Alberta’s best summer festivals

Alberta’s two biggest cities Calgary and Edmonton are famous for their festivals, hosting more than 100 celebrations every year, with most events running during the long days and balmy nights of summer. Whether you want to see top musicians and actors perform, watch rodeos and colourful multi-cultural parades or feast on the best of Canadian food, there’s an event to suit you. Here is our pick of the best summer festivals in Alberta:

Calgary

Calgary Stampede

One of the biggest events in Canada, The Calgary Stampede welcomes over a million visitors to the city each July for a 10-day rodeo and festival. This spectacular event features one of the world’s largest rodeos, as well as parades, performances, competitions, races and colourful First Nations presentations. The city is transformed with buildings painted, residents donning cowboy gear and a vibrant party atmosphere. If you’re not visiting Calgary during the Stampede, the SAM Centre tells the story of this iconic event year-round through interactive and immersive exhibits.

GlobalFest

Calgary is one of Canada’s most diverse cities with citizens with more than 200 ethnic origins and a strong First Nations heritage. GlobalFest in August celebrates this multi-culturalism in Elliston Park with pavilions, performances, a night market and wide range of ethnic food. The highlight is the International Fireworks Festival, which features displays by pyro-musical artists from around the world.

A Taste of Calgary

One of the biggest food festivals in Western Canada, Taste of Calgary gives visitors the chance to sample the city’s local and international food and drink every August at unique restaurants, breweries and market stalls. The festival also includes concerts from local musicians and plenty of artisan wares on show.

Calgary Folk Music Festival

This four-day music festival every July showcases new and established folk artists as well as indie and world music. With performances across eight stages, previous acts have included Elvis Costello, k. d. lang, Emmylou Harris and Kris Kristofferson. There are also regular improvisation sessions, a craft market and international food stalls.

Calgary International Beerfest

This huge tasting session includes over 200 Canadian breweries offering some 700 types of beers each May. From caramel pale ale to tropical IPA, nutty brown ale and a range of artisan ciders and meads – there is a huge amount to sample. There are also Cooking with Beer seminars, pop-up restaurants and live entertainment.

Edmonton

Edmonton International Street Performers Festival

This 10-day festival in July is one of Alberta’s most fun festivals. With some 1,500 performances, all manner of entertainers hit Edmonton’s streets centred around Winston Churchill Square – including acrobats, stilt walkers, clowns, puppeteers and magicians. It’s completely free so performers rely on audience donations.

Edmonton Fringe Festival

The largest fringe festival in North America, Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival in August attracts performance artists from around the world, as well as showcasing local Canadian talent. There are hundreds of drama and comedy shows over 10 days with concerts, buskers and the free KidsFringe.

Edmonton Heritage Festival

This annual three-day celebration in August brings a multitude of cultural groups to share their history, music, dance and food. Nearly half a million visitors come to Edmonton’s William Hawrelak Park, where tented pavilions showcase up to 100 different cultures with folk art, performances and traditional cookery.

Edmonton Folk Music Festival

This four-day festival in the second week of August celebrates a diverse range of traditional music and is one of the world’s leading folk festivals. Held at Gallagher Park in the North Saskatchewan River Valley, the festival includes folk music from across the world, as well as established stars. Previous headliners have included Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison.

A Taste of Edmonton

Edmonton’s 11-day food festival in late July rivals that of Calgary as one of the biggest in Western Canada, welcoming more than 350,000 visitors. Sample the best local and international food and drink from restaurants, food stalls and breweries, then shop for artisan wares, and enjoy live music concerts.

Keen to visit Calgary or Edmonton? Browse Journeyscape’s range of Holidays to Alberta.