River City Writer

Today, dear readers, I open the blog to you. I have a simple question to ask of you: what are Edmonton’s best restaurants? Give me as much information as you like. Ideally, it would be good to at least know the name of the restaurant, and the type of food that they serve. Addresses would be great, as well.

I will compile all of your suggestions into a list, with my own additions, that I will post sometime next week.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a good weekend. I’m busy packing for a weekend away, hence the rather short post today. I’ve got some great restaurants to tell you about, but I’ll only share if you tell me about your favourites. Sound like a deal?

The Komatsus are rolling in Old Strathcona, which means that the Fringe is close upon us. In fact, it’s just 7 days away. This means that it’s time to pick your Fringe Program, and figure out what shows you want to see.

Deciding ahead of time is more important than ever this year. No longer will you be able to buy tickets at the door. You’ll only be able to buy tickets from the main box office, or from the official ticket stations scattered around the main festival grounds. This isn’t a big deal for hardcore Fringers, since most of them buy their tickets in advance anyway.

Essentially, the new ticket system means that you won’t have to wait in line for hours in order to get tickets at the door, if the main office is sold out. In my opinion, this is a good thing. It also means that you can buy tickets farther in advance than in the past. In fact, they’re already on sale.

Unfortunately, the new system also means that more spontaneous festival goers won’t be able to just show up at the door and get tickets at the last minute. I’m not as happy about this, but I think the benefits outweigh this disadvantage. In fact, I’m kind of excited about getting my tickets ahead of time. I missed out on a few shows that I wanted to see last year, because I didn’t get tickets soon enough.

Hell, I almost didn’t get to see the show that some of my friends were in (Finer Noble Gases), because they went and got themselves a great review in the Journal, and tickets were selling like wildfire. In fact, that was a situation where I think I did end up lining up for hours to make sure that I got tickets.

I’ll be picking up a Fringe Program sometime in the next few days, and I’m already committed to at least one show, given that my friend Patrick Pilarski is going to be performing in a play again this year. If you have any shows to recommend to me, even before I have a chance to look at the Program, let me know, and I’ll do my best to check them out (and, of course, review them here on River City Writer).

Editor’s note: I apologize for my lack of posts so far this week. In my defense, Monday was a holiday, so I’ve really only missed one day this week. I’ll do my best not to miss anymore days this month.

This weekend was the Edmonton Heritage Festival (which was awesome, despite the rain). The price of admission to the Festival is a donation to the Edmonton Food Bank.

The Heritage Festival is the biggest campaign of the year for the Food Bank, but, due to poor attendance on Saturday, they fell short of their goal by 10,000 kilograms worth of food. This means that the Food Bank needs your help, Edmonton.

If you can spare a few boxes of Kraft Dinner, or some cans of soup or beans, please give. Cash donations are welcome, too. Ironically, the boom that we’re experiencing right now means that poverty is worse than ever. There are people living in this city who cannot afford to feed themselves, or their families.

We are the richest province in the country, and probably Alberta’s second richest city (Calgary probably has more money that Edmonton does). The fact that people are going hungry, often by no fault of their own, is unacceptable.

If you are able to donate, whether in the form of food or money, please do. I gave a donation at the Heritage Festival, but having heard how far behind their goal the Food Bank is, I think I’ll buy one of those $5 or $10 Food Bank bundles at Safeway, and drop it in the donation bin the next time I go buy some groceries.

Edmonton, I’m calling on all of you how are able to help out to do so. All it will take is for a few people–probably only 1,000–to donate $5 worth of food or cash each. It’s not a lot to give, but it will make a world of difference to those of us who can’t afford to eat.

Update: I was watching the news this evening, and heard the Sobeys has stepped up and donated $50,000 worth of food to the Edmonton Food Bank. That’s a good corporate citizen. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still help out with a donation of your own.s

The August long weekend is the Heritage Festival in Edmonton. This year is the biggest year yet, with 63 pavilions, representing 75 cultures. For non-locals, or people who have only been in Edmonton for a short time, that should give you an idea of how multi-cultural this city is.

I’d wager that there are probably additional cultures that aren’t represented at the festival, either because they don’t want to participate, or because they don’t have enough money to setup a pavilion. For example, there is no Scottish pavilion. There is an Irish one, and an English one, but no Scottish one.

This always surprises me, as someone with Scottish ancestry, because I know that there is a fairly large Scottish population in Edmonton (just like in most of Canada). Mostly, it disappoints me because it means I can’t throw down some food tickets to taste of the “Great chieftain o the puddin’-race (Robbie Burns).”

If you’ve never been to the Heritage Festival, I recommend that you remedy this. It really is one of the best festivals of the summer. It mostly involves walking around the hot sun and eating a lot of “ethnic” food. It’s a pretty awesome way to spend a hot day in August. I only started going last year, but I’m already hooked. One year, I think I may go on the Sunday or Monday, so that the Israeli pavilion will be open (it’s closed on Saturday, as it’s the Jewish Sabbath from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown, at which point the festival is shutdown for the day).

This year, I’m looking forward to trying new food, and seeing new cultures that weren’t represented before. I’m also looking forward to some of my favourite things from last year:

• Falafel at the Arab pavilion (which also happens to be one of the largest and best designed pavilions)
• Bannock at the First Nations pavilion
• Curries from all around Asia and India
• Jerk chicken at the Jamaican pavilion
• Langos from the Hungarian pavilion
• Irish jig-dancing girls
• Steel drums at a couple of the African pavilions
• Croatian dancers (mainly because I know one of the dancers, and enjoy teasing her)
• German bratwurst

There is a whole lot of other cool stuff that happens down at the Heritage Festival, and I’m sure you’ll find something that you enjoy as much as I enjoy the things I’ve listed. Plus, if you get tired of walking around all day, you can just find a spot on the grass and chill out in the park for a while. The festival is spread over a large enough area that you actually can escape from the crowd if you need to.

If you’d like to come and meet me and my friends at the festival, we will be meeting at the main gates to Hawrelak Park at approximately 11AM. If you miss us, and you know my cellphone number, give me a call and we’ll come find you.

P.S.: If you have left over food tickets at the end of the day, the Edmonton Food Bank will take them off of your hands (they receive $0.75 for every donated food ticket). I should also mention that admission to the festival is free with a donation to the Food Bank.

The Edmonton Heritage Festival runs August 4 - 6 at William Hawrelak Park, the pavilions open at noon on Saturday, and 10AM on Sunday and Monday. There is no public parking at the Park during this festival. Please use public transit or park & ride service.

I think that Edmonton is a great city. That’s a large part of why I created River City Writer. I’m an evangelist for Edmonton. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of 5 reasons why Edmonton rocks in the summer.

1. Festivals: Edmonton is nicknamed “Festival City” for a reason. River City summers are packed full of more festivals than any one person can possibly attend. The good thing means that there is a lot of choice. If you like jazz, you can check out the Edmonton International Jazz Festival; if you’re a huge theatre fan, the Fringe will be perfect for you; the Heritage Festival is perfect for those with a fondness for international culture and cuisine. Whatever you’re into, Edmonton has a summer festival that’s perfect for you.
2. Warm weather: Edmonton has great weather in the summer. It may not be as warm as Hawaii, or Jamaica, but it’s warm. We may have ass-chilling winters, but there are few things better than a hot prairie summer. In Edmonton, hot weather means “swimming” in the fountain at City Hall, or the wading pool at the Leg Grounds. It means hitting the patios for cold beers and iced coffee. Really, warm weather in Edmonton results in typical warm weather activities. But, the fact that our winters are 9 months long means that we appreciate those summer moments a lot more than other people do.
3. River valley parks: Edmonton’s river valley parks system is the longest continuous urban green space in North America. According to Wikipedia, “The river valley is also 22 times larger than New York City’s Central Park [via].” This massive system of parks is one of the best things about Edmonton. If you ever feel like you need to escape from the hurried pace of urban life, but can’t get away to the mountains, just head down to the river valley. It’s hard to be stressed when you’re in Hawrelak, tossing a Frisbee™, or getting lost on one of the walking trails. Sometimes, you’ll forget that you’re even inside the city.
4. Iced coffee: Okay, so iced coffee isn’t really unique to Edmonton, but it’s still one of the best things about summer in the city. Whether you’re sitting on a patio, or walking around the downtown core, nothing beats a cool iced cappuccino or iced mocha. Like good old fashioned, hot coffee, iced coffee is best served with a good friend and conversation.
5. Whyte Avenue: Would a list of awesome things about Edmonton really be complete without including Whyte Avenue? Whyte Ave is the hub of the city. It’s the collective watering hole–literally, in some respects–and it’s the best place to people watch on a summer day. Find a patch of pavement, or a good seat on a patio, and you can entertain yourself for free all day long. A summer afternoon spent on Whyte gives you a glimpse into almost every aspect of Edmonton life. From the down-on-his-luck homeless guy, to the Chachi rich kids, to the hardcore punkers, Whyte Ave has it all. Plus, for a young single guy, it’s a great place to watch the ladies flash their summer skin.

Why do you think that Edmonton rocks in the summer? Add to the list in the comments, or with a post on your own blog. Keep the conversation going!