Calgary 
You needn’t look far for things to do in Alberta for September Long Weekend.
Last Chance Saloon
In some places, fall festivities are beginning to show up, while others may still be trying to beat the summer heat. We can make the most of the remainder of summer, or celebrate the start of fall with several vacation ideas around the province.
You can camp, hit the road, indulge in a luxurious stay, or hit up one of many festivals and rodeos around Alberta. These can be getaways for families, groups of friends, couples, newlyweds, retirees, and whoever needs to get away for Labour Day.
Long Weekend Festivals
Smith Hondo Fall Fair
You can spend your entire weekend at this fall fair and rodeo in north-central Alberta. The Smith Hondo Fall Fair includes a full weekend of rodeo events, a parade, dance, and live music, as well as smaller kids’ activities like a petting zoo and bouncy houses. You may also purchase extra tickets for Friday Family Supper. Details
When: August 29 to 31, 2025
Where: Smith
How much: $5-20 admission
WayneStock
The long-standing tradition of WayneStock at Wayne, AB’s Last Chance Saloon, offers 80 artists packed into one long weekend. Enjoy a wide variety of musical genres like rock, bluegrass, blues, country, and others, with space to camp and dance, and on-site food or beer.
Waynestock 2025 brings a diverse lineup of talent: K-pop, funk, soul, folk, and rock-inspired acts like Cody Voyer, Electric Lemonade, BoonDog, Stef Palm & The Dreamweavers, and Void Souls. Rising stars Caylie G, Buddy Elliot, Natalie Inga, Amy Bishop, and Mike MacKenzie Band join veterans like Mocking Shadows, Horsebreaker, and Ginger St. James, with DJs and contests adding energy. Details
When: August 29 to 31, 2025
Where: Last Chance Saloon, 555 Jewell Street Wayne
How much: $35 & up
Canmore Highland Games & Festivities
The Highland Games are a sporting event but come with a whole day’s worth of extra activities and fun. Throughout the day you can watch as competitors work, or register for, at the tug of war, highland dancing, drumming, heavy sports, and tubing. The beer gardens will open early, you can attend a pancake breakfast, and enter a few prize draws. Details
When: August 30 to 31, 2025
Where: Centennial Park, Canmore
How much: $5 & up
Reynolds Museum Harvest Festival
You can visit outside and inside the Reynolds Museum during their Harvest Festival to enjoy several extra activities, perfect for all ages. Along with the museum’s impressive display of automobile history, you can also learn about farming practices old and new and play rounds of carnival games in the Family Fun Zone. Details
When: August 30 & 31, 2025
Where: 6426 – 40 Ave, Wetaskiwin
How much: Regular Admission
Cirque Italia Water Circus
Dive into a circus adventure like no other! Magic, acrobats, aerialists, and comedy collide under the big top with a unique water stage. Details
August 29 – September 8, 2025
West Edmonton Mall, 17504 90 Ave NW, Edmonton
$35-$80
Cirque Du Soleil’s Echo
Cirque du Soleil ECHO tells the age-old story of a girl and her dog heading into new territories on an adventure they’ll never forget! FUTURE and EWAI, our main protagonists, must bring back balance to the natural world. Details
August 29 -October 19, 2025
Stampede Park, Calgary
$69 & up
Calgary Pride
Calgary Pride festivities end on Labour Day weekend with a grand parade and a free outdoor festival featuring a variety of thrilling performances, food truck vendors, kid-friendly activities, a vendor marketplace, and a beer garden. Details
When: August 31, 2025
Where: Downtown Calgary
How much: free to attend
More Ideas:
- Enjoy Alberta Day and other Labour Day activities across the province.
- Labour Day Weekend in Edmonton
- Labour Day Weekend in Calgary
Camping (with long weekend availability)
First-Come-First-Served Camping
There are over 150 Provincial camping areas where you can take your chance on first-come-first-served availability. You can find this type of camping all across Alberta, with some sites offering power for RVs, and others offering equestrian campsites with hitching posts. Keep in mind that these sites are cash payments only! Details
When: open for September long weekend
How much: $15-$40 per night
Pincher Creek & Oldman Dam PRA
There are several campsites remaining at the Oldman Dam PRA, a short drive north of Pincher Creek. The spacious RV sites include 15/30amp power access, washroom access, picnic tables, and firepits. This area of the Oldman Dam and River is perfect for fishing and boating activities! You can find several amenities and services in Pincher Creek, too, as well as cool local dining and shopping opportunities. Details
Where: 13 km north of Pincher Creek on Hwy. 785
How much: $21 to $45 per night
Saskatoon Island Provincial Park
It is a beautiful time of year to visit the Saskatoon Island Provincial Park– and for many reasons! First, some of the available sites are lakeside, providing you with great views right outside of your tent. Secondly, the important bird area around and in the park will be bustling with various migratory bird species. Third, the north Alberta Park may have a variety of bright colours in its leaves and forests by now. The trails around the park make exploring for everyone easy, too, with 4km of wheelchair-accessible paths.
Where: 21 km west of Grande Prairie on Hwy. 43 & 4 km north on access road
How much: $32-$40
Secluded Badlands Camping
The Overwatch Outback offers 35 campsites dispersed over their 85 acres of land in the badlands. Along with several places to hike, you can also fish from a private trout pond, or simply relax by your fire under impressive stars. The area is recommended for RV campers, as no washrooms are available. Details
Where: North of Midland Provincial Park
How much: $50 per night
Trenville Park near Red Deer
You can pitch a tent or park your RV at Trenville Park, and enjoy access to amenities like showers, potable water, picnic tables, and washrooms. Enjoy nights by the fire, and your days exploring Red Deer or the nearby river. Details
Where: 21563 TWP RD 361A, Elnora
How much: $25 per night
Cabins & Glamping
Adanac Adventures
The year-round Adanac Adventures resort offers peaceful cabin camping in the southwest foothills. Your cabin can be small and rustic, or family-sized and luxurious, with other styles in-between. The area has a lot to offer in terms of things to see, things to do, and history to explore. Check out the Bellevue Underground Mine, the Frank Slide Interpretive Site, or one of the many hiking trails.
When: open year-round
Where: 1699 East Hillcrest Dr
Forest Escape in Lakeland County
Relax on your own private patio in the forests of Lakeland County this weekend. The peaceful cabin/vacation home has several amenities for a comfortable stay but is remote enough to make you forget any worries. If you luck out with a warmer long weekend, you can relax by the outdoor firepit at night; if you’re not so lucky, it’s okay as your rental has an indoor fireplace, too! Details
Where: near St. Paul, Lakeland County
Stone-Floored Tipi in Chokio
You can share this authentic Blackfoot tipi with four other people and relax under the southern Alberta stars. You’ll have access to 10 acres of quiet and serene property, a picnic shelter, a firepit, and outhouses. From here, you can explore the Crowsnest River, Lundbreck Falls, or the Oldman River, and all the surrounding trails. Details
Where: Chokio, northeast of Pincher Creek; 20km west of Fort MacLeod
Your own Hippy Haven
These adorable and rustic cabins near Gull Lake can offer you a quiet escape, or days filled with adventures on the lake. The simple cabins are all you need for the night, and you’ll have access to a shared kitchen and bathroom. If you want to travel with a group, there are two other cabins on the property you can book together. Details
Where: between Red Deer and Ponoka
Luxury Tipi Experience
Head out to the ranch this weekend but stay in a luxurious tipi rather than cabin! The Brother Fish Ranch offers a premium stay in a rustic setting with comfortable bedding, ambiance, and cool decorations. You can enhance your stay even more with a morning brunch box, or the numerous sightseeing opportunities around the surrounding foothills. Details
Where: southeast of Heritage Pointe in Calgary
Weekend Road Trip Ideas
Stop at Alberta’s Cider Companies
Get in the fall mood immediately with a road trip or weekend getaway centred around some of Alberta’s local cider makers. There are six in the province, with three conveniently near Calgary, and the other three near Edmonton. North or south, you can make a day of tasting local and refreshing apple cider!
- Journey North Cider Company (Bonnyville): taproom open for restaurant service
- Broken Spoke Cider Co. (Edmonton): taproom open for tastings and bar service with local beers
- True North Cider (Camrose): taproom open for tastings only
- SunnyCider (Calgary): open for restaurant service and event bookings
- Uncommon Cider (Calgary): open for tastings with bar snacks available
- Core Values Cider Co.: open for off-sale
Birdwatching in Alberta
You may be shocked to find out how many bird species you can spot across Alberta, especially during the spring/fall migratory seasons. It is now when you could spot swans, sandhill cranes, ducks, and more- or all at once. This is also an excellent chance to spot larger predatory birds like falcons, owls, hawks, or eagles. Details
Follow the History on the Crowsnest Pass
You can follow Highway AB-3/the/the Crowsnest Highway, across all of southern Alberta. This means the scenery changes almost every 100 km as you travel from hillsides to prairies and grasslands, to badlands, to river valleys, and finally to the Rockies.
Along the way, several cool historic sites as far east as Medicine Hat, and as far west as Coleman. In the east, you can visit the Medelta Historic District, Saamis Tipi, or the Gem of the West Museum, a bit further west in Coaldale. You can also stop by the Fort Museum in Fort McLeod or continue to the large site of the Frank Slide.
Travel the Cowboy Trail
Highway 22, or the Cowboy Trail, runs from Mayerthorpe in the north, on Highway 43, all the way to Lundbreck on Highway 3 in southern Alberta. You may not fit the whole highway into your Labour Day Weekend, but you can plan around a few interesting attractions like waterfalls, museums, or historic sites, as well as unique accommodations like ranch and glamping stays. Details
Find the Mountain Waterfalls
Whether you head to the northern Rockies near Grande Cache, the central mountains around Banff and Jasper, or the southern Castle and Waterton mountains, you can find beautiful views of waterfalls in all different sizes and intensities. So, where should you travel to find the waterfalls?
Here are some great starting points:
Waterton Lakes National Park: Upper and lower Bertha Falls, Lineham Falls, Blakiston Falls, Cameron Falls
Banff National Park: Bow Falls, Johnston Canyon Falls, Elbow Falls, Troll Falls
David Thompson Area: Ram Falls, Siffleur Falls, Crescent Falls
Jasper National Park: Maligne Canyon’s waterfalls, Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Tangle Falls, Beauty Creek Trail waterfalls
Grande Cache area: Muskeg Falls, Twin Falls, Eaton Falls, Pauline Creek Falls
Nordegg Rail Trail Adventure
The Rail Trail is completed halfway and now offers 50km of scenic backcountry trail across the Clearwater and David Thompson areas. The trail is on a decommissioned railroad which serviced the Canadian Northern Western Railway Brazeau Branch during the height of the coal mining industry. A trip on the Rocky to Nordegg Rail Trail will offer incredible foothill and mountain scenery, complete with the rushing North Saskatchewan and its several creeks, as well as historical education.
Badlands Sightseeing
There are some amazing viewpoints hidden around Alberta’s southeast Badlands, along with attractions like the Royal Tyrell Museum and Dinosaur Provincial Park, and several places to picnic or stay for the weekend.
Many sights and viewing areas over the badlands are found along the Dinosaur Trail, but you can venture out on other highways to find locations like the Cypress Hills, Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, and the Red Rock Coulee Natural Area.
The Red Deer River also offers its own badlands recreation, like canoeing/kayaking, riverside hiking, and wildlife viewing. Details
Sulphur Gates
Tucked away on that highway is one of Alberta’s smaller Provincial Recreation Areas, also home to some of the most incredible river views. The Sulphur Gates Provincial Recreational Area borders the northern side of the Willmore Wilderness Park in a secluded area overlooking the Smoky River. If you are unaware of what awaits at the top of the road and in Sulphur Gates Park, the views create an incredible surprise. Details
Discovery Wildlife Park
Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail is dedicated to offering a lifelong sanctuary for orphaned animals while also imparting wildlife awareness to the public and creating a family experience with daily animal presentations. A visit to Discovery is an outdoor experience in which visitors can walk past numerous enclosures. The Park also dedicates time to educating its visitors with displays and shows centred on animal and wildlife safety. Discover Wildlife Park and Campground are close to Highway 2 and create a simple roadside stop where you can even stay the night. Details
