Edmonton 
The recent weather is definitely making it feel like spring in Edmonton.
Credit: Edmonton Downton BIA/Downtown Spark
With the first official day of the season behind us, its time to truly look forward to warm weather in Edmonton. But as we all know, spring weather isn’t always ideal in Edmonton for outdoor fun. So, the things to do in Edmonton this spring can involve a mix of indoor and outdoor activities.
There are many attractions in Edmonton that give you options for staying inside when it rains (or snows!). Plus, there are many ways to take advantage of the best of the spring weather in Edmonton. These include using the North Saskatchewan River Valley for picnics, cycling, jogging, walking, watching for wildlife, and more.
Festivals this Spring in Edmonton
Spring festivals in Edmonton give us a mix of indoor and outdoor activities and events. Some celebrations embrace the last of the colder weather, while some take place in the warmth of concert halls and theatres. These upcoming festivals in Edmonton celebrate local music, arts, and film.
- Immerse yourselves in beer culture, history and traditions, while enjoying live entertainment, local cuisine, educational classes, demonstrations and workshops at Edmonton International BeerFest.
- The Downtown Defrost is a ticketed outdoor concert and celebration intended for all ages. Edmontonians can enjoy live music, food vendors, and outdoor activities scattered around Louise McKinney Riverfront Park; and, adult-only afterparties at the Starlite Room.
- Edmonton Music & Speech Arts Festival gives you a chance at free performances from the Alberta Campus, Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre, and Archbishop MacDonald High School.
- Celebrate Ukrainian culture, food, music, visual arts, crafts and dance at UFest Edmonton Ukrainian Festival. This two-day event brings together people of Ukrainian heritage as well as attracts audiences of many diverse cultures.
- Rainmaker Festival (St. Albert) brings the hottest acts to the Concert stage, a great marketplace, fantastic Midway and some of the best Cowboys and Cowgirls that ride here in Alberta!
- Dreamspeakers International Film Festival will be screening 52 films at Metro and Garneau theatres for its 30th anniversary year.
- NorthwestFest, Canada’s longest-running documentary film festival, is bringing the best in documentary film and media arts to Edmonton audiences.
- Downtown Spark will be filling Downtown streets with fun and whimsical art installations from around the world, alongside some of Edmonton’s best talent.
- Get ready to Rock the District with three days of classic rock featuring Glass Tiger, Loverboy, April Wine and many more!!
Family Spring Fun
- There are two huge egg hunts in time for Easter – Concordia University Magrath Campus Egg Hunt & Strathcona County Egg Hunt.
- Explore whimsical new worlds at this year’s Sprouts New Play Festival for Kids, featuring three brand new stories of community, resilience, and working together to make your world a better place.
- Take a trip way back in time this spring at the Edmonton EXPO Centre with Jurassic Quest! This larger-than life exhibit is a fun learning experience for all ages and will include several kids activities. There will be meet and greets with dinos, and interactive areas like the bounce house, a fossil dig, and a 10-clue scavenger hunt.
- Wild Rose Carnival is returning to Riverview Crossing & Mill Woods Town Centre this year during spring.
- At the largest festival of its kind in Western Canada, kids get a chance to sing and dance to world music, listen to stories about faraway places, interact with roving artists, and create their own masterpieces with the help of an array of hands-on site activities when International Children’s Festival of the Arts returns to St Albert this June.
- Sustainival is bringing the world’s first green carnival to Fan Park @ ICE District. It is a family carnival complete with a full-size midway with over 45 rides and games, interactive displays, community vendors and a variety of educational activities highlighting the future of innovation—which is operated completely on renewable energy.
- Welcome summer with a trip to the circus! Royal Canadian International Circus is returning to WEM parking lot in June.
Stargazing under the Beaver Hills Dark Sky
Stargazing around Edmonton is just a matter of a 30–45-minute drive outside of the city. The easiest way to escape the Capital Region’s light pollution? Head to the many sites which sit under the Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve.
April is when the annual Lyrid meteor shower light up the skies.
- The University of Alberta Department of Physics Astronomical Observatory hosts public ‘solar observing’ on Thursday evenings from January to April 13th of 2023. This unique experience is free, too!
- Enjoy stargazing from Elk Island National Park in many ways: from your own campsites, from one of the trailhead parking lots (a bit more remote), or from the Astotin Lake shores (amenities like washrooms, picnic tables, and fire rings).
- The Cooking Lake-Blackfoot PRA is about 30-45 minutes southeast of the city, and south of Elk Island from Highway 16 (the two closest day use areas being Waskahagen and Blackfoot Lake).
- Miquelon Lake PP has two main parking areas with access to picnic benches.
Spring Birdwatching Walks around Edmonton
The spring bird migration season is starting, and will continue through to May and early June. There is still plenty of time for fitting in birdwatching, wildlife watching, photography, and short hikes, at these local wetlands and trails.
Birding Locations In and Around Edmonton
- The John E. Pool Wetlands and Lois Hole Centennial PP provide a boardwalk trail over the wetlands and ponds, and more trails around the lake.
- The Clifford E. Lee Nature Sanctuary west of Edmonton has about 4km of trails which pass ponds, forest, and meadows.
- John Janzen Nature Centre is one of the best ways for kids to enjoy and learn about Edmonton’s birds with the Tegler Discovery Zone, and summer programming.
- Experience a grand wonder of nature as thousands of migrating snow geese, Canada geese, various shorebirds, cranes and swans return to Beaverhill Lake and area during Snow Goose Festival.
New Restaurants to try this Spring in Edmonton
Edmonton has a couple of restaurants that are opening their second or third Edmonton locations. These spots might not be new to Edmonton but could be new to you and your neighbourhood.
- St. Louis Bar & Grill will open a Jagare Ridge location, their third in the city.
Edmonton will also see the opening of all new restaurants, cafes, and bars this spring. Here are a few:
- Crumbl Cookies are excited to launch its first-ever Canadian location in southwest Edmonton on March 31st!
- Prestons Restaurant & Lounge is the one of the newest downtown eateries. The restaurant focuses on hearty, comfort-style breakfast and brunch options.
Biking & Hiking in the North Saskatchewan River Valley
The paved trails of Edmonton’s River Valley are the first to clear each spring when compared to some of the natural trails which may be muddy or still snow-covered. And in Edmonton, there is an extensive network of these paved trails for hikers, joggers, and bikers to enjoy this spring!
- You can follow a bike bath from Argyll Park in the south all the way to the river and downtown Edmonton.
- Parking at Kinsmen Park is a good way to give yourself several trail options: some lead over the river and to downtown, some east, and some west.
- You can also park at Rundle Park, or Gold Bar Park, in east Edmonton, and have access to paved trails on both sides of the river.
Spring florals at the Muttart
The Songs of Spring display is on now until April 16 in the Muttart’s feature pyramid. The feature pyramid is one of four plant filled glass pyramids which make up the Muttart Conservatory. The other three continuously display plants from arid, tropical, and temperate climate regions. After April, the feature pyramid exhibit is A Story of Weddings.
When: open year-round; Songs of Spring display until April 16, 2023.
Where: 9626 96a St NW
How much: $7.75-$14.95
Spring Concerts in Edmonton
Edmonton’s wide array of venues provide us with opportunities for live music from all genres, live theatre, musical theatre, stand-up comedy, dinner theatre, and more. This spring, expect a busy lineup of concerts from all of these venues, including the larger ones like Rogers and the Jubilee.
Headliner Concert Tours in Edmonton
- Two major upcoming shows at Rogers Place including the comedy of Kevin Hart (April 11) and the music of Shania Twain (May 5 & 6).
- Luke Combs World Tour will take over Commonwealth Stadium on June 3.
- The Northern Jubilee Auditorium has several genres covered for spring with The Edmonton Opera’s Stabat Mater March 30-April 1), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (April 2), and Matt Anderson and The Big Bottle of Joy (April 8).
- Canada’s longest-running hour-long drama meets your Edmonton Symphony Orchestra during Murdoch Mysteries In Concert (June 16), giving an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the music that has helped make Murdoch Mysteries so beloved around the world.
A Taste of Edmonton’s Theatre this Spring
Edmonton’s theatre venues are just as busy as its music venues. The spring seasons will have reimagined classics, original plays, comedy, improv, and more.
- Pride & Prejudice is on now at the Citadel Theatre (March 11-April 2), with more shows to follow for spring including Trouble in Mind (March 25 – April 16, 2023), and Prison Dancer (May 6 – 28).
- Broadway Across Canada brings Pretty Woman: The Musical. The musical based on one of Hollywood’s most beloved romantic stories of all time, springs to life with a powerhouse creative team led by two-time Tony Award®-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell.
- The Grindstone Theatre has a full spring lineup including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (April 19-29), The 11 O’clock Number (Saturdays), and King of the Hill battle-style improv (Wednesdays).
- Alberta Ballet premieres s Botero’s work in movement. The ballet promises to be whimsical and prodigious, an experience of dance that is as unique as Botero’s voluminous subjects.
- MacEwan University starts off the season with Spring Awakening, a musical theatre performance (March 29-April 2).
- Teatro Live! At the Varscona Theatre celebrates opening night on May 26th with LISTEN, LISTEN.
- Stage Struck! One Act Play Festival on April 14-15, 2023 will feature nine plays, including seven new works by local playwrights, one previously produced work and a staged reading.
- Join more than 600 artists at over 50 events in original works of theatre, dance, music, visual art, film and multidisciplinary parties at Nextfest.
Shop the Spring Markets in Edmonton
Edmonton’s spring markets are big this year, and will pop up in all corners of the city. These spring markets focus on everything spring like Easter, flowers in bloom, and getting outside.
- The 43rd Annual Orchid Fair is taking over the Enjoy Centre with potting demonstrations, an art exhibition, and 15000 square feet dedicated to the event (March 31-April 2).
- The Edmonton Makers Market & Convention has a Spring Make events (April 22-23) at the EXPO Centre. In addition to a market of over 200 vendors, there will also be classes and workshops with local creators in mind.
- SCARS (Second Chance Animal Rescue Society) is hosting a Spring Gift Market (May 6-7) at the Aviation Museum. There will be several vendors who have your furry friends in mind.
- Shop till you drop at the annual Royal Bison Art and Craft Fair. The fair (May 6-7) features two in-person rooms of neat and sweet prints, books, ceramics, apparel, toys, local lit, photos, design, film, self-gifts, textiles, zines, woodworking, music, miscellany, the just plain weird, and all your friends!
- The Butterdome Spring Craft Sale (May 5-7) is Edmonton’s ultimate spring shopping event featuring some of the very best talents from the Canadian handmade community.
Events at TELUS World of Science
Now Playing in IMAX at the World of Science is The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness with dates for March, April, and May 2023.
The World of Science’s display exhibits for spring include Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story, Arctic Journey, or CuriousCITY.
The TELUS World of Science has some spring events lined up as well, like the Spring into Science week, Easter Weekend activities, and the opening of two shows: The Art of the Brick by Lego, and the Antarctica IMAX show.
Families will enjoy an evening of FREE admission to the CuriousCITY Exhibition during TD FAMILY NIGHTS.
Everything under one roof at West Ed
West Edmonton Mall is a big place. So it can be helpful to note exactly what the mall has to offer for a staycation afternoon, weekend getaway, or for spring break activities. The mall has, of course, a huge amount of shopping for everything and anything. This is in addition to recreational attractions, relaxing attractions, stuff for adults, and stuff for kids.
- Entertainment of all kinds and for all ages are offered from The Rec Room, Jubilations Dinner Theatre, The Comic Strip, or the Scotiabank Theatre.
- The two major attractions can fill an entire day at the mall; these include the World Waterpark, and Galaxyland by Hasbro.
- Smaller but still thrilling attractions include DRIVE, the Ice Palace, bowling, mini golf, and the Birds of Paradise Paddle Boats.
- West Ed has two large food courts, and more upscale dining options on Bourbon Street.
