Edmonton: a festival every weekend

River Valley provides many opportunities to discover the culture of Edmonton

For a cultural hit, it is hard to pass up Edmonton. This city is heritage-, history- and culture-rich, and you can soak up the vibrant atmosphere of Edmonton, Canada's Festival City, whether you have just a weekend or a couple of weeks.

Bin Lau, a tried and true Edmontonian, is the communications director with Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. He said that there is plenty to do all year round and the summer time offers some amazing cultural opportunities.

Edmonton is Canada's fifth-largest municipality, with a population of 1.2 million, and it is very multicultural. Events and festivals of all sorts highlight most weekends.

The River Valley

Lau said that River Valley in Edmonton is regarded by many Edmontonians as the pièce de réistance of the city.

“It weaves its way through the city and on both sides you will find the North Saskatchewan River Valley, which is the largest urban parkland in North America,” said Lau. “In it visitors will find and experience pretty much all that there is in Edmonton.”

Lau said that there is golf, historical sites, magnificent parks, festivals, paddle-boating, hiking, biking and more, all in the one spot.
“It is a tranquil oasis in the middle of an urban setting,” said Lau. “From the west end you can experience Fort Edmonton Park,  which is the largest living history museum in the country.”

Lau said that it has more than 70 period buildings from four different eras spread over 58 acres of land.

“Some scenes from the film Assassination of Jesse James starring Brad Pitt were filmed in Fort Edmonton Park,” said Lau.

He said the Capitol Theatre in the park is a recreated historical theatre which is home to live theatre and film year-round. Most visitors can catch a multimedia history of Edmonton at the Capitol, tracing through the early years of the city and explaining how the city arrived at its very existence.

Further down the River Valley there is the country's oldest municipal golf course, as well as a number of other public golf courses. Lau said it is a unique experience to be playing on a major golf course surrounded by highrises.

Edmonton festivals

Another highlight of the River Valley is Hawrelak Park, which is home to the popular Servus Heritage Festival which takes place every August long weekend. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from far and wide get the chance to experience the perspective of many different cultures at this festival.

The Heritage Amphitheatre, western Canada’s largest outdoor amphitheatre, with its white canopy that offers acoustic perfection, looks over Hawrelak Park. Many of the city's festivals, including the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, the Labatt Blues Festival, the Symphony under the Sky festival and Heritage Days, all take place in the park.

Although River Valley provides many opportunities to discover the culture of Edmonton, it is important to step out of the parkland to experience even more, said Lau. Check out Edmonton Tourism to find out what else you can experience in Canada's Festival City.