Arts Roundup
May 28, 2026

Music

• ARDN is among a lineup of Canadian artists collaborating with Perfect Pitch, Canada Soccer's music ambassador program. He will contribute to an album called WHAT IF IT ALL GOES RIGHT? alongside The Tragically Hip, Nelly Furtado, Alessia Cara, and others. Proceeds from the album will benefit the Canada Soccer Foundation.
• Pop artist Robin Cisek's latest single Won't Make It came from a desire to make music about confidence and self-love, she told Altyeg Music Magazine, adding that Edmonton's music community has been central to her career. "There's some incredible music coming out of Edmonton, and the artists are huge inspirations for me," she said.
• The McDades have a new album called Thread the Light, which they will officially release on May 29 at The Orange Hub.
• Edmonton artist Kreesha Turner has returned with new music for the first time in a decade; her latest comes out on May 29.
• BVD TRVDITIXNS celebrated the release of their self-titled debut album at Grindstone Theatre. The group, which formed through connections at iHuman Youth Society and the Edmonton Arts Council's Cypher Wild event, draws on themes of working-class life, family struggles, and identity rooted in Edmonton.
• Jerry Bludd, Grim Stone, and Western Death Ballads are among the groups growing Edmonton's dark folk scene, with themes blending prairie desolation with gothic storytelling at intimate venues, wrote Altyeg Music Magazine.
• CKUA has planned a day of special programming on June 5 to remember Baba Singh, the beloved host who died on May 14. Listeners have been invited to tune in for a day of memories, music, and tributes from those who knew and loved him.

Visual arts

• Bigstone Cree Nation artist Cheyenne Rain LeGrande has created a 14-foot beaded earring sculpture to be unveiled at the grand reopening of William Hawrelak Park on May 30. The City of Edmonton is hosting a free community celebration from 11am to 4pm featuring activities, performances, games, and food trucks as the park officially reopens with rehabilitated amenities, including a new playground and an accessible lakefront pathway.
• The Edmonton Riverhawks have unveiled a new Indigenous logo to celebrate their May 29 Indigenous Celebration home opener. Designed by Conrad Plews, a Métis artist of Cree background, the logo incorporates Cree and Métis beadwork elements. The team said 20% of merchandise sales and proceeds from jersey auctions will support the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society. The event will include a Cree-language broadcast by The Raven Radio Network's Darrell Stranger and Wayne Jackson.
• The Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts was forced to close temporarily following a flood caused by a leak from the unit above its studios. The centre is to reopen on June 1 and has been offering virtual sessions for its 200+ member artists in the interim.

Theatre and dance

• Brett Dahl has been named the new artistic director of Concrete Theatre, succeeding Jenna Rodgers, who moves to the artistic directorship of Theatre Network. Dahl, a Queer Métis artist with a BFA in acting and a master's degree in directing from the University of Alberta, told Liz Nicholls they were drawn to Concrete because the company creates theatre for young audiences. "Kids are the most pure audience," they said. "They'll tell you right away whether something's working or not, and they're also ready to go on an imaginative adventure."
• The Freewill Shakespeare Festival will return to the Heritage Amphitheatre in William Hawrelak Park, with Much Ado About Nothing running from June 17 to 28 and the musical Something Rotten! running from July 1 to 12.
• In a preview of festival season, Liz Nicholls highlighted the RISER New Works Festival and Found Festival from Common Ground Arts, as well as the International Children's Festival of the Arts.

Books and publishing

• Lit Resistance, a service headquartered in Edmonton, has launched to curate and deliver banned and challenged books to subscribers. "Watching books disappear from classrooms and library shelves, especially stories centred around identity, justice, and lived experience, made it impossible to stay quiet," wrote curator Robyn Wilson. More than 170 books have been removed from Alberta school libraries this school year under new rules introduced by the provincial government in 2025.
• David Berry has begun his six-month tenure as St. Albert Public Library's writer-in-residence, with a writing workshop for seniors scheduled for June 4 at the downtown library. Berry, who spent the first half of his residency at the Strathcona County Library, told the St. Albert Gazette he is working on a novel based loosely on the Alberta separatism movement and its potentially comedic results.
• The Town of Devon has launched a survey and public consultation about whether to expand or relocate the Devon Public Library.
• Grade 6 student Ella Lightning-Barrow won the grand prize in Habitat for Humanity's annual Meaning of Home writing contest, with a piece titled Home.
• Historian and author Catherine C. Cole spoke with CBC's Radio Active about a book she is writing on the history of Mill Woods, the southeast Edmonton district of roughly 80,000 residents that developed starting in the 1970s. Cole will hold a listening session at the Mill Woods branch of the Edmonton Public Library on June 10.
• Descântec For My Split Tongue by Adriana Onițǎ was among the top-selling poetry books on the Edmonton bestsellers list from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta.

Screen industries

• A screening of the film Dracula Sucks in Edmonton in 1980 triggered a national obscenity case that eventually reached the Supreme Court of Canada, according to University of Alberta instructor Kyler Chittick, who is presenting the story at a sold-out session of Lectures on Tap at Frank's Community Pub.
• Edmonton videographer JR Presentz spoke with Altyeg Music Magazine about his work in the local hip-hop scene, describing collaborations with artists such as Basé, TwoYoung, and T5madedis.

More headlines

• UFest Edmonton Ukrainian Festival, billed as Western Canada's largest Ukrainian festival, returns to Borden Park on May 29 and 30. The free event features food vendors, dance performances, visual arts, and UFest After Dark with live music each night.
• Strathcona County announced the recipients of its 2026 Awards of Excellence, honouring volunteers, businesses, and organizations whose compassion and dedication have had a lasting impact on the county. Busayo Disu, founder of the Africans Society of Strathcona County, Krystal Jones of Gaias Glasswear, and the Strathcona County Museum and Archives are recognized for contributions to arts, culture, and heritage; and the Music Society of Strathcona County and the Patchwork Quilters Guild were described as outstanding groups.
• Beaumont is putting on festivals, markets, music, and cultural programming this summer, including the Beaumont Music Festival on June 19 and 20, Canada Day celebrations on July 1, and a farmers' market running every Thursday from June to September.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:

• May 28: Bye Bye Blues starting at 6:30pm at Garneau Theatre
• May 28-30: Annual Friends' Book Sale at Stony Plain Public Library
• May 29-30: Hollywood Rocks at Winspear Centre
• May 29-30: UFest Edmonton Ukrainian Festival at Borden Park
• May 29-31: Riser New Works Festival at Fringe Theatre Arts Barns
• May 29-31: Edmonton Drag Festival at Churchill Square
• May 29-June 1: International Children's Festival of the Arts at St. Albert Place
• May 30: Grown-Up Book Fair starting at 1pm at Bent Stick Brewing
• May 30: Voices in Ink starting at 7:30pm at Holy Trinity Anglican Church
• May 31: Art, Story & Circle: An Indigenous Art Park Gathering starting at 11am at ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞ Indigenous Art Park
• May 31: UNION: Film Screening starting at 6:30pm at Garneau Theatre
• June 3: The Real Group: Live in Edmonton at Allard Hall

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• June 5: Alberta Literary Awards Gala at Wyndham Edmonton Hotel and Conference Centre
• June 5: Art on the Block Party at Art Gallery of Alberta
• June 6: Fruit Loop's Pride Block Party at Grindstone Theatre

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.