Canmore Festival of Art and Creativity
artsPlace, 950 8th Avenue, Canmore, Alberta
Join us for artPlace's annual festival, Canmore Festival of Art and Creativity, a three-day, community-wide event celebrating Bow Valley’s creative spirit! We are proud to be the official Alberta Culture Days Celebration Site!
FREE drop-in workshops, performances, demonstrations, films, a community campfire, and the Mountain Made artisan market - art and creativity will abound throughout the weekend, promising fun for people of all ages to enjoy!
Canmore Festival of Art & Creativity is a three-day, community-wide celebration of the Bow Valley’s creative spirit! We are proud to be an official Alberta Culture Days celebration site.
ALL FREE, ALL WEEKEND LONG! JOIN US FOR ALBERTA CULTURE DAYS AND CELEBRATE THE BOW VALLEY’S CREATIVE SPIRIT!
FREE drop-in activities Friday evening, and all day Saturday and Sunday!
Join us for free drop-in workshops taught by Bow Valley artists, live performances, artist demonstrations, films, a community campfire, and the Mountain Made artisan market - art and creativity will abound throughout the weekend, promising fun for people of all ages to enjoy!
Throughout the program, all workshops, classes, activities and performances are FREE, open to the public, and drop-in on a first-come, first-served basis, unless otherwise stipulated. Programs designed for all ages - families, teens and adults.
Community Campfire
Friday, September 27 • 7 pm
Cozy up to the fire with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy live music, storytelling,and interactive performances! Featuring crowd favourites Shred Kelly, Bow Valley’s Northern Quarter, and Indigenous dancers & drummers.
WORKSHOPS AND DROP-IN ACTIVITIES
Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 28-29 • 10 am to 4 pm
Join us for free workshops, artist demonstrations, live performances and drop-in activities for all ages, led by Bow Valley artists!
The Seven Stars by The Smalleyes Family of Stoney First Nations
Saturday, September 28 • 3:30 pm and 7 pm
Indigenous storytelling mixed with traditional and contemporary dancing.
Bike Shorts
Sunday, September 29 • 7 pm
Canmore Community Cruisers present their annual festival of fun, thrilling and inspiring short films on everything cycling.
*All events are FREE and for ALL AGES*
Participants under 12 years are required to have adult supervision
All programs are drop-in unless otherwise stated
Friday, September 27
7 – 9 pm
Community Campfire Kickoff Party featuring Shred Kelly, with Northern Quarter and First Nations Dancers!
Bring a mug and a blanket and settle in! Enjoy hot chocolate from local vendors and roast marshmallows around the campfire while listening to live music and storytelling.
Saturday, September 28
Daytime Festival and Mountain Made Market
10 am – 4 pm
Mountain Made Market
Local and regional vendors including pottery, painting, jewelry, and more!
10 am – 4 pm
Spin Bike Painting
Make stunning images with a spin of the bike pedals!
10 am – 4 pm
Interactive Gallery
The walls of the gallery are alive! Explore and play with a multitude of interactive and fun artworks. Your contribution is key!
10 am – 4 pm
CHAOSMakers Lab
Learn about 3-D printing and see it in action! Unleash your inner bear and play a game of virtual survival! Interact with objects at the boundary of art and science! Come experience some sample work from The CHAOSMakers - a group of student builders and creators all Grade 9 and under.
10 am – 1 pm
Workshop – Costume Armour Making
Play with recycled materials to create cool wearable costume armour! Use your imagination to make helmets, body armour and other accessories.
10 am – 3 pm
Clay Play Workshop – Imagined Garden
Create an amazing collaborative clay piece. Learn to sculpt elements from nature including flowers, leaves and more. Small pieces will be added to the larger installation to create a growing ‘garden’.
10 am – 3 pm
Try-it Wheel Throwing
Try out the pottery wheel! With the help of our skilled instructors learn the techniques involved to create a pot on a pottery wheel. This hands-on demonstration will get you hooked! Creations will not be fired.
10 am – 11:45 am
Virtual Reality Experience
By The Canmore Museum and Innovate Canmore
Try out a virtual reality system! Delve deep into a Canmore mine and watch the miners working. You can try out the technology yourself, or just observe the experience on the big screen. The animator/designer will be on hand to answer questions.
10:30 am – 1 pm
Art Workshop – Easy Animal Painting Techniques
Learn various techniques to create amazing paintings of our favourite furry friends!
12 pm – 12:45 pm
Performance – Dance Play
By Jillian Danielson and Dancers from Canmore Dance Corps
Combining creativity and improvisation, these brave performers create new dances right in front your very eyes!
1 pm – 1:45 pm
Performance – Hullabaloo!
By Entangled Puppetry
Sing along with Canmore's own puppet theatre troupe in this family variety show which promises live music, puppet theater and some special puppet guests!
1:30 pm – 4 pm
Workshop – Survival Bracelets
Using a set length of colourful para-cord, use special knot techniques to make a cool bracelet that also doubles as survival rope!
1:30 pm – 4 pm
Art Workshop – Mixed Media Landscapes
Create a stunning mountain scene with the help of some amazing painting tips! Use watercolour, oil pastels and other media to make a colourful and unique work of art.
3:30 pm and 7 pm
Performance – The Seven Stars
By The Smalleyes Family of Stoney First Nations
Indigenous storytelling mixed with traditional and contemporary dancing. Arrive at the start of the program.
Sunday, September 29
Daytime Festival
10 am – 4 pm
Spin Bike Painting!
Make stunning images with a spin of the bike pedals!
10 am – 4 pm
Interactive Gallery
The walls of the gallery are alive! Explore and play with a multitude of interactive and fun artworks. Your contribution is key!
10 am – 3 pm
Clay Play Workshop – Otherworldly Landscape
Create an amazing collaborative clay piece. Let your imagination run wild as you sculpt elements of an extra-terrestrial landscape. Small pieces will be added to the larger installation to create a growing ‘planet’.
10 am – 3 pm
Try-it Wheel Throwing
Try out the pottery wheel! With the help of our skilled instructors learn the techniques involved to create a pot on a pottery wheel. This hands-on demonstration will get you hooked! Creations will not be fired.
10 am – 12:30 pm
Workshop – Spectacular Spinning Toys
Using a variety of materials including recycled items and beautiful decorative paper – participants will make a spinning toy that is sure to entertain!
10:30 am – 1 pm
Art Workshop – Printed Sketchbooks
Combine printmaking with book-binding to create your very own sketchbook from scratch!
11 am – 11:45 am
Performance – Cultural Dances from Peru
By AYLLU
Colourful costumes and beautiful dancing! AYLLU is a word written in QUECHUA - Native Peru's language - and means Group of Families. This group of parents and children are joyfully sharing their Peruvian culture with the world.
12 pm – 12:45 pm
Performance – The Musicians in Residence Program
Presented by The Banff Centre
Be intrigued by music from musicians of all genres as they showcase and share their artistic development. Performances will feature work from current projects they are developing at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity.
1 pm – 3 pm
Workshop – Tiny Terrariums
Make an isty-bitsy plant world! Learn about different plants and use decorative materials to create an intricate terrarium that you can grow in your own home!
1 pm – 1:45 pm
Performance – Grizzly Bear Shakedown
Highly entertaining, fun and energetic; Grizzly Bear Shakedown’s blend of memorable melodies and theatrics that will whisk families away on a musical adventure!
1:30 – 4 pm
Workshop – Handmade Paper Beads
Participants will learn techniques to make beautiful beads from printed and handmade papers. These can be used to make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, or home decor items.
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Performance – Robin Hood: Prince of Outlaws
Presented by Pine Tree Players
By Ben Francis // Music by Zach Ammon Peterson // Directed by Marcus Williams
A reprise of the beloved production from the 2019 Canmore Summer Festival Production. Arrive at the start of the program.
7 – 9 pm
Presented by Canmore Community Cruisers
The annual festival of fun, thrilling and inspiring short films on everything cycling!
Calling all volunteers!
Calling all keen, interested and dynamic community members with a passion for art – we’re looking for you!
We are looking for help in a variety of roles, including supporting workshops, performances and special events, workshop preparation, set-up and take down, selling merchandise, staffing information desks, logistical support and spreading smiles!
artsPlace recognizes that as a volunteer you give us your time and your passion free of charge, and we couldn’t be more grateful. As an artsPlace volunteer, you will be an invaluable part of our team, and will have the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills, and enjoy a number of free arts activities and events. We welcome your talents and time as a contribution to Canmore’s arts and creativity — let us know your interests, the time you can commit, and we’d love to get to know you!
To volunteer at the Canmore Festival of Art & Creativity, please contact Maria Gregorish at [email protected], or call 403-609-2623.
The 2019 Canmore Festival of Art and Creativity is generously supported by TD Bank.
The success of the Canmore Festival of Art and Creativity depends on the support of a variety of community members. Please join us in making this Festival a success. To become a Festival supporter, please contact us at [email protected], or by calling 403-609-2623, etx. 105.
