A taste of traditional Indigenous culture and tea with the Bronte sisters are all part of Alberta Culture Days presentations in Red Deer next week.
A window into the city’s arts and cultural scene will be raised from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 27 to 29, to showcase local talents to the community at large, said Suzanne Hermary, executive-director of the Red Deer Arts Council.
A pop-up gallery, theatre and dance performances will be featured, as well as free concerts, kids’ activities, a “tweed bike ride” to Bower Ponds — and much more.
“It’s important that we have a vibrant community… There’s lot of great arts and culture here and so many groups want to interact with their neighbours,” added Hermary.
The Red Deer Arts Council is partnering with many of them to provide a mostly free three-day arts festival for everybody to enjoy.
Some main events on Saturday, Sept. 28, are:
- The famous “Bronte sisters” will visit the Cronquist House at Bower Ponds, thanks to arrangements by the Red Deer Public Library. A 1-4 p.m. literary tea party will be held with games, treats, improvs, and a 1 p.m. violin performance by Holly Parker.
- Urban Aboriginal Voices will have a Peace Camp at City Hall Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with traditional music and dance, bannock, conversations about diversity and reconciliation.
- A pop-up gallery will run during the same time at Culture Services in the former Central Intermediate School. Kids’ activities, a multicultural dance celebration and 3 p.m. performance from Prime Stock Theatre’s Bard in a Box will be offered.
- International performers will be showcased downtown: Iranian tanbour player Ahad Armin performs at Chronicles Cafe from 1-2 p.m., Iraqi lute player Hassan Tahir is at Sunworks from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Romanian poet Elena Rousseau will read from 2 to 3 p.m. at the downtown library. (Other entertainment will be offered at Meeting Waters Coffee and Roastery in Riverlands, and in the Red Deer hospital chapel.)
- A “tweed bike ride” will start from the downtown library at 11 a.m. with riders dressed in British cycling attire (tweed suits, bow ties and jaunty flat caps are the rage). The ride ends with best-dressed prizes and tea at Cronquist House (weather permitting).
Check out other Saturday, Sept. 28, events at the Red Deer Museum and Lafthus in Heritage Square, the space formerly occupied by the Red Boar Smokery on Ross Street, the Memorial Centre (CATena), and Red Deer College’s Welikoklad Event Centre.
On Friday, Sept. 27, Canadian Indigenous/Francophone culture will be celebrated at Central Alberta Refugee Effort. A senior’s breakfast, live music, art and fashion events will also be held around the city.
And a Garlic Market by ReThink Red Deer will run on Sunday, Sept. 29.
For more Alberta Culture Days information, please visit www.reddeerartscouncil.ca and click on the “events” tab.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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