Edmonton Heritage Festival cancels final day after storm damages critical infrastructure, organizers say

The third and final day of the Edmonton Heritage Festival — the day when vendors usually begin to turn a profit — was cancelled due to extensive damage caused by a severe storm on Sunday night, organizers say.

The Edmonton Heritage Festival Association determined Monday’s activities could not go ahead as planned.

“As safety is our top priority, it is clear from the extent of the damage that we cannot open today,” the association said in a statement on social media.

Organizers say the storm “inflicted major damage to our festival infrastructure” such as critical structural elements, electrical, propane, and water systems, adding they were in the process of assessing the damage on Monday.

“This is devastating news to us, our volunteers, and the pavilions who have all come together to share culture and heritage with the community,” said association president Bruce Hogle. “We appreciate your understanding and support during this challenging time.”

Looking into the fenced-off area, at least one food tent could be seen collapsed to the ground, while others appeared to be still standing.

Zeljko Sulaver, the secretary of the board of directors for the Serbian community, said several pavilions “sustained major damage” but believed the Serbian pavilion was the “hardest hit.”

“The roof kind of caved in and completely collapsed in,” Sulaver said, adding the pavilion was likely right in the path of the storm.

Because Sulaver did not get a chance to enter the grounds, he was left to speculate as to the extent of the damage.

“Everything that was in the middle of our tent was definitely affected,” he said. “And I can imagine that our refrigerators, our deep fryers were right in the middle. And I’m sure that that the main post that was holding the tent collapsed right on top of it, and I can imagine oil spilled on the floor.

“Also what I’m concerned about is a little pantry right beside the big one that we had the artifacts for our display, where I could probably imagine that there will be some damage done. But I cannot confirm obviously because we don’t have access.”

‘Monday is really a big day for us‘

The third day of the Heritage Festival is when “you start making some money,” according to Sulaver, meaning merchants and vendors were likely in the red for the event.

“Saturday, Sunday is what you can recover for what you put into the festival in terms of cost, all of the food and all of the supplies, all of the fees and everything else,” he explained. “So now going into Monday is really a big day for us that we can definitely recover and make some make some money and make it work.

“But we definitely are not going to be able to do that this year.”

READ: How much do you know about Heritage Day?

Sulaver knows he’s not the only one feeling the hurt. “Everyone is affected… every single community suffers, every single community is concerned,” he said.

Edmonton’s Food Bank says it was also impacted by Monday’s closure. The food bank usually collects food from the Heritage Festival site.

“The collection bins in this photo are usually overflowing with food from our collection on site. Unfortunately, all these bins are empty,” Edmonton’s Food Bank wrote on X.

“We are asking our wonderful supporters to PLEASE MAKE A DONATION at major grocery stores, City of Edmonton fire stations, by texting FEEDYEG to 20222 (for a $10 or $20 donation), by calling our warehouse (780.425.2133), by mail, or securely via our website. Thank YOU!”

The Edmonton Heritage Festival is putting together a fundraiser campaign, with a donation link on the organization’s website.

“All donated money will go towards offsetting revenue losses and will help ensure the festival is part of Edmonton’s summer celebrations for years to come,” festival organizers wrote.

“We are looking for Edmontonians to come together to support the future of our festival by helping us recover from today’s major loss. Through this festival we support almost 70 cultural organizations with their annual activities and programming.

“Typically, the Monday of the festival has the largest attendance and generates the most revenue. We ask for your support.”

Heritage Day is a celebration of Alberta’s heritage and multiculturalism. It was first recognized in August 1974 and has since evolved into a province-wide celebration.

The three-day Edmonton Heritage Festival began Saturday at the Exhibition Lands and Borden Park.