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.
What did you guys do for Halloween?
AHHHHHHH. Welcome to the post-Halloween but pre-Christmas time of year, where stores want to go balls out with their Santa paraphernalia, but tend to reign it in until the 12th, mostly out of respect for Remembrance Day.
Anyway, if there are two things that can be counting on at this time of year they are 1) the annual fistfight between Jeff and I over when I get to put up the Christmas tree (I always lobby for November 1, he wants to wait until mid-December), and 2) the surfacing of endless hilarious photos, videos and stories of clever-clever Halloween costumes, parties and general debauchery.
So what did you guys do? We went to see Metric at the Jube (hence the video above). It was pretty sweet. I didn’t get dressed up, or wasted, or dry hump pumpkins, or any of the things traditionally associated with a very Happy Halloween, so let’s hear your tales of debauchery so I can live through you vicariously, mmkay?
I will also accept hearing about the best costume you saw. My favorite was slutty Mario & Luigi, though this was also a big year for people in banana costumes, which never stops being funny.
