What our photographers saw this past weekend in Calgary

Calgary's photographers documented a weekend that swung from storm-lashed to sun-soaked, capturing moments that define the city as it heads into summer.

The Lilac Festival on 4th Street S.W. drew thousands on Sunday, but not before a thunderstorm rolled through Saturday evening. The weather cleared by Sunday afternoon, and the unofficial kickoff to summer unfolded under blue skies — vendors, locals, and the familiar purple blooms that mark the seasonal turning point in the Beltline and beyond.

At the University of Calgary's Spy Hill Campus, the Stampede's second annual Youth Veterinary Science Challenge brought high school students face-to-face with animals in the Clinical Skills Building on Friday. Students like Maysa Moon and Parker MacPherson worked with horses, examining them alongside University of Calgary veterinary professionals like Dr. Karelhia Garcia-Alamo. The challenge is designed as an immersive, hands-on introduction to animal science for students considering the field — a rare chance to interact with large animals in a clinical setting.

Herititage Park's Women Making History in Alberta Awards ceremony also took place Friday at Gasoline Alley, honouring finalists including Brooke Millar, Manjit Minhas, and Ann McCaig — women who've shaped the province's history and continue to influence its future.

Elsewhere across the city, Cavalry FC returned home and the Stampeders took the field, while the Ukrainian Festival and other community gatherings added their own colours and rhythms to a weekend when Calgary seemed to shed spring and step into summer all at once. The photographers caught it all — the transit moments, the human moments, the ones that pass in an afternoon and stay in the city's memory.