A local street festival celebrating the best Airdrie has to offer in terms of the city’s businesses, local not-for-profit organizations, and community groups is returning to Main Street this weekend, boasting a plethora of booths and festivities for attendees to enjoy.
According to Kim Harris, community developer for the City of Airdrie, airdrieFEST – which also acts as an unofficial birthday celebration for the city – is slated to return to Airdrie's downtown on Sept. 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event will feature a similar layout to previous years, but with the addition of a few new offerings. Additions to this year’s festival include an artisan market and beer tasting, along with sidewalk sales thanks to a partnership with Towerlane Centre.
“We will be able to showcase some artisans and some Indigenous art, as well as [host] some beer tastings,” Harris said, adding those offerings will be located, along with the food trucks, behind ATB Financial.
“Some [Towerlane Centre vendors] will be having sidewalk sales,” she added. “They will have a little area [by TD Bank] for some of them to put up tents. We’ve wanted to do that for a long time and now we’ve been able to do that.”
Similar to last year’s layout, Main Street will be closed off in front of City Hall to accommodate for vendor booths. The parking lots on either side of the municipal building will also be closed off, to make way for more local vendors and entertainers. However, according to Harris, the Safeway parking lot will remain open for patrons.
She added this year’s event follows in the footsteps of a very successful festival last year.
“Even though we were still in that COVID year [last year], we were just coming out of it,” she said. “I think people were just excited to be outside and do some of the regular things they usually do.”
Vendor registrations have closed effective Aug. 19 and as of press time, there were 160 vendors signed up to participate in airdrieFEST, which is “a little more than last year,” according to Harris.
“I think we had 140 or so last year,” she said. “So, hopefully we can get up to our largest [event], which was 189.”
The City also has a day chocked full of live entertainment at the City Hall stage for attendees including Indigenous presentations, the Airdrie Scots Pipe and Drums, Rocky Mountain Symphony Trombone Quartet, and Nose Creek Players.
As well, local organizations will be putting on demonstrations for passersby including Humble Boxing Academy, World Class Taekwondo, Elements Dance Company, Airdrie Sky High Twirlers, The Yoga Junction, and more.
Harris said the main drawing card for the event is the social connection it provides to Airdrie residents and attendees from the surrounding region.
“For the community and residents, it’s getting out there, connecting back to the community, seeing what’s changed in Airdrie and what new things Airdrie has to offer,” she said. “Not only on the business side but on the not-for-profit side.
“And if you are new to Airdrie too, it’s a good opportunity to see what Airdrie has to share.”
Harris added the City is offering parking spots for both vendors and visitors, and for more information, attendees are encouraged to visit airdrie.ca
