Edmonton International Street Performers Festival kicks off for 42nd year
Posted July 4, 2026 10:27 am.
Churchill Square has transformed into an entertainment hub for the next ten days. The 42nd annual Edmonton International Street Performers Festival kicked off Friday.
This year there’s some relief with the sun shining and the rain clouds gone, for now.
” If you can’t deal with the weather, you should not be a street performer. Bad weather, good weather, whatever, that goes with the territory,” said Bob Palmer, who performed as “Flying Bob” for over 40 years.
Liz Hobbs, Edmonton International Street Performers Festival, said, “We’re so happy! All I’ve been doing for the last week is checking the weather every 5 seconds. So this is beautiful, this is amazing. Summer! We have summer!”
The festival features 38 artists from eight countries; 10 of them are coming here for the first time. While some, like Palmer, have been fascinating people for decades.
“As street performers, we have a mission. To reintroduce live performing to people. There wasn’t any live performing for years with COVID, and a lot of kids grew up not experiencing that, and it’s our job, our duty to revive and make people understand the impact of live performing,” said Palmer.
It is a free festival, so none of the performers take money directly from the festival. Instead, they get a bucket, and whatever they earn comes directly from the audience.
“This is their living; they’re also struggling with the ridiculous grocery bills that we’re all dealing with at the moment. If you can give, please do, and if everyone gives a little bit, then they’re doing okay,” said Hobbs.
Palmer added, “Give what you can afford, give what you feel the show is worth. And if you don’t have any money, just come up and give your thanks.”
The street performers festival runs until July 12th.
