After four wonderful years, the Edmonton Downtown Business Association (EDBA) announces that it is saying goodbye to Downtown Spark.
The whimsical public arts festival, which brought inflatable creatures to the rooftops of numerous buildings alongside live music and other installations in parks and public spaces, was born during the pandemic as a way to safely invite people downtown in 2021. Grant funding that made the festival possible was aimed at COVID economic recovery, and that funding simply doesn’t exist anymore. The festival’s May timing was also designed to bring visitors downtown during an otherwise slow and quiet time, but thanks to the current Edmonton Oilers roster, May isn’t so quiet downtown anymore. For these and other reasons related to organizational capacity, it is time for the EDBA to make the difficult decision to retire Downtown Spark.
“It’s been an honour and a joy to bring this unique festival to life for Edmontonians and visitors over the past four years,” said Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. “Downtown Spark was born out of a really hard time, but it became something truly magical—a celebration of creativity, boldness, and the spirit of downtown Edmonton. While it’s not easy to say goodbye, we’re incredibly proud of what Spark has presented – from the Root 107 pop-up park in 2021 to the giant inflatable monsters the past few years, and everything in between. And the good news is, we still have so much fun in store for this summer, between the Downtown Farmers Market and the Rice Howard Way Entertainment District.”
The EDBA has robust programming planned for the spring and summer season.
After running a pilot for the Entertainment District on Rice Howard Way last year, the Summer Block Party Series will return with a handful of curated experiences, including:
- June 7 – we will celebrate Pride Month in Edmonton.
- July 19 – the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival expands its footprint to Rice Howard Way with specially curated performances to make you laugh.
- August 17 – the official Edmonton Marathon After Party
More dates and themes will be announced soon.
All events will welcome local performers and musicians; last year the Summer Block Party Series had 73 local entertainment acts.
The Edmonton Downtown Farmers’ Market is also returning to historic 104 St. In its return to the area last year, the Downtown Farmers’ Market was a huge success with over 18,000 people attending over the summer and fall.
The Farmers’ Market kicks off on Saturday, May 17 this year and runs every Saturday until Thanksgiving.
Both the Summer Block Party Series and Edmonton Downtown Farmers’ Market are made possible by funding and support from the City of Edmonton.