Edmonton's summer festival lineup kicks off this month
From Now Hear This to Taste of Edmonton, the city's festival season is packed with free and paid events. Here's what to catch.
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Summer festival season is ramping up across Edmonton, with everything from avant-garde music to Shakespeare to circus arts filling venues and parks through the rest of June and into July.
Now Hear This Festival runs June 5–13 at Mile Zero Dance Space (9931 78 Avenue), celebrating 40 years of New Music Edmonton. The "sound-centred" creative arts fest features performances from Pigeon Breeders, Echo Ensemble, Steph Patsula, Tamarack Cunningham, and Standing Wave Ensemble. Tickets are $25 or $20 per show, or $75 for a full pass.
Freewill Shakespeare Festival returns to the Heritage Amphitheatre in William Hawrelak Park June 17–July 12, with Much Ado About Nothing and Something Rotten!, a musical comedy. Adults pay $40–$50 depending on the show; students and seniors get discounts, and kids 12 and under are free for Much Ado.
Summer Solstice Music Festival (June 17–22) brings Edmonton Chamber Music Society across multiple venues (Trinity Lutheran, Yardbird, Mimi Bar), with classical strings and piano swirling around Dvořák and Schumann. Tickets run $27–$39.70 per show or $94.50 for a pass.
Alberta Circus Arts Festival (June 18–21) takes over La Cité Francophonie, U of A Saint Jean Campus, and the 78 Avenue Entertainment District with acrobatic, musical, and cinematic mayhem — including a free Sunday show by Cirque Kikasse. Tickets range from $11.32 to $58.18, with a full pass at $110.24.
Beaumont Music Festival (June 19–20) heads to the BADAS Fairgrounds in Beaumont and headlines Big Sugar and Toque among others.
Taste of Edmonton (July 16–26 on Churchill Square) opens with Econoline Crush on July 16 and closes with 54-40 on July 25, with a full lineup of local and national acts in between — all concerts are free. Food vendors open 11 a.m. to later most days.