William Hawrelak Park nearing completion is good news for Edmonton’s festivals
Posted October 2, 2025 8:56 pm.
After three years of construction-related closures, Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park is near completion.
The nearly 60-year-old park is set to reopen sometime this winter.
About 150 workers are putting the finishing touches on the new park – from a new shape to the lake to an expanded pavilion plaza and a new playground.
The expected opening date is good news for the Edmonton Heritage Festival, which has been in the park for 49 years and temporarily settled at Borden park for the last three years.
“Hawrelak Park has all of the underground infrastructure that we need to produce our festival, both electrical and water,” explained Rob Rohatyn, executive director of the Edmonton Heritage Festival Association. “For areas within our temporary space, that needed to be brought in and set up for us.
“Certainly excited to kick off a big celebration when we return.”
The upgrades include accessible seating and ramps at the new amphitheatre.
David Horak with the Freewill Shakespeare Festival is thrilled to go back to Hawrelak, saying they saw a 70 per cent decline in attendance from 2019 to 2024.
“I know so many people who miss that park,” said Horak, the festival’s artistic director. “I hear from people all the time about wanting to get back to that park, and why is it closed for so long and what’s actually happening? So it’ll be a bit of a surprise for everybody who gets back into the park and goes, ‘oh OK, this is what they’ve fixed.
“We’re going to make a big splash when we come back.”
The city sys the construction was necessary to fix things like lights, pipes and other electrical work installed when the park opened in 1967.
“In order to make them for the winter and picnic areas, the washroom areas four seasons, we had to upgrade the mechanical and electrical systems,” said Matthew Everett with the City of Edmonton. “We also upgraded the finishes within the facility, as well as ensuring that the outside and exterior met the historical resourcing requirements.”
$134.5 million was invested in the project, and the city says it is on budget and on time to reopen winter 2025/26, but no specific date has been given.
