The Best Spring Festivals in Edmonton

Edmonton isn't known as the “Festival City of Canada” without good reason, because in addition to the almost three dozen festivals and events, which take place, each year there's always something new in festivals arriving on the scene every few years. The spring season brings all types of events to the Edmonton area, including many great festivals. Here are a few of the best choices in spring for festival fun.

Edmonton Kiwanis Music Festival

This is one of the best music festivals of the year, if you enjoy up and coming talent. The shows will be held at various venues throughout Edmonton and they are all free.

Bonfire Long Form Improv Festival

Enjoy some of the best Improv of the year from top comedians at the Bonfire Improv Festival. This event will make you laugh and you're sure to have plenty of fun. Weekday shows are $10 each and weekend shows are $12 each. A sweet festival pass is $25 and gets you into all the shows.

Earth Day Festival

Earth Day is a special day for everybody in Edmonton. It's often the first chance to really enjoy the spring season and the Earth Day festival offers a great opportunity. It will be held at Fort Edmonton Park and Blatchford Hanger. This festival will include family-friendly activities, music, plenty of workshops and more. It's a free event for all to attend.

Edmonton Poetry Festival

Enjoy incredible poetry slams all throughout the Edmonton area. This event will provide a look at many different styles and poets from Edmonton and throughout Canada. Most of the events will be free, but the Poetry Map of Canada Gala has a charge per person.

The festival itself attracts talent from all over Canada and the United States and if you've never seen Blink poetry before then you're in for something of a treat - you'll need to concentrate to keep up though. That's what keeps this particular poetry festival vibrant and alive - they're always trying something different which keeps the audience engaged and challenged all at the same time. On top of that the organizers of the festival work year round to keep people in Edmonton aware of what they're up to by running various events and workshops.

So, if you're looking for something different to do in April/May of each year, you can look forward to several days of poetry and poetry-related fun and events courtesy of the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Even if poetry isn't really your thing, we're sure you'll find something you like.

The Rainmaker Music Festival is Around the Corner

This two-night festival is held under the Big Top and it's not a traditional circus. Instead, this is one of the best music festivals found throughout Edmonton. If you visit, you can come out for the Rainmaker Music Festival and enjoy plenty of great music, kid's activities and more.

The Oliver Community Festival

The Oliver Community Festival is a festival organized to raise money for the churches involved to support dinners for the needy. This used to be known as the Family Fair but was renamed to make it more of a true community event.

This is a free event and features many great things, including:

• Over 40 local vendors on hand
• A bake sale
• Bouncy castles for the kids
• Tours of historical churches
• Live entertainment
• A Rummage and book sale
• Family entertainment and fun

A free breakfast is a part of the festival, while the free BBQ lunch is held later in the day. Live music will be held inside and outside, along with the opening ceremonies featuring the Christ Church Youth Choir and local dignitaries. Free games and activities will be available for kids.

The Edmonton International Jazz Festival

This annual event features all types of jazz at various locations throughout the city. The Edmonton Jazz Society will be a huge part of this festival and will help produce the 60 events. If you want to enjoy the best jazz festival of the summer, this is the right choice.

Found Festival

The third annual Found Festival will provide plenty of performances including live music, movies and so much more. This is the type of festival you don't want to miss. The festival will cover four days and will be held at multiple venues.

TedXEdmonton

Those looking for deep conversation will enjoy this festival for sure. It will feature plenty of great speakers ready to tackle some incredible topics. This event will be held at the Royal Alberta Museum, which is located at 12845 102 Avenue NW in Edmonton.

International Children's Festival

Youngsters and adults can enjoy plenty of fun from story-telling to Metis weaving and even a buffalo hunt at the International Children's Festival in Edmonton. This festival has been going on for over 30 years now and many volunteers will be on hand to make sure it's just as successful as it once was. Children will also get to enjoy racing solar-powered mini cars, free face painting, airbrush tattoos and plenty of street dancing.

Professional artists from all over Canada will be on hand to provide a look into their specific type of performing. Over 100 stage performances will happen, along with plenty of sidewalk acts throughout the festival area. Whether it's high-flying acrobatics or a simple mime, there's a little bit of something for everybody.

The five-day festival will include plenty of music, puppetry, theatre, a circus and so much fun you will want to become a child again. The music is always a huge draw and the carnival will, of course, bring many families to the downtown St. Albert area. Over 55,000 kids came out to play last year and more are expected this year.

The Bikeology Festival

The Bikeology festival is nearly here and it lasts an entire month. June is bike month in Edmonton and all bikers can enjoy plenty of interesting events. Whether you want to bring your kids out to learn how to ride a bike free of charge or you want to enjoy some of the many other events, you can.

One of the most popular events held throughout Bikeology is the commuter race. This race features different types of commuter transportation in a race against each other. The goal is to provide a fun competition with bus, bicycle, skateboard, walking, jogging, roller blading, car and other types of transportation. Anybody can participate and the race will start at 7:30am on June 3rd. The starting location is Parkellen Community League Hall and the finishing location is the downtown library south plaza.

Bikeology also features a festival day, a free events with plenty of entertainment including:

• Local Musicians
• Spoken word musings
• Craft tables
• Free bike tune-ups
• Bus-bike rack time trials
• Many bike themed games and prizes
• Plenty of bike enthusiasts to chat with
• Pedal powered smoothies
• Local vendors on hand
• Entertainment for children

This day will be full of all types of fun things and you can bring your bike for a free mechanical check, along with many competitions. Whether you want to relax and enjoy the music or compete in the rack loading competition, you will find plenty to do at the park.

These are just a few of the many festivals coming up in June. Whether you love music or just enjoy any type of entertainment, you can find it in Edmonton this summer.