WHAT’S GOING ON: Festivals for the Rest of Us!
Big news about the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival: It’s back. Of course it is.
The theme revealed for the 41st annual festival this week was “Destination Fringe” – a theatrical travelogue boasting 27 venues filled with 160 different productions, running Aug. 11-21. Tickets go on sale Aug. 3.
This is by far my favourite festival in Edmonton. You can spend 11 entire days and nights immersed in an astounding fantasia of alternate realities, created by hundreds of the most gifted theatre people in the world – a lot of them from right here in Edmonton – and for what, like $15 per play? You can’t go wrong. In some jurisdictions, the jugglers, vendors and street food outside alone could constitute a festival in itself.
Events omitted in a previously published large list of events include (click each live link here for more information): Ukrainian fest, Dreamspeakers film fest, kids fest, Nextfest, disco fest, country fest, Pride fest, comedy fest, another comedy fest, street fest, art fest, K-Days fest, jazz fest, blues fest, rock fest, blues AND roots fest, Shakespeare fest, metal fest, fest fest, this is not a complete fest.
Of note: UFest, the Ukrainian Festival, is happening this weekend in Borden Park, so get your pyrogy on!
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival announced its full line-up at a press conference this week, celebrating a return after two years off. Newly announced headliners include KALEO, Orville Peck, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Matt Andersen, and more – adding to the already announced Buffy Sainte-Marie, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, The War on Drugs, Allison Russell, The National, and Lord Huron. Tickets go on sale June 4.
K-Days just got big bank from the feds – $10 million – which will be used to upgrade a site that badly needs upgrading. Are they selling off the giant old Klondike Mike? That will be a sad day when old Mike is carted out of there.
Sustainival is an eco-friendly carnival that happens to be run by our hockey columnist Brent Oliver.
And in slightly out-of-town music festivals too numerous to list, why not consider the Loud as Hell Open Air Metal Festival – July 29-31 in Drumheller, Alberta, OK not so slightly out of the way, featuring Neck of the Woods, and many other bands so frightening their logos are almost unreadable. And what’s this? There are two outdoor metal festivals in Alberta this summer? The Decimate Metal Festival happens June 24-25 in High River, Alberta (further than Drumheller), with a similarly large and frightening bill culling the finest metal bands from around Western Canada, and topped by Planet Eater, Arrival of Autumn, and many more.
Of course the Big Valley Jamboree country music camping adventure takes place at the Camrose Exhibition Grounds July 29-31, featuring Tim McGraw, Dallas Smith, and many more.
Road trip!
