It is Alberta Culture Days weekend, which means the Royal Alberta Museum is free for two days, the Arts District runs free programming from Friday night through Sunday, and a Filipino cultural festival takes over the downtown library. Add a free Asian night market in Windermere, the Elks and a preseason Battle of Alberta on the same Saturday, and the last Food Truck Frenzy of the year, and it is one of the fuller weekends of the fall.
Saturday is the day to be downtown. The museum, the Arts District, the Citadel and the Milner Library are all within a few blocks of Churchill Square and all free, so park once (or take the LRT to Churchill) and walk between them. If you have football or hockey tickets, do the museum in the morning and head north to the stadium or the arena from there.
Sixteen things worth doing in Edmonton, with times, addresses and what each one costs.
Alberta Culture Days in the Arts District
Festival
The anchor for the whole weekend. Downtown's Arts District, the blocks around Churchill Square that hold the Citadel, the Winspear, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Royal Alberta Museum and the Milner Library, runs free and ticketed programming for three days: performances, art talks, film screenings, Indigenous workshops and free museum admission. Friday is an evening-only start from 5 to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday run from 10 a.m. into the evening. Grab the schedule off the Edmonton Downtown site before you go rather than wandering, because the good workshops fill up early and most are first come, first served.
When: Friday, September 25, 5 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, from 10 a.m.
Where: Arts District, around 10205 102A Avenue NW
Cost: Free (some performances ticketed)
Free admission at the Royal Alberta Museum
Free
The biggest museum in Western Canada waives admission for both days of Culture Days weekend which is the rare chance to see it without paying. The Natural History Hall and the bug gallery are the ones kids remember; the Human History Hall is the one adults do not expect to spend two hours in. Free days get busy after lunch, so be there for the 10 a.m. opening or come after 3 p.m. when the school-age crowd thins out. The Chez nous exhibition on Alberta's francophone history is new this season.
When: Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27
Where: Royal Alberta Museum, 9810 103A Avenue NW
Cost: Free
AsiaFest 2026: Under the Moon
Festival
Edmonton's largest Asian night market comes back to the Town Square at Currents of Windermere for three days, themed around the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, with lantern displays, cultural performances and well over a hundred vendors, a big share of them food. It is free to walk in and it runs from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day. The organizers themselves warn that traffic around the site will be heavy all weekend, so go early in the afternoon on Friday if you want to eat without lining up, or take transit. The lanterns are the point after dark, so plan to be there past sunset at least one night.
When: Friday, September 25 to Sunday, September 27, 2 to 11 p.m. daily
Where: Town Square, Currents of Windermere, 6183 Currents Drive NW
Cost: Free
Open Cockpit Day at the Alberta Aviation Museum
Family
Once a year the museum at the old Blatchford hangar lets you actually climb into the aircraft, more than a dozen of them, from wartime aircraft to helicopters and jets. It is the single best day of the year to bring a child who likes planes, and the single worst day to bring a stroller through the crowd, so use a carrier if you can. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends this time of year; the cockpit lines are shortest in the first hour.
When: Saturday, September 26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Alberta Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway NW
Cost: Museum admission, roughly $12.50 to $25
Harvest Festival at the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market
Market
The market's annual Harvest Festival runs both days with free activities on top of the usual Saturday and Sunday vendors: bannock-making workshops at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., a petting zoo, a photo booth and free beginner yoga you sign up for online. Parking off Whyte is the usual struggle, so use the free bike valet run by Bike Edmonton volunteers if you can ride, or park south of 83 Avenue and walk. Sunday is quieter than Saturday and the workshops repeat.
When: Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27
Where: Old Strathcona Farmers' Market, 10310 83 Avenue NW
Cost: Free
Edmonton Elks vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Sports
Saturday at 5 p.m. at Commonwealth, and it is the Elks' Indigenous Celebration game, with the team wearing the Indigenous logo designed by Conrad Plews. Late-September football is the best of the season to sit through: cool enough for a jacket, light enough to see the whole first half in daylight. Tickets start in the mid-$20s. Take the LRT to Stadium station rather than hunting for parking in the neighbourhood, and remember the Oilers are playing across town two hours later, so the trains will be full going both ways.
When: Saturday, September 26, 5 p.m.
Where: Commonwealth Stadium, 11000 Stadium Road NW
Cost: From about $24
Oilers vs Flames, preseason Battle of Alberta
Sports
The Oilers host the Flames at Rogers Place on Saturday night in the last preseason game before the regular season opens the following Tuesday. Preseason means the lineup is a mix of regulars and prospects trying to make the team, and it also means tickets are the cheapest you will see at Rogers Place all year. If you have never taken a kid to an NHL game, this is the one to do it at. Puck drop is 7 p.m.; the arena is on the LRT at MacEwan station.
When: Saturday, September 26, 7 p.m.
Where: Rogers Place, 10220 104 Avenue NW
Cost: Ticketed, see site
Play the North Edmonton
Free
A free three-day board game festival built around Canadian-made games, hosted at Pe Metawe Games on 94 Street, the Indigenous-owned game shop. It is the first Play the North event anywhere, so nobody quite knows how busy it will be; the format is drop in, sit down, and someone will teach you whatever is on the table. Good for a rainy afternoon, good for teens, and free to attend all three days.
When: Friday, September 25 to Sunday, September 27
Where: Pe Metawe Games, 11805 94 Street NW
Cost: Free
EPIC Pinas Kultura Days
Culture
The Edmonton Philippine International Centre's two-day celebration of Filipino culture is one of the official Culture Days host sites this year, in the Stanley A. Milner Library downtown: exhibits, workshops, cultural activations, stories, art and food. Friday evening is the opener from 5 to 8 p.m.; Saturday runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free, it is indoors, and it is a one-minute walk from Churchill LRT station, so fold it into the Arts District day.
When: Friday, September 25, 5 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 26, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Stanley A. Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square NW
Cost: Free
Alberta Culture Days at the Citadel
Family
The Citadel opens its doors for free, family-friendly arts activities both weekend days, the kind of theatre-school games and hands-on sessions the company usually charges for at camps. Times and sessions are on the Citadel's Culture Days page; the free activities are drop-in but the popular ones cap numbers. It sits at the south end of the Arts District, so this and the museum bookend the same walk.
When: Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27
Where: Citadel Theatre, 9828 101A Avenue NW
Cost: Free activities (some events ticketed)
Edmonton International Film Festival, opening weekend
Culture
EIFF turns 40 this year and runs ten days from Thursday, September 24 to October 3, so this is opening weekend and the schedule is at its fullest. Single tickets start around $15 and the passes are the better deal if you plan on more than four films. The opening-weekend screenings with filmmaker Q&As are the ones that sell out; the weekday matinees the following week almost never do.
When: Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, October 3
Where: Various venues, see the festival schedule
Cost: Single tickets from about $15
Edmonton Comedy Festival
Comedy
Four days of stand-up from Thursday to Sunday, with comedians from across North America playing five venues around the city. The Spotlight shows each night are the headliner showcases and the safest bet if you do not know the names; the smaller series shows are cheaper and looser. Check the venue on your ticket before you leave the house, because the festival is spread across town.
When: Thursday, September 24 to Sunday, September 27
Where: Five venues across Edmonton, see schedule
Cost: Varies by show
& Juliet, closing weekend
Culture
The Broadway Across Canada run of & Juliet, the pop musical that asks what happens if Juliet does not die for Romeo, closes at the Jubilee on Sunday after a week of shows. It is loud, bright and built for people who do not usually go to musicals, which makes it a good first one for a teenager. Closing weekend seats are what is left, so expect the balcony; the sound is fine up there, it is the sightlines that suffer at the far sides.
When: Through Sunday, September 27
Where: Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, 11455 87 Avenue NW
Cost: Ticketed, from about $72
Pumpkins After Dark opens at Borden Park
Family
The walk-through trail of thousands of hand-carved, lit pumpkins opens for its season on Friday night at Borden Park and runs to Halloween. There are no jump scares, which is the reason it works for small kids where the haunted houses do not; there are live carving demonstrations and food trucks along the route. Entry is time-slotted, so buy ahead for the slot you actually want. The event's own parking is at the Expo Centre next door and costs $16.50, which is worth knowing before you budget the night.
When: Opens Friday, September 25; runs to October 31
Where: Borden Park, 1020 75A Street NW (parking at the Edmonton Expo Centre)
Cost: From about $17, timed entry
Fall Harvest at the Muttart Conservatory
Culture
The feature pyramid has flipped to its Fall Harvest show: a coleus flower tower, patio lights, pumpkins and specialty chrysanthemums around a farmer's cart. It is the warmest room in the city on a cold weekend and the best-lit for photos before 2 p.m. General admission covers all four pyramids. Weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; if you would rather go after work, Wednesdays and Thursdays run until 9.
When: Through November 15; open Friday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Muttart Conservatory, 9626 96A Street NW
Cost: Adults $14.95, youth and seniors $12.95, children $7.75
Food Truck Frenzy, the last one of the year
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Food
Ten food trucks in one spot at Klondike Park beside the Expo Centre, free admission, free parking, and a collection for 880 CHED Santas Anonymous, so bring a new unwrapped toy if you have one. It is the final Frenzy of the season, so the trucks tend to sell out of their best item early: the noon start is the real start. Enter from 116 Avenue off Wayne Gretzky Drive and park in the southwest lot.
When: Sunday, September 27, noon to 4 p.m.
Where: Klondike Park, Edmonton Expo Centre, 7515 118 Avenue NW
Cost: Free admission and parking
Editor's Pick: Saturday downtown. Start at the Royal Alberta Museum when it opens at 10 (free), walk to the Milner Library for Pinas Kultura Days, drop into whatever the Arts District has on the square that afternoon, then take the LRT north for the Elks at 5 or back to Rogers Place for the Flames at 7. It is a full day for the price of two transit fares and a game ticket.
Know an event we missed? Tag us @culturealberta or email hello@culturealberta.com.
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