Edmonton Branding and Tourism strategy

[Gronk!]

Edmonton this only Canadian destination on this list. I do wonder however if these searches are related to people wanted to visit to see if they want to move here.

These are the top travel destinations for Canadians in 2024 | National

Planning your vacations for 2024? "Revenge travel" isn't quite over yet as Canadians eye these top destinations.

dailyhive.com

I have no idea what their rationale is, although I ain't complaining!

10. Las Vegas, US
9. Houston, US
8. Malaga, Spain
7. Taipei City, Taiwan
6. Edmonton, Canada
5. Tampa, US
4. Incheon, South Korea
3. Lima, Peru
2. Hong Kong
1. Shanghai, China

 

[archited]

I would suspect that it is primarily because Edmonton is on fire all summer long with festival after festival and now some top line entertainment is joining in the fray -- creative, imaginative, best of the best -- all come to mind. Edmonton is really coming into its own in that regard! The big rewards for this are yet to come.

 

[Greenspace]

I doubt that is the reason. Lots of cities have festival comparable or better than ours. I can't see anyone booking a flight to Edmonton because of our folk fest or whatever. I think it maybe has to do with cheaper way to get to the mountains or people curious about moving here. Or this is paid article.

 

[IanO]

Exactly... maybe some rubber-based traffic and the occasional person, but I've always loved that idea that Edmonton 'is the festival city' when most cities have an amazing string of summer festivals, let alone other times of the year.

It's not taking anything away from Edmonton, but it is another example of relying on that notion instead of evolving, expanding and creating new reasons to explore the city... which has led to many festivals becoming stagnant or resting on laurels.

 

[Munanyo]

Yeah I'm not saying this to harp on Edmonton or takeaway from the fact that we really do put on a good show and host a number of awesome summer festivals that everyone enjoys or looks forward to every year. But honestly, a lot of other cities also host a great number of festivals that attract much more locals, national and international attention.

I wish we hosted a music festival along the lines of Osheaga in Montreal, Bluesfest in Ottawa or Veld music festival in Toronto. Those are ones that garner pretty decent attention, get internationally recognized talent and pump a ton of money into the local economy. I think we would do an amazing job hosting something of that scale here, but I always wondered why we never held a huge music festival the likes we see elsewhere.

 

[David A]

Exactly... maybe some rubber-based traffic and the occasional person, but I've always loved that idea that Edmonton 'is the festival city' when most cities have an amazing string of summer festivals, let alone other times of the year.

It's not taking anything away from Edmonton, but it is another example of relying on that notion instead of evolving, expanding and creating new reasons to explore the city... which has led to many festivals becoming stagnant or resting on laurels.

The Fringe Festival is one of the largest in the world, the Folk Festival has often been one of the better ones around, so I suspect they do attract more out of town visitors than we realize.

Of course they have been around for decades, so I feel this recent spike in interest is probably more related to people considering moving here. However, that is good too.

 

[IanO]

Largest does not always mean best or a reason to go.

I am not a regular folker, but the die hards continue to talk about how 'ours' continues to underperform in terms of acts vis a vis others and that it has really fallen off attracting top acts. Obviously that ebbs and flows, but it's been a comment from more than a few people for quite some time now.

 

[Romanov]

Im a bit younger and a bit newer to the folk fest scene, but have compared the acts to other folk festivals around the country. While some years are better than others, I think credit has to be given for the long-standing community aspect and the ability to attract "big" artists while also showcasing up and comers before they are "big". It's still a festival where Ex-pat Edmontonians return to the city from around the world to take in the best time of the year in Edmonton.

That all said, agreed we cannot rest on our laurels and need to do more to create a brand and buzz - beyond the two or three standout festivals we have (as they currently exist) in late Summer.

 

[archited]

that it has really fallen off attracting top acts

I guess you don't consider Alison Krauss and Robert Plant to be a "top act" -- both appearing at this year's Folk Festival. I think you would pooh-pooh the color of the Mayor's socks if that became known to you -- what an Edmonton Booster (not!)

 

[Airboy]

Largest does not always mean best or a reason to go.

I am not a regular folker, but the die hards continue to talk about how 'ours' continues to underperform in terms of acts vis a vis others and that it has really fallen off attracting top acts. Obviously that ebbs and flows, but it's been a comment from more than a few people for quite some time now.

It's not whether you are the best or biggest. Artist Schedules and costs drive a lot of these events. It's one reason the southern states have so many large festivals. An Artists can do 2 or more shows in a weekend. I remember my time in TO and Mariposa was big. They still complained they had a hard time attracting artists. And having a brother in that industry it really came down to who could pay.

 

[IanO]

I guess you don't consider Alison Krauss and Robert Plant to be a "top act" -- both appearing at this year's Folk Festival. I think you would pooh-pooh the color of the Mayor's socks if that became known to you -- what an Edmonton Booster (not!)

You do you.

I'm just passing along what I have heard for years and years.

 

[Yeggy]

You do you.

I'm just passing along what I have heard for years and years.

I dont understand why the fringe doesnt used the Folk fest stages…

It seems like such a waste. “Folk Fest” could effectively be all summer long.

 

[erudyk_29]

Edmonton is definitely the "Festival City" of Canada. I know it's easy to look at that as just being a cheesy tourism term that really doesn't have much of a real, tangible truth to it. But it's true that for it's size Edmonton definitely punches above it's weight in terms of festivals. Edmonton does not necessarily have one big festival like say the Stampede, or Jazz Fest in Montreal. But a number of pretty big events that basically mean there is always something going on during the summer months, whether it be The Fringe, Folk Fest, Heritage Festival, Street Performers, etc, etc. Not something that you're going to travel to the city for, exclusively to do that thing, but if you're staying for a couple weeks during summer, chances are you can catch at least 2 pretty big festivals.

One area I think Edmonton's festival game can be improved is during the winter. Basically Canoe Volant is the only big winter festival. I think 2-3 new winter festivals would do wonders.

I love Edmonton's food festivals, like Heritage Days (which let's be honest, despite being about cultural diversity in general is mainly about food) and Taste of Edmonton.

A winter food fest would be awesome, maybe a split indoor/outdoor format. Maybe an emphasis on Indigenous cuisine?

 

[northlands]

^ Taste of Edmonton is a great example of an event resting on its laurels that desperately needs a shakeup, because the last few iterations have felt more like a money grab than any sort of showcase.

I do agree some more winter festivals would be great. Like what Ice District is doing with trying to get some more winter events going, as noted the Oktoberfest was a lot of fun and seemed to be an overall success, so hopefully they really catch fire with a festival idea here.

 

[TAS]

^ Taste of Edmonton is a great example of an event resting on its laurels that desperately needs a shakeup, because the last few iterations have felt more like a money grab than any sort of showcase.

I do agree some more winter festivals would be great. Like what Ice District is doing with trying to get some more winter events going, as noted the Oktoberfest was a lot of fun and seemed to be an overall success, so hopefully they really catch fire with a festival idea here.

Also keep being creative with events and partnerships like Edmonton Symphony/Disney event that was packed in Churchill Square last year.