Arts Roundup
March 19, 2026
Azimuth Theatre's Expanse Festival kicks off on March 20, with most events taking place at the Fringe Theatre's Arts Barns through March 29. The festival's mission is to explore body-based stories, and begins with the annual Living Room Party, a presentation of works-in-progress. This year's theme, Intersections, is "a testament to the time that we're living in," Azimuth's co-artistic producer Sue Goberdhan told CBC Edmonton's Radio Active. "We have so many different perspectives that we tend to forget exist when we are stuck in our own purview of the world."
Artist and amputee Kristi Hansen worked with Moment Discovery to create Phantom Limb, a piece about what the body remembers when something is no longer physically present. Meanwhile, Binding by Calla Wright explores what it means to live with a body part you never really wanted. Cycle by Andrew Ritchie is back on stage for an immersive, heart-pumping production about cycling culture in Canada. Toronto-based Alexandra Caprara created the dance piece ULTRA VIOLETS, which brings together plant life, sapphic history, and queer spaces, and Calgary duo Bianca Miranda and Keshia Cheesman present The F Word, a political pop-art piece about fatphobia, diet culture, and the intersection of fatness with race.
Plus, the Black Dance Collective will hold a welcome gathering on March 23. One member of the collective is Mpoe Mogale, the Edmonton Arts Council's inaugural dance-artist-in-residence. Also on March 23, the festival's professional development day will comprise workshops on lighting design, abolitionist practice and collective care, and body-based technology. There will also be a night market on the Friday and Saturday evenings of the festival.
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Music
- CKUA has appointed Adam Mitchell as permanent CEO after he became acting CEO last year. The broadcaster's board said Mitchell, who joined the organization in 2023, continued to stabilize CKUA's finances following the departure of former CEO Marc Carnes. Mitchell previously served as executive director of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival.
- The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is running ESO Pairings, a concert series pairing short symphonic performances with food or a beverage item. The next instalment, Beethoven & Beer, takes place on March 20.
- CKUA profiled Aretha Tillotson, a jazz bassist and bandleader who received a 2026 JUNO Award nomination for Jazz Album of the Year (Solo) for her second album, Kinda Out West, a recording featuring Ingrid Jensen, Christine Jensen, and Dave Laing.
- Verttigo's debut full length album TOMORROW IS GONE was featured on CBC Edmonton AM's provincial playlist segment.
- The Rockin' Thunder music festival has expanded its lineup to include The Glorious Sons, Bif Naked, Calling All Captains, Mammoth, Buckcherry, Paul Langlois of The Tragically Hip, and The Watchmen. The new acts join headliners Creed and Three Days Grace.
- Broken Social Scene, Metric, and Stars have expanded their All the Feelings tour to include a stop at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on June 29.
Visual arts
- Edmonton city council designated Harcourt House as a municipal historic resource, noting its association with architects Freda and Dennis O'Connor. Freda designed the International Style building, which has served as a place for artists to gather since its construction in 1965. The W.E.C.A.N. Society has operated the space as an artist-run centre since 1988.
- ArtBus returns on March 21, offering free rides on designated city buses to explore nine participating downtown art galleries. Carolyn Jervis of the Mitchell Art Gallery and consulting artist Krista Leddy of the kisîhtoskâtonaw Métis Art Collective spoke to CBC's Edmonton AM about the event.
- CO*LAB has renamed its annual spring lantern festival from GLOW to MARCH for its 10th anniversary edition, with open play workshops, a lantern parade, and performances taking place on March 21.
- Five St. Albert artists are exploring space themes in Luna and Her Cosmic Friends, an exhibit running until March 28 at St. Albert's Visual Arts Studio Association.
- Faces of Exile, an exhibit at MacEwan University, explores the lives of 45 men from Sicily who were arrested for homosexuality in 1939 and exiled to an island off the coast of Italy. The show runs until April 5.
- Amy Loewan spoke to CKUA about her exhibition Sanctuary, which features paper weaving and drip paintings centred around a large-scale glowing lantern. It's on display until May 31 at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
The Ayreheart Early Music Band comes to Edmonton
Performing with lute, vocals, colascione (a type of bass lute), violin, guitar, and percussion, Ayreheart offers a program of Renaissance music and traditional folk music from the British Isles. Explore the parallels between high art music and traditional folk music of the time, as well as original music steeped in traditions of the past, at Robertson-Wesley United Church on March 27.
Theatre and dance
- Liz Nicholls said the "most memorable moments of magic" in Citadel Theatre production of The Wizard of Oz come not from any high-tech effects but from the chemistry between the four central performers. Lucy Haines called it a spectacle with colourful costumes and flying characters.
- Theatre Network has announced Jenna Rodgers as its new artistic director. She previously served as founding artistic director of Calgary's Chromatic Theatre.
Books and publishing
- The Writers' Guild of Alberta condemned the Alberta government's school library book bans, calling them an "attack on freedom of expression" and a "serious infringement" of Charter rights. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced the policy last year in response to concerns about "explicit materials" in libraries. The ban affects more than 200 books, including graphic novel versions of classics such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
- We Were In It: Stories About Energy Transition is a collection of short stories by Canadian authors edited by University of Alberta professor Sheena Wilson and author Lisa Moore that explores the anxieties and hopes around energy transition through fiction rather than dense data or policy jargon. "If we're going to have to transition to other energy sources, our lives are organized around energy, so our lives are going to necessarily shift," Moore told CBC's Edmonton AM.
- Marco Melfi was a guest the On Creative Writing podcast and discussed his debut poetry collection, Routine Maintenance, published by Gaspereau Press, which draws on his work as a city planner to explore urban life through poetry.
- The Edmonton Indie Bookstore Extravaganza will return for its third year on April 25, with 16 independent bookstores participating in a passport-style event with multiple prize draws.
- Talk Treaty to Me by Crystal Gail Fraser and Sara Komarnisky was the top-selling non-fiction book on the Edmonton bestseller list from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta.
Screen industries
- Edmonton Screen CEO Luke Azevedo represented Edmonton in both Los Angeles ahead of the Academy Awards and in Austin during the SXSW Film Festival, where he was part of a MovieMaker Magazine panel on production momentum. Edmonton made the magazine's list of the best places to live and work as a filmmaker for the first time this year.
- Edmonton-born actor Nathaniel Arcand discussed his roles in the films Sinners and Train Dreams, which were both nominated for Academy Awards, in an interview with CTV News. Sinners won numerous awards during the March 15 ceremony, while Train Dreams left empty-handed.
- Kyle Tobiasson spoke to the Moving Radio podcast about It's a Girl, a short film co-created with Mia Cooksy. The short screens as part of the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta's FAVA Fest on March 20 at the Capitol Theatre.
- Metro Cinema is aiming to raise $15,000 this spring to fund the first phase of a foyer renovation, which will include restoring poster cases, upgrading lighting, and replacing wallpaper.
More headlines
- St. Albert is accepting applications until April 2 for its Young Artist Legacy Award, which provides grants of up to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for groups to support arts programs, workshops, and travel for residents aged 13 to 21.
- DJ, busker, actor, and producer Sam Chimes spoke to the University of Alberta's What the Job? podcast about building a career by piecing together gig work across multiple creative disciplines.
Happenings
Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:
- March 19: Reception + Artist Talk: Ephemeral Language / Langue éphémère starting at 6pm at Art Gallery of St. Albert
- March 19: Talk & Tour starting at 6pm at Royal Alberta Museum
- March 20: Fava Fest - Screen Day 3 starting at 6pm at Capitol Theatre
- March 20: RavenWood Music Club: River Poets starting at 7pm at Salisbury Greenhouse (Sherwood Park)
- March 20: WAR On The Catwalk starting at 8pm at Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
- March 20: Beethoven & Beer starting at 8pm at Winspear Centre
- March 21: ArtBus 2026 starting at 12pm at Allard Hall
- March 21: Art & Language Meetups for Newcomers starting at 1pm at Art Gallery of Alberta
- March 21: MARCH starting at 5pm at CO*LAB
- March 22-29: Springboards at Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre
- March 23: Night Matters: The Night-Time Economy in Capital Cities starting at 10am online
- March 24: Book launch with Nicole Lachat starting at 7pm at Audreys Books
And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:
- March 28: Journée FrancoFun Day at Royal Alberta Museum
- March 28: CBC Provincial Playlist LIVE at Felice Cafe
- March 31: The Objectionable Publications Book Club: Gender Queer at Waffle Bird
Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.
This roundup was sponsored by ATB.
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