Celebrate the season at Winterruption, a multi-venue festival featuring music, comedy and drag. The 10-day festival typically takes place in January — in the dead of winter — but organizers postponed the event because of COVID restrictions.
“This year will be a little different because it looks like it’s going to be more of a slushruption, but at least nobody’s going to be cold,” says Brent Oliver, director and producer of Winterruption YEG. “The big thing is that we really try to make it a community event.”
This is Winterruption’s second event in Edmonton (the last being in 2020), but the festival isn’t new by any means. Winterruption started in Regina and Saskatoon, and grew to include Calgary’s Big Winter Classic festival. The organizers, including Oliver, felt that Edmonton was lacking a winter music festival.
“This really, at the core of it, is music and arts focused,” says Oliver. “It’s music in a winter environment versus a winter festival that happens to have some music. Edmonton has fantastic festivals, don’t get me wrong, but ours is just a little bit different.”
The Starlite Room, The Backyard, SOHO and Rocky Mountain Icehouse are just a few of the venues participating in Winterruption from March 31 until April 9. The lineup includes a mix of about 50 national and local artists, and you can seem them all with a festival wristband for $45. Individual shows are $16, and some shows are free to attend.
