Heritage Festival is back at Hawrelak Park this year, and it has a four-day weekend to fill. Around it: the Elks host Saskatchewan on Saturday, the world's best 17-year-old hockey players open a tournament at Rogers Place on Monday, and both Saturday farmers' markets are running. Eight things worth leaving the house for. If you are trying to work out what is actually open on the holiday Monday, we have a full guide to that here.
Edmonton Heritage Festival
Festival
More than 70 pavilions representing around 100 countries take over Hawrelak Park for three days, and entry does not cost anything. You buy food tickets on site and spend as much or as little as you want. Groat Road parking and the Emily Murphy lot are gone by late morning on Saturday, so use a Park and Ride and take transit in. Monday is the calmest of the three days and closes an hour earlier at 8 p.m.
When: Saturday, August 1, noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday, August 2, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Monday, August 3, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Hawrelak Park, 9330 Groat Road NW
Cost: Free entry; food tickets sold on site
Instagram: @yegheritagefest
Fort Edmonton Park
Heritage
Canada's largest living history museum runs an 1846 fur trade fort through to a 1920s street, and it leans into heritage programming over this particular weekend. Ride the streetcar to the far end and walk back toward the entrance rather than the other way around, which is how most people run out of steam by 1920 Street. Check the site for daily hours before you drive out.
When: Open through the long weekend, Friday to Monday, July 31 to August 3
Where: 7000 143 Street NW
Cost: Adult admission around $27.90
Instagram: @fortedmontonpark
Edmonton Elks vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders
Sports
The Riders come to Commonwealth on Saturday and the club has built a dinosaur-themed family game around it, so expect a lot of green in the stands and a lot of inflatable raptors. Take the LRT to Stadium station, which puts you at the gates and saves you the post-game crawl out of the lots.
When: Saturday, August 1
Where: Commonwealth Stadium, 11000 Stadium Road NW
Cost: From around $24
Instagram: @goelks
Hlinka Gretzky Cup
Sports
Eight countries and most of next year's NHL first-rounders open a best-on-best under-18 tournament at Rogers Place on the holiday Monday. Canada plays Switzerland at 5 p.m., but the 1 p.m. United States and Czechia game is the value pick: same rink, same calibre of prospect, a fraction of the price of a Canada ticket.
When: Monday, August 3. United States vs. Czechia at 1 p.m., Canada vs. Switzerland at 5 p.m. Tournament runs to August 8
Where: Rogers Place, 10220 104 Avenue NW
Cost: Single-game tickets and multi-game packages through Hockey Canada
Edmonton Stingers
Sports
Two home games bookend the weekend at the Expo Centre: Saskatoon on Friday night and Ottawa on Sunday. If you have not been to a CEBL game, the Target Score ending means the fourth quarter finishes on a made basket instead of a clock, which is a much easier sell to kids than a two-hour sit.
When: Friday, July 31 vs. Saskatoon Mamba; Sunday, August 2 vs. Ottawa BlackJacks
Where: Edmonton Expo Centre, 7515 118 Avenue NW
Cost: From around $24
Old Strathcona Farmers' Market
Free
Saturday morning off Whyte Avenue, and it is indoors, so a wet forecast does not matter. There is free customer parking in the lot across Gateway Boulevard during market hours, which most people miss while circling Whyte for twenty minutes. Get there before 10 a.m. if you actually want produce.
When: Saturday, August 1, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: 10310 83 Avenue NW
Cost: Free entry
Instagram: @strathconamarket
Hundred Acre Wood at the Muttart Conservatory
Family
The feature pyramid is a Winnie-the-Pooh build with topiaries and seasonal planting, and it runs to mid-September. This is the rain plan for the weekend: four glass pyramids, air conditioned, and small enough that a toddler can do the whole thing without a stroller meltdown.
When: Friday to Monday, July 31 to August 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: 9626 96A Street NW
Cost: Adults $14.95, youth and seniors $12.95, children 2 to 12 $7.75
City Market Downtown
Free
An open-air street market of 35 or more vendors down 104 Street, and it is dog friendly. It is a short walk from the Churchill LRT station, so it pairs with anything else you are doing downtown on Saturday before the crowds head to Hawrelak.
When: Saturday, August 1, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: 104 Street NW, between Jasper Avenue and 102 Avenue
Cost: Free entry
Editor's Pick
Heritage Festival, and go on the Monday. Saturday is the busiest day of the three and the parking is genuinely miserable, while Monday runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with thinner crowds and the same 70-plus pavilions. It is also the only one of the three days that exists because of the holiday, which is the whole point of the weekend.
Know an event we missed? Tag us @culturealberta or email hello@culturealberta.com.
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