Photo credit: Calgary Reviews on Flickr

Not rain nor sleet nor hail nor winds can stop Calgarians from showing up to their favourite events! Read on for a sampling of this week’s Awesome Events!

Sled Island… Wednesday-Saturday

Sled Island is back for the 7th annual festival edition featuring over 250 bands including The Jesus and Mary Chain, Explosions in the Sky, Joel Plaskett Emergency plus film, art and comedy across 30+ venues in Calgary from June 19 – 22. Read more details>>>

Ignite Summer Patio Party… Friday

Celebrate the summer solstice on Glenbow’s private +15 patio! Come dressed in your best summer chic outfit. Ticket price includes food and entertainment. Pivot members receive 2-for-1 tickets (limit of two free tickets per member). Read more details>>>

Thrill Of The Grill Kick Off… Friday

On June 21st, four Calgary-area Delta Hotel and Resorts Chefs will compete for the title of Titanium Chef with the assistance of well-known Calgarians as their Sous Chefs. The Chef’s dishes will be judged by local Calgary personalities, who will use their talented taste buds to select the winning meal. After the competition, each of the Chefs will be auctioned off to the highest bidder for a home backyard BBQ for eight with everything provided, clean up too! Read more details>>>

Taste The Market… Friday

The market will transform into a lounge with live music, candlelight, and the pouring of Wild Rose Brewery beer and Galileo Wines*. Guests will have the opportunity to taste their way through the market with over 25 vendors serving up exclusive items and old favorites in bite-sized portions with bite-sized prices. The market’s retail vendors will be open to provide guests with a rare opportunity  for night market shopping. Read more details>>>

Greek Festival… Friday-Sunday

This festival is about music, dance, wine and food. It’s also about coming together as friends, having a good time, and saying, “Efharisto” (Thank you) to Calgarians for enabling us to continue supporting youth projects, the development of our Community, and many charitable organizations within Calgary. Read more details>>>

Looking for more Awesome Events? Check out our community event calendar!

Everyone comes to see the Magician on the stage.  He or she is the Illusionist that take our attention, grabs hold of our imagination and suspends our belief. With a twist of the wrist and a fortuitous puff of smoke, the unbelievable becomes reality.

But that’s just part of the story. It often takes 2 (3 if you include the rabbit) to make the event an act with panache as opposed to a clumsy fumbling of playing cards and rumpled sleeves. After all, the Magician needs his assistant to set the mood, follow the invisible cues and distract the crowd. It takes a special person who can be trusted with all that on stage, PLUS protect the secrets of the ages, float in the air, cheat death and do it all with a smile.  So without further adieu, ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages from 1 to 100, introducing Gwyn Auger, Calgary’s Magic Assistant.

Popping out of a box after being sawed in half is just another day at the office for Gwyn. Photo by Jeremy Adshade.

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Dan Levy & Lainey Gossip take center stage at the SMUT Soiree.

Gossip is just plain fun. And nobody knows this better than celebrity culture experts Dan Levy and Lainey Gossip.  Between the two of them, Dan and Lainey have tons of insider knowledge on all the naughty and scandalous happenings in Hollywood and beyond. The pair were recently in town to host the SMUT Soiree, an evening of gossip, cocktails and trashy good times. It seemed like a bit of an oxymoron to me; a soiree is a classy affair whereas smut is much less so. “High-low, baby,” Lainey simply puts it. “It’s where class meets trash in an evening of debauchery, scandal, and intrigue,” Dan adds. Oh, the Kardashians would be so proud.

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Photo credit: Calgary Reviews

Summer and I haven’t always been friends. When I first moved moved to Calgary close to a decade ago, packed away in one of the many boxes squeezed into the car was a collection of bad associations acquired from years of living in the centre of the sun-scorched prairies (think oppressive heat and the smell of insect repellent). I don’t camp, I am terrified of bugs, and I roast up like a suckling pig if the can of SPF50 is ever more than an arm’s length away. In spite of all of this, what I have always loved about summer is the food. Whether it’s farmers markets, picnics, barbecues, or berry-picking: I love it all. More than anything though, I love the social settings that these foods exist in. For me, food is a vehicle for social interactions: It is the flavour of an experience and the taste of a place. What I have learned in the last few years is that summer tastes better in Calgary, and our strong sense of community is what creates a flavour uniquely our own.

Each year, Calgary hosts an impressive array of summer events. From street festivals to tailgate parties, food plays an important role in defining our communities and bringing people together. These events are a sensory overload of summer, where the fun, the sounds, the sights, and the food all come together to create a distinct experience. Whether you’re eating a hot dog at a sporting event, or broadening your palate at a cultural festival, your experience flavors your meal. The ongoing growth and success of these events is a testament to the strength of our diversity and sense of community.

You either love them or hate them, but there are few things as quintessentially summer in Calgary than the Stampede breakfast. For a few days every year people from every walk of life come together and connect over a meal. It’s not the pancakes that make this such a Calgary institution; it’s a shared sense of civic pride, tradition, and community. If you’ve ever attended a Stampede breakfast, you’ll know that it wasn’t the quality of the maple syrup you remembered.

The patio is one element of summer food culture that Calgary shines in. The ratio of Calgary patio sizes to the number of usable patio months would seem absurd anywhere else. Great outdoor eating and drinking options are everywhere in the summer months and create an atmosphere that even the most lively bar can’t replicate indoors. It’s the perfect combination of memorably good meals and memorably interesting people. For die hard urbanites like myself, this is what summer is made of.

The connection with food and city isn’t all about crowded venus and events; some of the best summer food experiences are a much quieter affair. A fantastic lunch from a food truck can be made even better with a good book and a shady patch in one of our many downtown green spaces. Our farmers markets are bursting with the best quality local produce we will see all year, waiting to come home with you and create an experience. Better yet, take advantage of our long, sunny days and grow your own. The possibilities are endless.

Whatever your summer style, I hope you find a moment to stop and enjoy a taste of summer that is uniquely Calgary.

Nerd culture has changed. Especially in the last decade. Everyone is a little nerdy about something and the old stereotypes no longer apply. This is a change Neil Todd, a.k.a NerdX has rolled with. No longer content with referencing comic books or video games, the long time rapper/performer is more comfortable writing about everyday things. He’s also making his debut at Sled Island this year so we sat down to talk about what it means to be a nerd and what to expect from the show.

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I assume you all had a great one last week – what with Timeraiser, IGNITE!, rallying, fundraising, shopping, checking out new shows and all the like. How could you not? Well, ladies and gents, you’d be pleased to know this week is no less jam-packed. Here’s your Arts Round Up for this week Calgary!

A SLED ISLAND AVALANCHE: This is the week Sled Island invades YYC and brings with it great music and great art. Like White Heat  – showing this Friday and Saturday only at AVALANCHE! Institute of Contemporary Art.
Photo courtesy of AVALANCHE! Institute of Contemporary Art

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Chivas 18 Gold Signature Blended Scotch Whiskey

Bourbon, single malt, scotch whisky… right down to The Bourbon Room at the new National 10, it seems whisky is on the rise in Calgary! Our friends at Chivas Regal have noticed it too! They’ve released Chivas 18 in limited edition packaging by Pininfarina, designer of the famed Ferrari, Fiat and Rolls-Royce – and it’s available exclusively in Alberta.

We put the whisky to the test with a panel of 5 local whisky enthusiasts.

Packaging: Chivas 18 comes in a dark navy box. Inside is a blue metallic container, mostly round but coming to a point at the end. Chivas 18 Pininfarina is imprinted in gold, blue and silver on the front of the container. Inside the container is a dark amber liquid boasting 85 flavours in every drop.  READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Name: Catori Hania (it means “spirit warrior”)

Breed: I’m a mutt ok! But I don’t let that get me down because I am one pretty pooch if I say so myself. My humans think I might be a Coyote Shepherd crossed with some border collie and husky as well…but they’re not entirely sure, because I’m just so mysterious.

Human Family: DeeDee and Shelle, Nia, Kerbie and Bruce

Fur family: Holly(Basset hound), Eliza (Basset hound), Ivy (Chesapeake Border collie X)

Favourite toys: I really like squash balls, small things that I can throw in the air, snow and hands (so much fun to chew on and bark at). I also like to chew sticks until there’s a million tiny pieces all over the floor.

Pet-Peeves: I don’t like it when people touch my feet, or tail, or ears and don’t even get me started on hugs!

Favourite food: Meat (I really like hamburger!),chocolate and beef bones

Favourite things to do: I like to roll on the keyboard of your laptop while you’re typing. I really like to tell you all kinds of stories! I even sometimes tattle on my fur-sister when she’s being mean. I also really like playing hide and seek though I always hide in the same places. It’s so much fun!

Least favourite food: Carrots, pickles and potatoes. Yuck.

Occupation: Intermediate dancer, beginner sled dog and expert burper.

Got an awesome dog? EMAIL us and let us know about your best pal. We may share your story on Calgary is Awesome!

It’s the last thing an artist wants to think about with a creative vision, but the hard truth of any large-scale artistic endeavour is that big dreams require deep pockets funding such projects. If you’re a young or emerging artist, often that funding can be hard to come by. Luckily, if you’re an Albertan filmmaker interested in getting your documentary or feature film made, there are a lot of financial resources available. Before you turn to Indiegogo or other fundraising endeavours, check out some of the following resources:

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Toronto’s, The Highest Order, has just embarked on their Western Canadian tour to promote their debut album, If It’s Real.  Lead vocalist, Simone Schmidt, took some time to discuss the band’s roots, sound, and honourary members to get us psyched for their appearance in Calgary.

The four-piece will be playing Sled Island at the Ship & Anchor on Thursday, June 20^th.  Make a point of penciling them in to your Sled Sched for a stellar psych-country experience.

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