List of festivals in Calgary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is an incomplete list of annual festivals and cultural events in Calgary and the Calgary Region, in the province of Alberta, Canada.
| Festivals of Calgary | |
|---|---|
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| Related topics | |
This list includes festivals of diverse types, such as regional festivals, commerce festivals, fairs, food festivals, arts festivals, religious festivals, folk festivals, and recurring festivals on holidays.
List of festivals in Calgary
| Festival | Occurrence | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Stampede | July 5-14, 2024 | Calgary | “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” |
| Cowboys Music Festival | July 4-15, 2024 | Calgary: Stampede Park | |
| Badlands Music Festival[1] | July 6-14, 2024 | Calgary | |
| Fiestaval Latino Festival[2] | July 19-21, 2024 | Calgary: Olympic Plaza | |
| Calgary Folk Music Festival (aka Calgary Folk Fest) | July 25-28, 2024 | Calgary: Prince’s Island Park | folk music festival |
| Calgary International Blues Festival[3] | July 28- Aug 3, 2025 | Calgary: The Confluence | blues music festival |
| CSIO Spruce Meadows 'Masters' Tournament | July | Calgary: Spruce Meadows | equestrian show jumping tournament |
| Festival of Chariots (Rath Yatra)[4] | July | Calgary | religious Hindu festival |
| High River International Food Festival[5] | July | High River | food festival |
| Inglewood Sunfest[6] | July | Calgary: Inglewood | street fair |
| Inspirefest[7] | July | Calgary | festival for Alberta-based music, artists, artisans, horticulture, and vendors |
| Roundup MusicFest[8] | July | Calgary | music festival co-produced by 51 North Productions and Live Nation Entertainment |
| ShadyGrove Bluegrass Festival[9] | July | Sundre | bluegrass music festival |
| Shakespeare by the Bow (or Shakespeare On The Go)[10] | July - August | Calgary | Shakespeare festival presented by Theatre Calgary |
| Chasing Summer Music Festival[11] | Aug 3 & 4, 2024 | Calgary: Max Bell Centre | music festival presented by Live Nation Entertainment |
| Afrikadey! Film Festival[12] | August | Calgary | |
| Afrikadey! Music Festival[12] | August | Calgary | |
| Caesar Week[13] | August | Calgary | week-long festival celebrating caesar cocktails |
| Calgary Dragon Boat Race & Festival[14] | August | Calgary | |
| Calgary Fringe Festival[15] | August | Calgary | fringe theatre festival |
| Calgary Japanese Festival “Omatsuri”[16] | August | Calgary | |
| Calgary Pride | August | Calgary | LGBTQ+ Pride parade and festival |
| Carifest[17] | August | Calgary | Caribbean cultural festival |
| Chinatown Street Festival | August | Calgary | Chinese cultural festival in Chinatown |
| Expo Latino[18] | August | Calgary | Latino cultural festival |
| GlobalFest | August | Calgary | consists of OneWorld Festival and International Fireworks Festival |
| Great Outdoors Comedy Festival | August | Calgary: Prince's Island Park | Outdoor comedy festival presented by Trixstar LIVE |
| GuitarFestWest[19] | August | Calgary: Mount Royal University | week-long classical guitar festival |
| Heritage Day Festival[20] | August (first Monday) | Calgary | |
| International Reggae Festival | August | Calgary | |
| Marda Gras[21] | August | Calgary: Marda Loop | street festival |
| Mountain View International Festival of Song and Chamber Music[22] | August | Calgary | |
| When Words Collide[23] | August | Calgary | festival for commercial and literary fiction |
| Tabestoon Festival[24] | August (biennially) | Calgary | Iranian arts and culture festival, organized by the Persian Gulf Foundation |
| Taste of Calgary[25] | August (third weekend) | Calgary | food and drink festival |
| Artember[26] | September | Airdrie | art festival |
| Beakerhead[27] | September | Calgary | celebration of art, science and engineering |
| Barbecue on the Bow[28] | September | Calgary | culinary festival and barbecue competition |
| BrazilFest[29] | September | Calgary | |
| Calgary Corporate Challenge September Games[30] | September | Calgary | 2-week corporate team-building event that features various competitions "focusing on teamwork and networking"[30] |
| Calgary Highland Games[31] | September (Labour Day weekend) | Calgary | Celtic sports, music and dance |
| Canmore Highland Games | September (Labour Day weekend) | Canmore | Celtic sports, music and dance |
| Cochrane Lions Labour Day Rodeo[32] | September (Labour Day weekend) | Cochrane | rodeo |
| Heritage Park Railway Days | September | Heritage Park | |
| Calgary Arab Film Festival | October | Calgary | |
| Calgary International Film Festival | September / October | Calgary | |
| Calgary Tattoo & Arts Festival[33] | October | Calgary | |
| Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation "CIBC Run for the Cure" | October | Calgary | |
| Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival[34] | October | Calgary | |
| Wordfest: Calgary International Writers' Festival | October | Calgary | |
| Calgary Justice Film Festival (formerly Marda Loop Justice Film Festival)[35] | November | Calgary | environmental and social justice film festival |
| CUFF.Docs Documentary Film Festival[36] | November | Calgary | Non-fiction film festival presented by the Calgary Underground Film Festival |
| Otafest Aurora | November | Calgary | anime convention, smaller version of Otafest in the spring/summer |
| Airdrie Festival Of Lights[37] | December | Airdrie | Rides, Christmas lights, refreshments |
| Emerging Artism | December | Calgary | |
| Once Upon A Christmas | December | Calgary | |
| Zoolights[38] | December / January | Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo | 6-week Christmas/holiday festival |
| High Performance Rodeo | January | Calgary | 3-week international festival of live art produced by One Yellow Rabbit |
| International Festival of Animated Objects | January | Calgary | |
| Chinook Blast[1] | February 2-19, 2024 | Calgary | Tourism Calgary's winter festival |
| Picture this…film festival | February | Calgary | postponed since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as of 2022[update][39] |
| Artifact Small Format Film Festival (formerly $100 Film Festival) | March | Calgary | celluloid-based film festival |
| Gluten Free Expo[40] | March | Calgary | |
| MTT Fest[41] | March | Calgary | |
| Rodeo Royal | March | Calgary | |
| Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo[42] | April | Calgary | |
| Calgary Beer Festival | April | Calgary | |
| Calgary International Spoken Word Festival | April | Calgary | |
| Calgary Maple Festival des Sucres[43] | April | Calgary | |
| Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) | April | Calgary | |
| Vaisakhi Mela | April | Calgary | Punjabi spring harvest festival |
| FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival | May + June | Calgary | |
| Calgary International Children's Festival[44] | May | Calgary | |
| Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival | May | Calgary | |
| Heritage Park Festival of Quilts | May | Calgary: Heritage Park | |
| Lilac Festival | May | Calgary: Beltline + Mission | street festival |
| Otafest[45] | May | Calgary | anime convention |
| Puppet Power: Festival of Ideas[46][47] | May | Calgary | |
| Calgary Greek Festival | June | Calgary | |
| Commuter Challenge Week[48] | June (week of June 5) | Calgary | |
| Ignite! Theatre-Arts Festival | June | Calgary | |
| Light & Motion Prop Arts and Circus Festival[49] | June | Calgary | |
| MEC Bikefest[50] | June | Calgary | |
| MEC Paddlefest[51] | June | Calgary | |
| Sled Island Music and Arts Festival[52] | June | Calgary | independent music and arts festival |
| Calgary Ukrainian Festival[53] | June | Calgary, Acadia Recreation Complex | Ukrainian culture and heritage |
Most attended festivals
Calgary Stampede
The city of Calgary is famous for the Calgary Stampede, a large agricultural fair and rodeo held every July. The Stampede officially bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". It features an internationally recognized rodeo competition, a midway, stage shows, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon races, First Nations exhibitions, and pancake breakfasts around the city. It is among the largest and most well known festivals in Canada. The event has a 113 year history. In 2005, attendance at the 10-day rodeo and exhibition totaled 1,242,928, which set a new record. Attendance at the Stampede Parade (North America's second longest parade), which takes place downtown on opening day, is usually somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000. [citation needed] During Stampede Week, many of the city's residents dress in country attire, and many businesses decorate their stores and offices in western style.[citation needed]
Lilac Festival
The Lilac Festival is an annual street festival held in Calgary, Alberta. In 2005 it had an estimated 120,000 attendance.[54] The festival takes place along the 13 blocks of 4th Street (between 13th Avenue South and Elbow Drive) in the Beltline and Mission neighborhoods.[54]
Sun and Salsa Festival
The Sun and Salsa Festival is an annual festival put on in the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone (BRZ) of Calgary.[55][56][57][58][59] Attendance of the festival has grown to around 100,000 in 2010.[60]
Former festivals
This is a list of festivals that no longer exist, have been on a prolonged hiatus, or festivals that were once held in Calgary but have since moved to elsewhere.
- Bow River Flow (August)[61][62] — human-powered transportation festival
- Calgary Corn Festival - Kingsland Farmers' Market (August)
- Calgary Intercultural Turkish Festival (July)[63][64]
- FozzyFest (Canada Day long weekend) — outdoor electronic music festival in South Kananaskis[65]
- Haultain and First Street Festival in Victoria Park (September)[66]
- Morningside Music Bridge (July) — international music festival, originally hosted by Mount Royal University in Calgary but now held in Boston[67]
- Summerstock (August)
- Sun and Salsa Festival (July)[68] — Latin festival in Kensington. In 2015, organizers announced that the festival would be cancelled due to construction developments in the community, and has been under an indefinite hiatus since.
- X-Fest Calgary (August)[69] — Alternative music festival in Fort Calgary.
See also
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- List of festivals in Alberta
- List of festivals in Canada
- Lists of festivals by city
- Culture of Calgary
- List of attractions and landmarks in Calgary
