It’s important to have a plan of action when attending Heritage Festival. With over 60 food pavilions, you can’t go in blind.
“We’re back to full power with almost 80 cultural groups represented, and there’s a couple of new cultural groups,” says Jim Gibbon, executive director of the Edmonton Heritage Festival Association. “We always try to do something new and something crazy and something different, but this year we’re back to everything you’ve come to expect and nothing out of control.”
The festival coincides with the second annual World Music Week, from July 28 to 31 also at the park. Each day features a lineup of ticketed performances from artists including Neha Batra, Juno Award-winning Digging Roots and three-time Grammy winner Bill Birdsong Miller. The event kicks off with the Tawaw Thursday event presented by the Indigenous Peoples Festival.
“What I love about this festival is the way it fights racism, and what I mean by that is you come down to the park and you pass by all these cultures you may have never even heard of before and people from all backgrounds,” says Gibbon. “It’s an opportunity to learn about all these folks and all these incredible people in Edmonton that are so much like you, but so different. At its core, Heritage Fest is about sharing culture and that’s why it’s so important that it continues next year.”
Heritage Festival runs from July 30 to August 1 at Hawrelak Park from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m on Saturday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday. There are no food tickets. Each food pavilion will accept debit or credit only. This is the last chance to visit the festival at this location for a while, as Hawrelak Park is closing next year for extensive renovations.
