20 photographs of the historic King Edward School, the venue of an interactive 3-day Doors Open event this weekend (photo courtesy of King Edward Arts Hub & Incubator Photo Competition – which is on this weekend)

You know it’s going to be awesome when we can’t. stop. blogging. about it.

This weekend is Alberta Culture Days, and municipalities across the province are all doing something different. (Check out this crazy map for a bird’s eye view of Alberta cultural action.)

My fellow bloggers have featured a number of Cuture Days events for Calgary, including a free Alberta Culture Tailgate Party and We Should Know Each Other (WSKEO).

My pick for the weekend?  Easily Pechakucha Night Calgary (PKN), which is on TONIGHT.  It’s part of a flurry of creative activity planned for an interactive 3-day event at the King Edward School, which will also include WSKEO and the King Edward Arts Hub and Incubator Photo Competition.

Pechakucha Night has done for PowerPoint presentations what inflatable dinghies have done for the Elbow River.  For those of you unfamiliar with PKN, it involves a diverse set of presenters, who each tell a story or present a concept.  Presenters use 20 PowerPoint slides (no more, no less), which advance automatically every 20 seconds.  The best part is that slides may only feature images (no text, no bullets… no way! Hooray!).   The result is a soiree of concise, creative, and entertaining presentations.

Since the venue for tonight’s Pechakucha Night will be the historic King Edward School, be sure to take a moment to appreciate the space.  The historic building has been closed since 2001, and this weekend is a one-time opportunity to experience the site before it re-opens in 2013 as an Arts Hub and Incubator.  By experiencing Pechakucha Night, WSKEO, and/or other cultural programming at the King Edward School this weekend, you’ll get a sneak peek into what the Arts Hub and Incubator will be once it opens.

“This weekend is meant to really signal to the city that something new and exciting is coming down the pipe,” says Reid Henry, President and CEO of C-Space, which is the organization leading the King Edward Arts Hub an Incubator project.  “This weekend is meant to be a dynamic expression of what we are trying to do.”

Pechakucha Nights are a growing global phenomenon, and in Calgary they are so delightful that their free tickets ‘sell out’ within hours (sorry!).  However, at this Friday’s event there will be some standby tickets available at the door.  So get lined up!

Event: PechaKucha Night #13

Venue: King Edward School, 1720 30th Ave SW

Date: Friday, September 28

Time: Doors at 6:30, 7:00 pm start.