Zach Borutski“Red Bull is pulling Edmonton out of cultural stagnation” is something I never thought I would say.
A thriving city culture depends on the quality of its downtown vibrancy. All of the so-called “world-class cities” have tons of free events that pull people together to appreciate their city. From parades, to concerts to festivals, citizens of major cities have constant sources of entertainment to attract patronage to their downtown centres.
No, Edmonton is not yet the cultural hub that you ‘d find in Toronto or Vancouver. While Cathal Kelly’s June 4 Globe and Mail article “Kicking off the World Cup anywhere but Toronto a Mistake” was unnecessarily scathing, it’s true that Toronto has more of the cultural base to support a big event like the World Cup opening ceremony. Stating that Edmonton should “stand there quietly, looking supportive” assumes the city is culturally stunted, but it’s true that Toronto has the global reputation of being one of Canada’s most vibrant cities.
But if no one will give us a chance, or even bother to consider Edmonton as a legitimate cultural hub in Alberta, how would anything go forward?
Talk to anyone who lived in Edmonton in the 80’s, and they’ll tell you that you didn’t want to be anywhere near downtown after work hours. Jasper Avenue was a ghost town after the workday ended, and little happened in the central areas outside of the standard, expensive festivals like Klondike Days and Taste of Edmonton.
There’s been a definite shift in recent years to revitalize Edmonton’s downtown image. We’re considered the “Festival City” so there’s more and more events to bring the citizens of the former City of Champions into public spaces to interact with the local scenes. From Taste of Edmonton and Heritage Days to Folk Fest and The Fringe, there’s more to do every year in the city. People are using public spaces more, and the festivals are usually close to locally-owned businesses, bringing patrons into restaurants and stores in the immediate areas around the festivals.
When Red Bull brought the Crashed Ice finals to Edmonton on March 14, 70,000 people filed downtown to watch athletes skate down an icy hill while crashing into each other. The sport is known as ‘ice cross’ to fans, but most spectators just showed up to what was promised to be a massive event complete with free Red Bull. Not only did liquor stores immediately in the Grierson Hill area completely sell out of mickeys, but there were more people walking down Jasper Avenue then had been seen since the last time the Oilers won a Stanley Cup.
Red Bull delivered again on June 13 when they provided three Alberta bands with a huge outdoor venue. Edmonton-based bands Purity Ring and Born Gold represented our city, while Braids came up to show some Calgary friendship. The three bands have been on tour for several months, playing mostly to smaller bar-like venues, but they managed to completely fill Churchill Square with young and old fans. There wasn’t even a beer garden on site.
The simplicity of the setup was the most impressive part of the huge event. Red Bull brought in portable washrooms, some tents where they handed out free energy drinks and a stage and sound booth.
These free events are key for making Edmonton a contender to be the new cultural hub in Canada. The more people that are enthusiastic about getting out and doing something in the city will spur more and more similar events. We’re seeing groups like The Culture Collective putting on huge block parties in connection with local bars as smaller festivals like Nextfest and What the Truck gain prominence. Red Bull is obviously not the only factor contributing to Edmonton seeing more local involvement, but the consistently high turnouts are definitely pushing the city in the right direction.
