Under-the-Radar Festivals

Under-the-radar Festivals

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The boot-stomping Calgary Stampede and star-studded Toronto International Film Festival are world-renowned, and summer is festival prime time. But Canada’s lively community celebrations coast to coast to coast might just be the country’s hottest events. Pick one that suits your style—from eclectic and funky to artsy and fringe.

Experiences

Montreal, Quebec
Join Montreal's citywide 3-ring circus

French-Canadian Montreal hosts 120 days of fests a year. The most original? Montréal Cirque Festival with acrobats, jugglers and high-wire performances in plazas, parks, theaters and on sidewalks—most are free—in the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil. There’s also the Mural Festival, First Fridays food truck meet-ups and St-Ambroise FRINGE Festival (100% of proceeds support artists).

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Tourisme Montreal Contact
David Fily
International Media Contact

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Vancouver Fireworks
Dance, dine, see art in Vancouver

Vancouver launched a new outdoor event combining three favorites: Music, food and art. The SKOOKUM Festival debuts this summer in Stanley Park. There’s also the West Coast-centric Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, dragon boat festival, popular international fireworks competition and rowdy Pride parade and fest.

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Tourism Vancouver Contact
Brianna Prasloski
Communications Specialist, International & Trade

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Whitehorse, Yukon
Drum and dance with the Yukon’s First Nations

Indigenous cultural celebrations are surging in the Yukon. Two not-to-be missed are the Adäka Cultural Festival on the Whitehorse waterfront—a week of antler carving and moose hair tufting workshops, traditional storytelling, dance and music—and Moosehide Gathering, a four-day celebration near Dawson City including a traditional potlatch (First Nations feast) and canoe river racing.

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Travel Yukon Contact
Yas Yamamoto
Travel Media Market Manager - Asia/Pacific

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Manitoba Festivals
Concert hop in Manitoba

Music is a hot ticket in Manitoba in summertime under the big, blue prairie sky. Choose from the uber-popular Winnipeg Folk Festival to the niche Folklorama, Fringe or Jazz Winnipeg. Get into music Aboriginal-style at Canada’s largest Pow Wow, Winnipeg’s Manito Ahbee, or watch jousting and fire-dancing at the Medieval Festival in Cooks Creek.

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Tourism Winnipeg Contact
Gillian Chester
Communications & Media Relations Manager

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Travel Manitoba Contact
Nisha Tuli
Senior Content Marketing Manager

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Toronto Pride
Go multi-culti in Toronto

Canada’s downtown heats up in summer—from arts fests Luminato and Nuit Blanche to the sizzling Toronto Caribbean Carnival and progressive Indigenous Fashion Week. There’s also Pride, Salsa on St. Clair Street Festival, over-the-top BuskerFest, Craft Beer Festival and Open Roof Festival for movies under the stars.

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Tourism Toronto Contact
Jessica Halliday
Marketing & Media Relations Coordinator

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New Brunswick Festivals
Get cultured in New Brunswick

Try a culture sampler in maritime New Brunswick, home to Canada’s largest Acadian community. Practice your French at the Festival acadien de Caraquet featuring 400 artists and events, including a boistrous Acadian Day parade, and at the biggest Francophone celebration outside Quebec, La Foire Brayonne in Edmunston. 

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Tourism New Brunswick Contact
Trena Lapointe
Manager, Travel Media Relations

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Join offbeat revelers in the Northwest Territories

Yellowknife’s frontier spirit colors the earth-friendly Old Town Ramble & Ride, a locals’ event that visitors love. Pick up some artsy souvenirs (moose hide garments, native jewelry, paintings, beadwork), check out an Inuit hula-hoop performance, take a rickshaw ride, take in a folk, banjo or bluegrass concert, join or watch the bike rally.

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Northwest Territories Contact
Spectacular Northwest Territories
Media Relations

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