8 excellent summer music festivals in Edmonton

By Athena Raypold

Nicknamed “Festival City,” Edmontonians love the arts, especially music. Each summer, the city’s streets are packed with festival goers, making Edmonton “shine in ways that make it an emerald surrounded by wheat fields and ranches,” according to writer Joanne Elves. Even National Geographic lauds Edmonton as a go-to destination, largely due to its festivals. Of its myriad of cultural festivals, here are eight excellent summer music festivals in Edmonton that fulfill lovers of every genre. [Image credit: iStock.com/svetikd]

The first Canadian blues festive to earn the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” from Memphis, Tennessee’s Blues Foundation, the Edmonton’s Blues Festival hosts the world’s best up and comers alongside blues legends from around the world: Grammy winners, Juno winners, Maple Blues Award winners, Blues Music Award winners and IBC winners alike. Hailed as an “intimate, well-run, world class celebration of the music and its fans” at the Heritage Amphitheatre, the festival runs over one weekend every August. Artists featured in the 2016 festival included Jarekus Singleton, Jack de Keyzer, Shemekia Copeland, Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett Acoustic Duo, Fiona Boyes Trio, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, and the Paul James Band.

Taking over Gallagher Park in Edmonton’s river valley every August is the infamous Edmonton Folk Music Festival.  What began as a small, volunteer run festival in 1980 has matured into one of the world’s premier folk festivals. Attracting a volunteer force of over 2,000 people, Folk Fest is a not-for-profit society dedicated to providing festival goers with superior quality of music and the best performer lineup. Edmonton’s Folk Fest also works hard to minimize the environmental impacts of the festival on Gallagher Park, making preservation a priority. Prior lineups have included Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Wilco, Violent Femmes, Elvis Costello, Passenger, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Ryan Adams, Ben Harper, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, Of Monsters and Men, Ben Howard, Brandi Carlile and Vance Joy.

Edmonton’s gorgeous Hawrelak Park hosts the annual Edmonton Rock Music Festival, which originally began as a fundraiser for The Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton, a “circle of passionate music lovers dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the music that we grew up with and the music we love today.” The society puts on the annual classic rock festival while also running their Centre for Arts & Music program focusing on at-risk youth in Edmonton by teaching them how to write songs, play instruments and perform for an audience. Now, the festival hosts legendary rock musicians alongside beer gardens and food trucks for a weekend full of music and fun. Previous lineups have included Randy Bachman, David Wilcox, Kim Mitchell, Blue Oyster Cult, 54-40, April Wine, Trooper, Pat Benatar, Dr. Hook, Colin James, and Tom Cochrane & Red Rider.

Dubbed “Edmonton’s most relaxed music festival” the Interstellar Rodeo in Hawrelak Park has been offering festival-goers  a uniquely innovative line up of musicians across genres since 2011. Emphasizing performers from the roots and Americana world, the Interstellar Rodeo beautifully unites the bands in between the folk, rock and blues offerings. A laid back festival full of slow jams, honky tonk, gritty rock, indie country and folk trailblazers, the Interstellar Rodeo flawlessly blends local and international, newcomers and award winners. Featured musicians have included Andra Day, Adia Victoria, Margo Price, Fantastic Negrito, Marty Stuart, Sam Roberts Band, The Strumbellas, Reuben and the Dark, Cat Power, Kathleen Edwards and Six Shooter’s Sam Outlaw.

Hosted by the The Edmonton Jazz Festival Society, the Edmonton International Jazz Festival connects regional audiences with jazz artists from around the world. Since 2005, the society has put on the annual festival in addition to supporting and presenting the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra, and the Jazzworks education outreach program.  A festival that’s as much about “who you don’t know,” as seeing familiar favourites, Jazz Fest boasts about 70 events and more than 250 musicians playing at various venues around the city over week at summer’s start. Performers from previous years have included the Jacky Terrasson Trio, Marianne Trudel 4 with Ingrid Jensen, Amanda Tosoff, Arild Andersen Trio, Andre Leroux Quartet, Laila Biali, Bob Kitt Duo, John Stetch, Busty and the Bass, and the Fred Mack Trio.

Ensuring that the city hosts music festivals in all genres, Dr. Patricia Tao started the first chamber music festival in Edmonton in 2008, the Summer Solstice Music Festival. Drawing on her experience as a music programmer, she continually directs a well-rounded festival showcasing prizewinners and wave makers in chamber music (instrumental music played by a small ensemble, such as the string quartet). Prior lineups have included the legendary Fine Arts Quartet, Charles Richard-Hamelin, John Tessier, Gil Sharon, Rafael Hoekman, Jacques Després and Patricia Tao.

Adding an intentionally Canadian flavour to the blues and roots festival scene, the Beaumont Blues and Roots festival presents the best in Canadian blues, roots, folk, rockabilly and country music.  Located annually in Beaumont’s Four Seasons Park, this all ages and family friendly festival has been described as a “backyard barbecue party – where 50-year-old men can tote their cans of Palm Bay anywhere on the site, where little girls and older women feel free to dance by themselves in front of the stage, where no one yells at each other about the height of their camping chairs.” Launched in 2008, this end-of-summer festival has showcased the likes of Lee Harvey Osmond, Jr. Gone Wild, Sloan, Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida, Royal Tusk, Sloan, Redemption Sons, Hawksley Workman, The Sheepdogs and Boogie Patrol.

Canada's only summer opera festival, Opera Nuova’s Vocal Arts Festival is an amalgamation of mainstage operas and enlightenment events celebrating Canada’s emerging vocal artists and pianists in an accessible and inspiring festival.  A six-week-long festival of concert events and mainstage productions, the festival culminates in a gala, the Vocal Gems Night of Celebration. Past productions have included Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love and Bock & Harnick’s classic musical Fiddler on the Roof.

From blues, classic rock and folk to jazz, vocal arts and chamber music, Edmonton’s diverse, critically acclaimed music festival scene offers something for everyone. Many of these festivals not only showcase the world’s and the country’s best talents, but also support local volunteer programming and act as an introduction to the city’s independent makers in the arts.