Edmonton’s heritage festival takes over Borden Park this weekend
Posted August 1, 2025 3:43 pm.
With Edmonton’s Heritage Festival taking over Borden Park in northeast Edmonton this weekend, organizers say tough economic times have them concerned.
“There’s funding challenges that we have been dealing with for many years. Post-COVID certainly has been a challenge,” said Rob Rohatyn, the executive director of the Edmonton Heritage Festival.
The organizers behind Edmonton’s biggest event celebrating multiculturalism say not only are they still recovering from the pandemic, but just like other festivals in the city, are worried about rising costs and tough economic times.
Earlier this summer, the Edmonton Fringe Festival told CityNews their costs have risen while fundraising has stayed the same.
But the Heritage Festival is also dealing with a recent loss.
Last summer a storm damaged the site, forcing the cancellation of their busiest day.
“Accessing the funds from the various levels of government to help our associations go forward, that paired with the increase in cost environment, it’s become a double whammy for festivals as of late,” said Rohatyn.
Edmonton’s Heritage Festival is the second-largest food drive for the Edmonton Food Bank. Organizers there say donations are desperately needed, as the number of people accessing their services has more than doubled over the last five years.
“We are serving 44,000 people each month through our hamper programs, but that’s just one of the services we offer. We provide food to soup kitchens, shelters, school programs, and what we’re seeing is food comes in one door and goes out the other. It’s just a continuous pattern,” explained Marjorie Bencz, the executive director of the Edmonton Food Bank.
The festival featuring 67 cultural pavilions — showcasing the best in food and folk traditions from around the world — will be in Borden Park in Edmonton’s northeast for the long weekend.
It’s the last year the festival will be there, before returning home to Hawrelak Park in central Edmonton, after the park was closed for three years due to upgrades.
“The biggest difference? There’s certainly some collaboration required for set up, with such a tight timeline between K-Days and our festival, there’s been a lot of work to make the west lot set up happen,” said Rohatyn.
The Edmonton Heritage Festival runs from August 2-4.
