| While summertime brings bigger crowds to bars, and nightclubs see long lineups outside their doors, this spike in nightlife activity often seems to leave out under-18s, prohibited from drinking establishments. However, Calgary has many options for the non-bar crowd, offering nearly everything without asking for ID.
Live music is always available in Calgary, with a long-running all-ages music scene staging shows in community centres, church basements and parks.
"There have been a lot of shows going on for awhile," says Maddy MacDonald, a volunteer with JustaBunchOfKids (JBK), a group made up largely of high school-aged teens that organizes regular music shows.
"We try to have something for everyone," adds fellow JBK member Sarah Pester, saying that the group’s shows feature a mix of music, including punk rock, hardcore, indie rock and that the group often showcases new bands. The group’s next show, on July 8 at the Albert Park Community Centre, features a number of touring bands, including Edmonton’s E-Town Beatdown and Carbon Dating Service from Saskatoon. JBK’s Jason Rouleau adds that the group may try to organize a second instalment of Punk in the Park, an open-air show of acoustic punk music that took place late last August in Riley Park. The site www.albertapunk.com and its message boards list nearly all local all-ages shows.
Another outdoor musical event being held this summer is Calgary’s long-running folk music festival. The festival this year runs from July 27 to 30 in Prince’s Island Park and will feature a lineup including Ani DiFranco, Broken Social Scene, Macy Gray and Kris Kristofferson.
Over the summer, several movie theatres are planning special events. The Plaza, Calgary’s most atmospheric art cinema, will show midnight screenings of cult-classic The Rocky-Horror Picture Show during long-weekends. The movie will be accompanied by a burlesque show.
Besides the usual action films and family-oriented fare, a number of interesting movies are set to hit Calgary over the summer, including A Scanner Darkly, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s detective novel of the same name, directed by Richard Linklater, creator of the innovative animated film Waking Life (Uptown Stage and Screen, dates and times TBA).
At the end of summer, the Calgary International Film Festival begins, featuring a range of offerings from Canadian and foreign filmmakers (www.calgaryfilm.com).
While the regular live theatre season has wound down in Calgary, the city’s theatre scene will still be active over the summer, with the return of the Calgary Fringe Festival (www.calgaryfringe.ca).
"There will be a real mix of things," says Blair Gallant, the festival’s producer, adding that the festival will be centred around theatre but will feature everything from film to live music and numerous street performers, as well as body artists, who will create works of art on the bodies of volunteers. Gallant says the festival hopes to create an "urban bohemia on the street" and to attract an audience "willing to explore new ideas and push the boundaries." The festival will feature performances on 17 Avenue S.W. and along Stephen Avenue, as well as in four different theatres. For more classically inspired theatre, Shakespeare in the Park returns this summer for the 20th year in a row, presenting Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Mount Royal College through July and at Prince’s Island in August. Admission is by donation.
Haymarket Café (www.haymarketcafe.org), a worker-owned anarchist bookstore and café is planning to re-open this summer at a new location (1101 MacLeod Trail S.E.) in Victoria Park. The co-operative operated a bookstore nearby (the Bell Block on MacLeod Trail) for several months, stocking various radical and political books and magazines as well as fiction and poetry. It has moved into a new location in order to accommodate a café. Along with McNally Robinson and Pages in Kensington, Haymarket promises to be a major contributor to Calgary’s literary scene – as well as a good hangout.
Over the summer, road trips become easier, with several destinations around Calgary being within easy reach. If you find yourself in Banff on a summer night, the central strips in the town make for great people watching. Alternatively, you can check out the Banff Summer Arts Festival (www.banffcentre.ca/bsaf), a four-month long festival with everything from literary events to modern dance.
"We’re always endeavouring to attract a new audience," says Lachlan Mackintosh, Arts Marketing Officer with the Banff Centre, describing a series of festival highlights, including Shimmer, an aboriginal dance piece featuring dancers from Canadian and Australian aboriginal traditions; Comic Craze, a large-scale art exhibition tracing modern Canadian comics; and Can You See Me Now?, an interactive game created by British arts group Blast Theory, in which the group uses a GPS tracking system to chase volunteers over the Internet and through the streets of Banff.
Of course, the best fun often comes from the things you create yourself. Round up some friends and organize a midnight game of Capture the Flag (one such impromptu game last summer brought 100 participants out to a downtown park). Play hide-and-go-seek in downtown Calgary, or, if you want something a bit more organized, check out the rules for Manhunt, a large-scale game of tag played in urban settings (www.manhunt-edmonton.com). If you can find a basement or garage and some bands, it’s not difficult to organize your own free music show and invite your neighbours.
The inclusiveness of all-ages nightlife welcomes participation of youth with a variety of interests, as well as those over 18. "On the all-ages scene, most people are positive and look out for one another," says MacDonald. "Everyone works as a community." |
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