festival are going to take you into buildings you don’t normally get to explore, places sometimes unseen, and historic spots worth visiting. Including CKUA and Alley Kat brewery in Edmonton. Plus, there’s a walking tour of the Highlands neighbourhood.
That’s not to be confused with the Highland Gathering, at Fort Edmonton Park.
If you’re swinging by the Downtown Farmers’ Market you’re probably going to see the All Ford Classic Show.
Down in Hawrelak Park, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival continues with their runs of MacBeth and Much ado about nothing.
In music not related to the SOS Fest, OK GO is at the Starlite tonight. Raygun Cowboys play New City. And Streetheart, yes Streetheart, will be rocking the Century Casino.
The Art Gallery of Alberta is going late-night with another Refinery party. The Valley Zoo is also going for something with an after-hours feel, hosting ZooFest. The Bissell Centre is holding a Block Party of the Century too.
Transcend Coffee is putting their baristas to the test, Sunday, to see who deserves to compete in the Prairie Regional Baristas Championship. The latte foam will be flying.
If you’re heading toward Victoria Hill, just off 116 Street, Sunday, I hope you’re driving a soapbox racer.
And you can always see a movie.
Beever’s Best
Best & Worst of Edmonton 2009 according to me, Gregg Beever
It’s probably a week late for a “year in review” type post, but I’ve
managed to convince the Editor-in-Chief to let me do it anyway. So
gather ‘round Edmonton, here is the year’s best and worst according to
me, Gregg Beever.
Best Local Band: The Provincial Archive
Edmonton has a very good music scene. While I haven’t experienced
enough of any other city’s scene to be considered even remotely
expert, I think I can humbly and modestly declare Edmonton’s the best
on the planet.
Our city has a plethora of small, intimate venues like the Empress,
Blue Chair or the Hydeaway. Here the music isn’t deafening, neither is
it crowded with hordes of drunk teenage lunatics screaming in your
very aged and sensitive ears. These are venues where the nuances of
each tune can be soaked in peacefully over a pint or a coffee. I can
spend an entire show in relaxed mesmerization of a percussionist’s
talented movements, the concentration of a cellist or violinist, or
the deft fingering of a guitarist.
Small venues also give you the opportunity to chat with the musicians.
I always make a point of telling an artist when I liked their set. My
theory is no one gets tired of hearing they are awesome. Plus it leads
to some interesting conversations, for instance: I once had a chat
with Megan from The Last Town Chorus about the logistics of using
laminated bookmarks as tools for cleaning up sexual fluids.
A friend of mine once told me she avoided chatting with musicians for
fear of becoming “that girl.” You know the one; that wound up
pre-pubescent girl, lavishing band members with intense adoration
before giving in to hyperventilation and passing out.
Which bring us (finally) to The Provincial Archive.
Craig Schram’s melodic prairie tunes truly demonstrate the fantastic
level of musical talent that exists in E-town. The Archive’s soft
sounds, formed from a collection of guitar, accordion, mandolin,
glockenspiels and other absorbing rhythms, somehow find me
steering-wheel drumming like I was rocking out in my car to Motion
City Soundtrack. In short, they’re excellent.
So excellent, in fact, that when I was chatting with one band member
before a show at the Pawn Shop I sounded like that hyped up
pre-pubescent girl meeting the Jonas Brothers.
I’m willing to bet I didn’t come off quite so ridiculous, but that’s
how I remember it:
“You guys are fantastic, I listen to you in my car every day! It’s
weird that you guys are, like, from Edmonton and I’m playing your
music in Edmonton, you know? That’s just…weird, right? I love you
guys. I’m going to have your babies.” (more…)
Football Frenzy
(Image: EFCL.org)
There’s so much football this weekend, this post can barely contain the action and excitement.
You’ve got the Eskimos home to the Lions tonight in a CFL matchup that is made more important by the Eskimos’ recent losses.
Don’t forget that you still have a little bit of time to buy really cheap tickets through the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, if you’re a member of your community league or you become one in the next two hours.
Don’t think, just do it!
(Image: PFCfootball.com)
Sunday, over at Clarke Park, the Edmonton Wildcats host the Calgary Colts in a Prairie Football Conference semi-final. That’s right, playoff football!
The Wildcats finished the PFC season in second, and seem to always face the Colts in the playoffs. That game goes at 1pm.
Whew. It’s almost lucky the University of Alberta Golden Bears aren’t playing football this weekend. (But U of A teams are active in plenty of other sports.)
…But what if the Wildcats win and end up hosting the championship, while the Bears are home next weekend…Hmm, keep the woolies at the ready.
Why join a community league?
It’s been mentioned around these parts before, but community leagues are a pretty neat part of Edmonton. (Bias alert: I’m on a community league.)
But why should I go on and on about why you should try and get plugged into your neighbourhood’s concerns, and how you could help, and how it’s a great community volunteer experience when I can get the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues to give you a couple of points to ponder.
“Take it away, Michael Janz, Marketing Director of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues…”
We can't mention enough that you get rewarded with good feelings...and city-wide discounts. (Image: www.efcl.org)
10 of the many reasons to join your Community League
- A Great Place to Meet Your Neighbours
- Social activities & events shared with your community at large
- Programs and recreation opportunities
- Community skate & swim times
- Discounts at City Recreation Centers and Tourist Attractions
- Safety programs and Crime watch cooperation
- Build new facilities for public use
- Input for planning your parks, green spaces, and urban development
- Discount tickets to major league sports games – Eskimos, Oil Kings
- Hall Rentals
Hot stuff (to do)
This nearly ended up being the hot dog report.
I don’t think it’s out of line to say this shiznit is bananas. Are you kidding me it’s going to be sunny and 26 degrees? Yowza!
With that kind of heat the Mill Creek Pool will be open about the latest its ever been open.
We’ve already talked about the Community League membership kick-off happening Saturday.
Speaking of free hot dogs…the Bonnie Doon Community League is dishing them out to celebrate their new playground…and the St. Albert Steel have them before the AJHL season kicks off tonight. Which reminds me, the AJHL season kicks off tonight.
Hot dogs aside, if you like improv (and you do) you may want to check out Die-Nasty’s 50-hour marathon at the Varscona Theatre. There are prime-time, non-prime-time and full weekend passes available.
The Eskimos host the Stampeders in a rematch of the Labour Day Classic (drubbing).
Your elderly aunt’s favourite artist is playing the Shaw Conference Centre.
Meanwhile, Keane plays Somewhere Only We Know.
The Odds play River Cree’s Live lounge. Huh.
The Alberta Provincial Racewalk Championship is tomorrow in Hawrelak Park. Seriously.
That should give you a starting point. Have a good weekend!
Are you ready for some (Prairie) Football?
In the end, the Thunder rolled.
I know you can easily get distracted when the big team is on the TV, but there’s other football ’round these parts. And the Golden Bears aren’t even back at school.
But this was also opening weekend of the Prairie Football Conference (PFC). A conference of football in which Edmonton has not one, but two teams. We’ve got the Huskies. And we have the Wildcats.
The PFC has four weekends of smash-mouth football. With 6 teams in the league there’s not a lot of room to mess around.
It also means you get one more regular season game from the Wildcats and Huskies over at Clarke Park.
As for this past weekend, the Wildcats beat the Colts of Calgary 35-21.
The Huskies, umm, played the Regina Thunder.
They lost. 51-11.
The extra point is good! Sadly, the rest of the points went to the other guys.
But we don’t have to talk about that. I mean, we can talk about the Eskimos if we want to talk about weekend lossses. Am I right? (This is where I pull my collar nervously.) We can just talk about how there’s great football for $10 (kids under 12 are free).
Next home games are August 22 (Wildcats) and August 23 (Huskies).
As an aside, writing this has me thinking about who would win a fight between a wildcat and a huskie. I couldn’t find that on the Internet (yet?) but here’s a fight between a taco and a grilled cheese sandwich.
Get him. The guy with the ball!
How was cowboying up for you?
Even cowboys (and cowgirls, cowpeople?) ride the LRT.
The big show in Edmonton was, of course, Kenny Chesney with Taylor Swift and others for Chesney’s “Sun City Carnival” tour.
I hear it was fun. And it was nice that 30,000+ could be having a good time at Commonwealth Stadium, balancing off the poor evening of its usual residents.
