Friday
The weather is supposed to be fab Friday night, and Prince’s Island Park is the place to be. Calgary Folk Fest is on and Bahamas and Thievery Corp will be dominating the main stage. Check out our guide to the festival here. We can’t wait to see what food vendors pop up this year; it’s always a tough choice. Fingers crossed the waffle trailer is back!
If you can’t find a ticket to the Fest or folk isn’t your bag, stop in at the Gerry Thomas Gallery (602 11 Ave. SW ) for the Calgary Arts Flood Rebuild Fundraiser. It starts at 6:30pm and you’ll enjoy an evening of music, tapas, cocktails and a silent auction with a minimum donation of $10 at the door. They estimate there was $3 million in damage and loss of equipment, and donations go to artists and musicians across Calgary to enhance our young city’s culture.
Saturday
The Calgary Public Library incurred flood damage and on Saturday they are holding a book drive entitled ‘20,000 Books Under the Bow’, wherein they’ll gladly accept your used books, DVDs and CDs (no magazines, encyclopedias or VHS). Breeze through your collection and take something down to any Calgary Public Library branch (except Central Library) from 10am to 5pm. All proceeds from your donations will go to supporting their new collections.
We’re always up for sensory art installations, and EMMEDIA (#203, 351 – 11th Ave SW) currently has a multi-sensory installation called Cymatic Imprints by Donna Legault that involves live sound transposed to infrasonic frequencies by a customized data program. Even thinking about what that is requires some effort. Picture fine ball chains that drop from the centre of a bunch of suspended speakers. Sounds out there, and like something you won’t soon forget. EMMEDIA is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon ‘til 6pm.
Sunday
When you wake up, hop over to Kensington and grab a coffee and a bag of beans the Roasterie (314 10 St NW). They roast their own beans right in front of you and have so many bean options you can sniff to your heart’s content before deciding on a variety to take home.
Beyond the main stage at Folk Fest, check out the Songwriting Contest winners at 11:45am. The contest is in its 10th year and the winners were selected from over 200 entries. Don’t forget to check out all the stages; Reuben and the Dark were new to us last year and aren’t we glad we stumbled upon those guys. We’re stoked to check out Aussie Jordie Lane who is playing all over the Island all weekend, but Stage 5 is all his on Sunday starting at 11:55am. You can download the album on his website.
Top photo Calgary Folk Fest