End of August Events
Yes, Edmonton, summer is winding down. But, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of great stuff going on to lift your spirits. (And pretty good weather recently too.)
On the festival circuit this weekend, there’s DEDfest, In/stall/ed, East Meets West, and Open Sky.
DEDfest is Edmonton’s annual horror film fest. In/stall/ed is is a unique performance and visual art display, happening in the McCauley neighbourhoods in parking spaces. Yeah, public art baby! Latitude 53 is running this, and there will be 17 performances and installations on Saturday. East Meets West continues up in Little Italy and the McCauley neighbourhood, and there’s Mercury Opera performing Madame Butterfly in Giovanni Caboto Park. The Open Sky Music Festival is packing Hawrelak Park with bands and bands and musicians and more musicians.
If you’re into walking, the Highlands neighbourhood is kicking off their walking map this weekend. These maps are great ways to get to know an Edmonton neighbourhood.
I haven’t heard a whole lot about MEAET but it sounds like a cool idea. A bunch of people get together, have some food, enjoy themselves, then vote on who to give some money to for a project.
You can also Show What You Grow, at Fort Edmonton Park.
In music, there’s the earlier mentioned Open Sky Music Festival, with plenty of bands and artists down in Hawrelak Park…Wunderbar’s got Fire Next Time tonight and The Joe and Doug Hoyer triumphantly returning to Edmonton (after a national tour) on Saturday night. Also on Saturday, Hale Hale, Southroot, and Zero Something play the Starlite Room. Back to Friday night, Warped Tourers Inner City Elegance are at Expressionz Cafe. Now back to Saturday (surely I should have done this in chronological order) there’s live music at Ricky’s in Mill Woods (with Consilience and Tyson Skakun).
Oh, and if you walk by CKUA on Jasper Avenue tonight and it seems like something cool is going on it’s because they’re celebrating their amazing record library and have a live performance from 100 Mile House.
Down in the river valley, the Edmonton Capitals host the Calgary Vipers through the weekend.
And over at Clarke Stadium (beside Commonwealth) the Edmonton Huskies are home to Saskatoon Hilltops in Prairie Football.
Let The Festivals Begin
This is when summer really gets going, Edmonton, when there are festivals – plural – to talk about.
In festivals…Dreamspeakers continues through Saturday night…the International Children’s Festival is on in St. Albert…on Sunday, the Highlands neighbourhood has a street festival…Opera Nuova presents the Vocal Arts Festival…NextFest runs through next week…
Community league members will be out all weekend trying to earn their neighbourhood some much-needed money in the Edmonton Community Challenge.
On the political side…Saturday is the Slut Walk and Sunday is a rally against public money going to a new downtown arena.
In music…this weekend, Heart of the City fills Giovanni Caboto Park with music, music, music. Musicians and bands that live in the “heart of the city” will be playing this annual festival. 2011′s got another great lineup. NextFest also has plenty of young, up and coming, and new musicians playing all around the city.
There are a few Slave Lake fire benefit shows…at the Rendevous Pub…at the City Centre Church…and at The ARTery (with Tanner Gordon among those on the bill)…
Friday…The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s got Late Night 1900s (with conductor Bill Eddins). Always a good time. Winnipeg’s The Details play the Haven Social Club with Michou…the Wild Rose Orchestra is at Wunderbar, with Zero Cool…
Saturday…Feast or Famine is at Wunderbar with The Old Sins, and the Weekend Kids (and more!…The Details are still at the Haven Social Club, but with Fish & Bird, and Kaley Bird…100 Mile House is at The Empress…No Witness has a CD release at the Starlite Room, with Shelbi and Soundscape…Ol’ Smashy (formerly the F.D. Jones Soap Co.) is at Filthy McNasty’s…and the ESO’s got Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony…
On Sunday…Supertramp is at Rexall Place. SUPERTRAMP!
In sports…the Edmonton Energy play a couple more games against the Oregon Waves…and the Edmonton Capitals are home to the Calgary Vipers. Saturday night’s baseball game is followed by movies at Telus Field. And Saturday is the “Fresh Meat Frolic,” with the Oil City Derby Girls, at the Grindhouse (14420 – 112 Street).
And on Saturday…it’s Bugs and Brunch – a fundraiser for YESS, hosted by Expressionz Cafe and the Vintage VW Association.
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.
Oh, the things you’ll do
I’m not messing around when I say there is a lot of stuff to do in Edmonton over the next three days.
There is A LOT of stuff to do in Edmonton over the next three days.
Tonight, I’m making it about music. And you could too.
I’ll be at the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (9:30), taking in a “Late Night” performance. Tonight is Late Night Paris. After the performance there’s live jazz in the Winspear.
(There’s more Parisien Charm Sunday afternoon.)
The Late Night series is another way the ESO is trying to reach new audiences. They’ve got the Symphony Under the Sky in Hawrelak Park for the Labour Day weekend, matinees, pops, Broadway, kids’ shows, and the classics. A performance at 9:30 on a Friday night makes it feel like a real night on the town.
As the season winds down (it’s over in mid-June) I applaud the ESO for their versatile lineup and can’t wait for 2010-2011 to kick-off in the park.
If you don’t want to spend the evening at the Winspear Centre you can still make tonight about music.
We mentioned earlier that One Way State is playing Friday night with Maurice. Too Slim and the Taildraggers are still at Blues on Whyte too.
Our old pal Jerrold Dubyk is playing this weekend. He’s got a show tonight, at 6:30, at Victoria School. Then The Jerrold Dubyk Quartet takes to the Haven Social Club stage Saturday night with Althea Cunningham and Dawn in the City.
Dance!
Back to Friday music…You could see The Neil Young Trunk Show over at Metro Cinema. Or catch punk legends The Buzzcocks at New City. The U of A’s Convocation Hall has Classic Broadway via Opera Nuova.
And Disney’s Beauty and the Beast finishes its Edmonton run this weekend.
Now…what about the rest of this busy weekend?
Did somebody ask for a Dance-a-Thon? Good. Because Mile Zero Dance is doing just that, Saturday night. It starts at 7:30 and while it says it ends at 1:30 am, I hope it goes until the last dancer drops.
It could be a weekend of shopping for new things. You can swing by Make-It Edmonton! and buy some cool, handmade goods. If you quickly find yourself with buyer’s remorse you can get over to the Winspear and trade that stuff away at the Over the Top Swap, which also happens to be a spa for the day.
You can celebrate videogames with local podcast User Created Content. They’re throwing a 2nd birthday party Saturday. It starts at HiTech Gaming (15219 Stony Plain Road) and finishes at Union Hall (Argyll and 99 Street).
If you’re still in the gaming mood, Sunday sees the monthly GamePub over at Original Joe’s Varsity.
Edmonton’s own Ann Vriend is playing the Myer Horowitz Theatre Saturday night. She’s kind of a big deal.
We are in the midst of summer movie blockbuster season. I think Sally is trying to drag Gregg Beever to Sex and the City 2. I feel bad for him.
Our event-loving friends over at Share Edmonton have something to say about the next few days too. Share has also teamed up with YEG Live.ca to keep us all updated on live music!
They’ve got details on all the running around you could be doing at the Little Big Run and the Subway Coronation Triathalon. I wonder if everyone eats a giant sub after the race?
Saturday sees a Highlands Street Festival over on 112 Avenue.
And don’t forget the Edmonton Energy play at the Butterdome tonight, they’re hosting the Bellingham Slam.
Don’t tell me you can’t find something to do.
Featured Edmontonian: Helen Fester
By Lorraine Poulsen
The Highlands, located in northeast Edmonton and just blocks from the North Saskatchewan river valley, can be said to have had a golden start.
The subdivision was developed by the real estate entrepreneur group Magrath, Holgate and Co. It was that company which offered $50 in gold to the person who could come up with the winning name for the area.
The offer was made in 1910 and by 1911, a total of 28 residential building permits were taken out by Margrath, Holgate and Co. for the Highlands district.
Today the area boasts a unique commercial strip in the heart of the residential district. Minutes away from the city’s centre, the one-of-a-kind businesses offer a unique shopping and eating experience.
Among the shops on 112 Avenue is the famed French restaurant LaBoheme which was built as a luxury apartment block in 1912. The restaurant opened in 1982. The street is also home to a wool shop (Wool Revival), Catfish Coffee and Culina Highlands, a unique neighbourhood cafe, to name just a few.
And, of course, there is Chickies.
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If you have a few free hours and you are wondering how to spend them, do yourself a favour and go to 112 Avenue and 65 Street and visit with Helen at Chickies. The shop is opened Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and a visit to this spot will just make you feel good.
Being part of the antique selling world is a “glorious” place to be according to Helen Fester, the owner of one of the city’s most unique antique stores.
And, if Chickies compelling atmosphere does not totally captivate and entice you, the rippling laughter of the former Army and Navy sales girl will surely make you want to step inside and have a closer look. (more…)
