Carrie Anton is drawn to the smaller, more intimate venues when she’s looking for music in the city. Her pick is Northern Lights Folk Club, which started in 1998 and has been run exclusively by volunteers ever since.
Likewise, her sport relies on her ears. It’s called goalball: visually impaired players wear eye covering and attempt to bowl a 1.25-kilogram sound-making ball into a net — or defend against it with their bodies.
Anton, also an amateur musician, plays with the Central Lions Seniors Association’s guitar jam group. Members of the group recommended the Northern Lights Folk Club to her, and it was an instant favourite. “They said, ‘you have to check this out,’ and now it’s on my list,” she says. She has experienced performances like folk singer Martin Kerr and a band playing Irish Celtic music at the venue. She liked it even more when she learned about how the club operates. “What impresses me is there’s so many people that run it and they’re all volunteers.”
The club’s season starts in September and runs until April, usually consisting of 10 to 12 shows. The smaller space of the venue is meant to foster a connection between the audience and the artist, and ticket prices are low to ensure that acoustic folk music remains accessible for everyone.
If there’s anything to be gleaned from this series: we Edmontonians love food and we love being outdoors. When we’re not slurping noodles or lingering over brunch, we’re taking scenic strolls, stopping at dog parks and snapping pictures at river valley vistas. Delve into this year’s list of Edmontonians’ favourite things — with best-loved picks from a variety of noteworthy locals who span the arts, business, sports and non-profit realms — to help build your own summer bucket list. And if you can’t make it beyond your backyard, you can at least follow this foolproof formula and enjoy something tasty in the sunshine.
This article appears in the July/August 2026 issue of Edify
