When we first arrived I was happy with the set up and the amount of people at the festival. We…read morearrived at 1pm and purchased VIP tickets. I will say if you do decided to purchase VIP tickets make sure you know that it's nothing better then the other tickets except you have better bathrooms. I came to see Fazey Ford who started playing at 545pm. She is an amazing artist, and I have been waiting for years to see her live. We had an amazing time till she came in and we went to the front of the elevated stage to dance and we're told we can't dance. Ok, but isn't a music festivals sole reason to dance???? With that said, I talked with every security guy arguing my point with no luck. We stood on the side of the stage with way less energy then I would have expected, and loved at a music festival. I think it's a great festival but needs to take some pointers from some bigger and better festivals. Not to mention the band after the front of the stage was full! Dancing is what people come for, let us dance!

Love love Love the Northern Alberta International Children's Festival!…read more This was the 35th Year and butterfly themed - my FAVOURITE look yet! The main stage has free acts and music everyday right next to St. Albert Place and the Library (yay for air conditioning and inside washrooms). The festival is spread out all along the river bank to Lions Park and downtown St. Albert. Festival Admission is free; though, most activities/shows range from $3-$11 with tickets you buy in advance. There are a few activities usually sponsored by businesses like Enmax and SaveOn as well as street performers wandering around. Parking is nonexistent or close to it so take advantage of the free transit bus through St. Albert transit from St. Albert Centre (mall). Love to watch the kiddos perform and really appreciate that our local schools get to visit every year! Can't wait for next year!

Went to see Alex Cuba (CANADIAN!!). Nice venue, cozy and comfy seats. Nice to park somewhere you're…read morenot taking your life in you hands. Saw Liaila Biali last Feb. I'll definitely be back.

we enjoyed it immensely such a nice theatre. so easy to access so clean an friendlyread more

I don't frequent this market but I was here recently and it was the same day as the Rock'n August…read moreso it was busier and parking options weren't close by. We didn't mind walking after parking in the residential area. The variety of vendors are great. There will also be the ones selling produce, but there were also plenty of food vendors sampling tastes and some options were ready to consume. If not, there are numerous food trucks available and some seating which is always great when you don't have walk and eat. It can get crowded but I find the layout is not too congested and I was able to walk around and see the items I wanted to. In addition to food, there's jewelry, clothing, and home decor. here's a kid's play area and the library was also open inside. There are porta potties but also toilets inside too. Great place to spend a Saturday morning or afternoon!

This market is the best! It's a Saturday outdoor market that's open from June till Thanksgiving…read moreevery summer. They blow a fog horn at 10am when the vendors are allowed to start selling their wares and it blows again at 3pm when the market closes. There are so many vendors at this market and they rotate from week to week and year to year. Some booths are consistent and show up every year while others may come only a few weeks of the year. Of course there is the classic food vendors: garden produce, fresh seasonal fruit, hot food/drink (food trucks), and custom foods (pies, cookies, beef jerky, fresh/frozen meats, perogies, etc). But there are a lot more hand made items: wooden patio furniture, jewelry, garden items, knit clothing, and other knick nacks. And there are the alcohol suppliers now: craft wines, craft beers, distilleries, mead, and doesn't kombucha even have a little bit of booze in it? ;) A few of my favorite anchor booths are listed below. Viravongsa's Farms: they have a legit farm near Red Deer and offer the freshest locally grown produce. Family owned and operated and their prices are fair. Confetti Sweets: They offer a great selection of cookies. You can buy them as a single or get a volume discount if you buy 3 or more. My favorite is the Oatmeal chocolate chip.

Dance camps anyone? We were lucky to get to try out 2 different camps put on by dance co. One last…read moresummer which was a mermaid theme and over the spring break this year as well. You can really see the instructors enjoy what they were doing. My little can be a bit shy and it was so cool to see her open up and start moving and grooving with the others. A big part of my rating is also based on how well the pivoted during the changes in protocols ect. We always felt well informed and were given tons of options. They do offer a ton of competitive and recreational dancing as well which we are excited to try in the fall, but I definitely can recommend the summer camps. So fun for the kids!

REVIEW UPDATE So we…read moreare now in our 2nd year at Dance Co. and could not be any happier! My daughter did 2 full year long classes last year, attended the summer camp including a pizza party and sleepover, and now both my daughter and son are enrolled again in year long classes. Our experiences at Dance Co have been phenomenal! The quality of instruction and teachers has been top notch, the facility is wonderful, and the staff always friendly and helpful. The only thing I didn't like so much last year was the end of year format for recital time ended up requiring that we purchase tickets to two separate show times and it's through ticket master so you end up paying surcharges on the tickets so they ended up being about $15 each which for a family with grandparents, siblings, and 2 shows to attend ends up being more than a $150. I'm not sure how they could rectify this other than maybe only selling tickets through them and then not having the ticket master surcharge which adds up being close to $40 when you are buying 8 tickets (4 tix for 2 show times). One thing Dance Co. does to help support families with multiple dancers or a dancer that takes a lot of classes, is you pay by the number of hours taught per week. So each subsequent class costs slightly less per hour than the previous class in any given year. And this is the case that swayed me into signing my 3 year old son up for preschool dance this year because his sister is already taking 2 full one hour weekly classes, so why not add on a half hour preschool class on the same night as his big sis? Dance Co. also has a little consignment section which is great for picking up a second hand pair of taps or ballet shoes for your chitlin. They also offer a preschool program that always fills up and looks just marvellous (as I peek through the window). I foresee a long relationship with Dance Co. Two thumbs WAY UP! Oh and don't forget to attend their summer customer appreciation day with a free BBQ, bouncy castle, face painting, trial classes, and draws!

Phenomenal little Art Gallery in St. Albert that offers all kinds of services from art rental to…read more6-12 year old drop in art classes! The gift shop features local and regional artists with everything from jewelry to little woolen animals! The display changes and the art classes reflect the current exhibition. I can't say enough great things about this little gem! I will most definitely be back soon! Especially as I just got a family membership which gives us discounts on birthday parties (heck yes! And loot bag free because the kids get to make a craft) and classes! Thanks Art Gallery of St. Albert for being so fabulous!

Small but very community-oriented, with spaces that are obviously for art classes for children. The…read moremain gallery space is just the right size for a smaller show. There is a gift shop that is also small, but features lots of artisans local to St. Albert and Edmonton. Very friendly and helpful staff. Admission is by donation.

What a treat! I came to the Edmonton Opera for their 50th Anniversary and Opening night of Giacomo…read morePuccini's Madama Butterfly last Saturday. It was a package I had won through Yelp courtesy of Chateau LaCombe Hotel and Blue Sky Limos. This was my first time to the opera as an adult aside from field trips as a chitlin. You could certainly sense the excitement and magic in the air as we entered the Jubilee Auditorium all decked out to the nines! The opera itself was 2 hours and 20 minutes with a 20 minute intermission and the time just flew by! And in case you are nervous you won't understand the various languages, do not fret! The Edmonton Opera has a small screen above the stage that runs the translation in English during the performance! The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Edmonton Opera Chorus brought production alive with special help from many special cast members from abroad. Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly) was performed by Anne Sophie Duprels from Paris. Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton was performed by Luciano Ganci. As an extra special treat, the Edmonton Opera flew in the original Madama Butterfly and Pinkerton from their debut performance 50 years ago in Edmonton for the Anniversary! Madama Butterfly also just celebrated it's 110th birthday of production this past February! My date and I were treated to cocktail hour before hand and during intermission in the Director's Circle downstairs. Post performance, we attended the cast party on the 1st floor where we got to meet some of the fantastic cast members and my husband even ran into an old music student of his that was in the Opera Chorus! Duchess Bake Shop catered the Cast Party with an amazing array of treats. I truly could not have envisioned a more magical night! Next season (staring in October 2014 and ending in April 2015) the Edmonton Opera is offering subscriptions to all three of their performances called the Great Escape with pricing for the subscription starting at only $96! I also checked out their website and noted they have student pricing available, too! The coming seasons will include Rossini's Barber of Seville (YAY!!!!), Mozart's Magic Flute, and Donizetti's Lucia Di Lammermoor! I think I may have just found my Anniversary present for my husband but Shhh... Don't tell him ;-)

I love the opera... It's an ethereal dream like world where love, tragedy and comedy all collide…read moreunder a spectacular symphonic canopy. Attending the opera just makes you feel grand, it's a way of connecting to the past. I love that feeling of knowing that centuries of people have sat down to watch the same performance I'm about to see. I've been to a good handful of opera's put on by the Edmonton Opera accompanied by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra - I always leave with the best feeling; knowing that I have spent a wonderful evening full of magic, mystery and romance. I can't wait until the next one! Que le spectacle commence!

i have had the Wong brothers do a lot of framing for me over the years. They have framed every…read morepicture, painting and certificate I have over the past 15 years. They are amazing. Because they are artists themselves, they are able to choose the exact right frame to enhance the works. They are such kind people as well. They have never let me down. I also found out that they do the framing for notable artists and photograph so that confirms I made the right choice in having them do my work.

Received an amazing painting from my sister, and it just happened to be HUGE (like 4 feet tall and…read more6 feet wide). Got a referral from a family member to get it framed at Kamena. I live in Grande Prairie and the painting was coming from Calgary. I decided to contact the gallery to get a quote and some options for a floating frame. Ting was amazing to deal with. Not only did he give me as many options as he could, he individually quoted each frame type. Then when the painting arrived, he gave me an idea of what each frame would look like, and made a suggestion based on his expertise. The framing was done, and the painting prepared for shipping all within a couple weeks. It is amazing - stellar - everything I had hoped for. The painting looks perfect, and it is obvious to me that they took all possible care when dealing with the painting. They are extremely responsive and helpful. I will definitely be going back to Kamena for all my framing needs in the future. I would trust them with all of my priceless art!!!