10 Things We Love About Edmonton

Alberta is one of the sunniest provinces in Canada and, together with Saskatchewan, forms Canada’s sun belt. Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton, comes in second after Calgary as Alberta’s sunniest city. With about 325 days of bright daylight each year, you’re treated to a lot of fun in the sun throughout most of the year. 

There is a winter, with January being the coldest month. But, Mother Nature tends to go relatively easy on the city, and winters are usually milder and slightly drier compared to other Canadian cities.

Every year, you can expect between 30 to 50 festivals in Edmonton, with several of the large ones being among the city’s main draws. It’s the summer calendar of events that usually gets quite packed. Highlight events range from the Edmonton Beerfest in March or early April, the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival and the Interstellar Rodeo in July, and the Edmonton Folk Festival in August. 

Wintertime revelries include skate festivals and The Festival of Trees. In between, everything from classical symphonies to hip hop, food, and pets get their special occasion to celebrate in Edmonton.

Edmonton has a fondness for going big with everything, even its street art scene. If you get the chance to explore the Old Strathcona district, you can feast your eyes upon walls and 6-storey buildings that are covered in massive murals of dazzling colours and motifs. 

There’s a local street art festival called Rust Magic, which involves skilled painters adding more colour to new and existing sites, creating one of the most vivid city skylines you’ll ever see.

Edmonton has a wonderful linear park system, with the North Saskatchewan River snaking through most of the city. This makes it one of the longest stretches of connected urban parklands in North America. 

You have nature trails with scenic lookouts, riverside cycling and hiking routes, dandelion-covered meadows, and walkways adorned with giant fountains beside some of the city’s major landmarks. You can take the 100 Street Funicular from the heart of the city, for a scenic ride. It offers the downtown skyline and the Saskatchewan River valley in view.

Edmonton once held the title of hosting Canada’s first ever planetarium, Queen Elizabeth Planetarium. It graced Coronation Park back in the ‘60s, but closed about 2 decades later. Replacing it was TELUS World of Science, which gave the city a new title: having the country’s largest planetarium. 

Margaret Zeidler Star Theatre, or the Zeidler Dome for short, showcases full-dome, 10K-resolution digital video experiences. It takes you on stunning visual journeys from the nucleus of an atom to the far edges of the universe.

We previously mentioned that Edmonton likes to go big. The mall is no exception – it is the largest in North America. West Edmonton Mall houses hotels, more than 800 stores, and boasts major attractions within. Some of these hold their own superlative titles. 

The Galaxyland amusement park has Mindbender, which is the world's largest indoor triple-loop rollercoaster. The World Waterpark is the world's second largest indoor waterpark. You could spend a whole day sightseeing here, with great animal attractions such as the Marine Life aquarium and the Sea Lions’ Rock, inside.

Families visiting to Edmonton can have fun going back in time at the largest living history museum in Canada – Fort Edmonton Park. The park is split into sections, each representing a different time in Edmonton’s colourful history. It spans the North American fur trade, Alberta’s oil boom, and the Canadian Pacific Railway. 

You can get your family photo taken in period attire, watch live demos at the 1846 Hudson’s Bay Company Fort, relive a settler’s journey on a horse-drawn wagon, or ride on a steam train.

Hikers can follow some of the best trails in Alberta, right out of Edmonton. The Waskahegan Trail runs through and around the city, where the scenery gradually shifts from urban spaces and into the lush wilderness of Elk Island National Park. 

Those seeking to explore glacial lakes and alpine ridges can make Edmonton their convenient entry point – a day trip west takes you to the small town of Jasper, while the scenic mountains of Banff National Park are a 4-hour drive south.

Edmonton and its historical radial railway has a long love affair with streetcars. One of its most unique streetcar rides takes you cruising high above the North Saskatchewan River, allowing you to take in spectacular views of the valley and city skyline. 

The High Level Bridge Streetcar route stretches from the Alberta Arts Barn to Jasper Plaza, and only runs between May and October. The trolley cars date back to the 1900s but have been meticulously restored to their former beauty.

Besides offering a good blend of Canadian humour and hospitality, Edmonton has some of the highest levels of UFO sightings in the country. Back in 1967, the town of St. Paul decided that it would build the world's first UFO landing pad. They went on with it, making one of the city’s quirkiest landmarks. 

Nevertheless, this was more than just a sign of goodwill in welcoming visitors from anywhere, be it from other countries or other planets. You can drop inside and see an exhibit that showcases photographs of UFOs, crop circles, and weird cattle mutilations.