Canada's Festival City

Spring, summer, winter and fall, visitors to Edmonton, Alberta, can always count on finding a unique event to entertain the whole family. Whatever your client’s cultural tastes, Edmonton is known as Canada’s Festival City for good reason.

edmonton

The midway at Edmonton’s Capital EX

For year-round family fun, your clients may be interested in a Cosmo SuperPass for the West Edmonton Mall, the largest retail and entertainment complex in the world. Spanning the equivalent of 48 city blocks, the West Edmonton Mall features the Fantasyland Hotel, complete with theme rooms for the kids, and more than 800 stores and services, attractions and restaurants.

The Cosmo SuperPass includes admission to the Mall’s theme parks: World Waterpark, Galaxyland, Professor WEM’s Adventure Golf, Putt ‘n’ Glow, Ice Palace, Sea Life Caverns and Deep Sea Derby.

The family rate includes passes for four family members for $235; individual passes are $95 for adults, $69 for children. Agents should contact Anderson Tours at (403) 245-6200, or e-mail General Manager Lisa MacDonald at [email protected].

In addition to its already thriving cultural, arts and sports scene, Edmonton has more than 30 established annual festivals. There’s never a bad time to visit this city, but you might want to customize your client’s trip to be timed with a festival to match their particular interests. Among some of the more prominent of these scheduled for 2009:

Music: Edmonton’s live music festival lineup includes the International Jazz Festival (June 26-July 5); the Edmonton Folk Music Festival (August 6-9); Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival (August 21-23); and Symphony Under The Sky (August 28-31).

Performances: Experience theater, dance and film, including Feats–Festival of Dance (June 26-July 12); the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival (August 13-23), which is the world’s second-largest fringe festival; the Edmonton International Film Festival (September 25-October 3); and many others.

Visual Arts: Clients with an artistic bent will embrace the VisualEyez festival of performance art (May 21-31) and The Works Art & Design Festival (June 19-July 1).

Family fun: Year-round entertainment for families includes the International Children’s Festival (May 26-30) and Edmonton’s Capital EX summer exhibition (July 17-26).

Sports: Whether it’s the Canadian Birkebeiner Ski Festival (February 13-14) or the Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival (August 21-23), there’s something for everyone.

For a full list of annual festivals and events, visit www.festivalcity.ca or contact Edmonton Tourism at 780-426-4715.