A brand new free food festival lands on the riverfront, a labour council grills 5,000 burgers in a north-side park on Monday morning, and September 7 is the last day of the year that the national parks are free. Four days, and a few of them are genuinely time-limited.
Labour Day is Monday, September 7. If you need to know what is open, what is closed, and whether you get paid for working it, that is here: Labour Day 2026 Alberta: What's Open, What's Closed, and Whether You Get Paid.
Fifteen things worth doing in Edmonton, with times, addresses and what each one costs.
Kejia Festival
Festival
The headline of the weekend, and it is brand new. Kejia is the inaugural year of a three-day street food festival run by the Hakka Tsung Tsin Association of Edmonton at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park, and it is free to walk in. "Kejia" translates roughly as guest people, and the Hakka story is one of migration and building a community somewhere new, which is about as Edmonton a theme as you can get. Friday is the short evening session, Saturday is the full day. Park at the Shaw Conference Centre and take the funicular down rather than trying to find something on Grierson Hill.
When: Friday, September 4, 4 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, September 5, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, September 6, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Louise McKinney Riverfront Park, 9999 Grierson Hill NW
Cost: Free
Edmonton District Labour Council Labour Day BBQ
Community
The one thing on this list that is actually about Labour Day. The Edmonton District Labour Council has run this for years and it is exactly what it sounds like: 5,000 burgers and hot dogs, fresh corn, a park full of people, and no charge. Bring nothing, take a plate, stay an hour. Giovanni Caboto Park is a short walk from the Stadium LRT station if you would rather not park on 109A.
When: Monday, September 7, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: Giovanni Caboto Park, 9425 109A Avenue NW
Cost: Free
Elk Island National Park
Outdoors
This is the deadline item. Free admission under the Canada Strong Pass runs to September 7 and then stops, so Monday is the last day of the year you can drive through the gate without paying. Elk Island is 35 minutes east on Highway 16, it has the highest density of hoofed mammals in Canada, and it is a Dark Sky Preserve. Go early or go late; bison move at dawn and dusk and stand around in the middle of the day like everyone else.
When: Friday to Monday, free entry through September 7
Where: Elk Island National Park, Highway 16 east of Edmonton
Cost: Free until September 7
Edmonton Art Crawl
Culture
Three days of free programming across the downtown core: live painting, gallery openings, mural activations and panels. The appeal is that it is a route rather than a venue, so you can do an hour of it or the whole afternoon. Start at the Art Gallery of Alberta end and work west; the density of stops thins out the further you go, so front-load the walk.
When: Friday, September 4 to Sunday, September 6
Where: Downtown Edmonton, multiple locations
Cost: Free
Fort Edmonton Park
Heritage
The largest living history museum in Canada, and September is the best month to go: the interpreters are still in full swing but the July crowds have gone home. Open Wednesday to Sunday. Do 1885 Street before lunch while the costumed programming is at its busiest, and ride the streetcar in rather than walking the whole park cold.
When: Friday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Fort Edmonton Park, 7000 143 Street NW
Cost: $27.90 adult
Muttart Conservatory: Hundred Acre Woods
Family
The Feature Pyramid is currently a topiary version of Winnie the Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood, which lands squarely with the four-to-eight bracket and is quietly good for adults too. The Muttart is also the correct answer to a wet Sunday. Go in the last two hours of the day if you want photographs without other people's children in them.
When: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Muttart Conservatory, 9626 96A Street NW
Cost: $14.95 adults, $12.95 youth and seniors, $7.75 child
Old Strathcona Farmers Market
Market
Saturday morning, indoors at 83 Avenue and 103 Street, and early September is the best produce week of the entire year in Alberta. This is peak corn, peak tomatoes and peak everything else. Get there before 10 a.m. if you want parking within a reasonable walk, and bring cash for the smaller growers at the back.
When: Saturday, September 5, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: 10310 83 Avenue NW
Cost: Free to enter
124 Grand Market
Market
The Sunday counterpart, outdoors on 124 Street with 60-plus rotating stalls. It is more prepared food and makers than raw produce, which makes it the better one to go to hungry. It runs to October 11, so this is not your last chance, but it is one of the last warm ones.
When: Sunday, September 6, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: 124 Street and 102 Avenue NW
Cost: Free to enter
Death: Life's Greatest Mystery
Culture
Closing on September 7, so this is the last weekend. The Royal Alberta Museum's touring exhibition looks at how different cultures have understood and handled mortality, and it is far more interesting and far less morbid than the title suggests. It is not a young-children exhibition. Allow 90 minutes and see it before the permanent galleries rather than after, while you still have the attention for it.
When: Through Monday, September 7
Where: Royal Alberta Museum, 9810 103A Avenue NW
Cost: $10 to $21
Grosvenor Dog Swim
Family
The best-value three hours of the weekend. St. Albert drains and closes its outdoor pool for the season by letting dogs swim in it first, by donation, with the money going to the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society. It is chaotic in the best way. Bring a towel you do not care about and be honest with yourself about whether your dog actually likes other dogs.
When: Monday, September 7, 12 to 3 p.m.
Where: Grosvenor Outdoor Pool, 1 Grenfell Avenue, St. Albert
Cost: By donation
Sheep Leaving Parade
Community
Fort Saskatchewan uses a flock of sheep to graze its river valley instead of mowing it, and every autumn the town throws them a farewell parade down 100 Avenue. It is free, it is completely sincere, and it is the single most charming two hours available in the Edmonton region this weekend. Twenty-five minutes northeast on Highway 15. Stand near the start of the route rather than the end, the flock moves faster than you expect.
When: Monday, September 7, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Fort Heritage Precinct, 100 Avenue, Fort Saskatchewan
Cost: Free
Edmonton Corn Maze
Family
Fifteen acres cut into a new design every year, this season built around the Alberta Motor Association's centenary. Early September is the right time: the corn is at full height but the evenings are still warm enough to be out in a t-shirt, which is not true by October. Allow longer than you think for the maze itself and leave time for the rest of the farm.
When: Through October 25
Where: 26171 Garden Valley Road, Spruce Grove
Cost: $13 to $18
Edmonton Mural Festival
Free
Local and international artists have been painting new walls across the city since mid-August and the festival runs to September 15, which means this weekend the works are finished but the scaffolding stories are still fresh. It is a free, self-directed walk. The map on the site is the whole point, and Whyte Avenue and downtown give you the highest concentration per block.
When: Through September 15
Where: Various locations across Edmonton
Cost: Free to view
Summer Block Party on Rice Howard Way
Free
Five free hours on the Saturday afternoon with the pedestrian street given over to performances and local businesses. It is small, which is the appeal; it is the sort of thing you stumble into rather than plan around. Pair it with the Art Crawl, since both are downtown and both are free.
When: Saturday, September 5, 1 to 6 p.m.
Where: Rice Howard Way, downtown Edmonton
Cost: Free
Alberta Legislature grounds and tours
Free
Free guided tours run Wednesday to Sunday and on holiday Mondays, which makes this one of the few staffed attractions in the city actually open on Labour Day. The Visitor Centre exhibition on the site's 12,000-year history is also free. Even if you skip the building, the grounds and the wading pools are the best free afternoon downtown, and Monday is the last day the city runs its fountains for the season.
When: Friday to Monday, including the holiday Monday
Where: Alberta Legislature Building and Visitor Centre, 9820 107 Street NW
Cost: Free
Before you go
Monday is the last free day in the national parks. Canada Strong Pass free admission to Banff, Jasper and Elk Island ends September 7. After that the day pass is back.
ETS runs a holiday schedule on Monday. Reduced service and some routes not running at all, so check your specific route rather than assuming.
Highway 2 south will be heavy Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon. 511.alberta.ca before you commit to a mountain day.
Editor's Pick: Kejia Festival on the Saturday. It is free, it is the first year, and a brand new food festival on the riverfront is the rarest thing on this list. Go in the evening when the park lights up and the river is behind you, and eat your way along one side before doubling back.
Know an event we missed? Tag us @culturealberta or email hello@culturealberta.com.
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