Arts Roundup
April 9, 2026

Music

• The Pocket-Sized Series, a concert-recording project inspired by NPR's Tiny Desk, is leveraging human connections to create digital content for artists. Held monthly at Paper Birch Books, the series captures video of unamplified performers in front of a small audience. The Mbira Renaissance Band and Mallory Chipman have performed so far, and Biboye Onanuga is bringing his Blacktet jazz ensemble to the stacks on April 18. "Examples of videos is the thing that bookers of festivals — and even just venues — look at, after how many tickets you can sell," Onanuga told Taproot.
• CKUA's annual spring fundraiser runs from April 17 to 26. Amy van Keeken will host a live Vinyl Dance Party in Edmonton on April 25.
• Edmonton's The Prairie States will be in the lineup at the Boots and Hearts West Festival, which happens at Fan Park in the Ice District on Aug. 28 and 29.
• On the Reluctantly podcast, Terry Evans interviewed Curtis Ross and Mel Kidder about the Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton's April 12 fundraiser at the High Note Bar & Grill and the society's work supporting music education and community in the city.

Visual arts

• Chris Bourget spoke to CBC Edmonton's Radio Active about Seven Feathers Trading Post, an Indigenous art gallery, shop, and studio.
• Shaheer Zazai's new public artwork, In Community We Grow, has been installed on the exterior of the Gerry Wright Operations and Maintenance Facility along Whitemud Drive. It depicts a pixelated vine system with flowers in various stages of bloom, representing communities connected by Edmonton's transit network. "Communities evolve, but transit systems and migratory routes connect us," Zazai told the Edmonton Arts Council, which commissioned the work from the Toronto-based Afghan-Canadian artist.
• The Edifier Awards recognized Catherine Crowston of the Art Gallery of Alberta as an arts leader. She and the other Edifiers will be honoured at an event on April 23.

Theatre and dance

• Batrabbit Collective's Rat Academy returns to the stage at the Roxy Theatre from April 9 to 12, then at Rapid Fire Theatre from April 17 to May 16. It features physical comedians Katie Yoner and Dayna Lea Hoffmann as the last rats in Alberta.
• Northern Light Theatre has announced its 51st season, featuring the premiere of artistic director Trevor Schmidt's new play Iron Matron in October, the North American premiere of Simon Longman's Milked in January 2027, and Tom Kempinski's Duet For One in April 2027. The latter will see the return of actor Lianna Shannon, who is recovering from a spinal cord injury.
• Cree playwright Kenneth T. Williams's Deserters, a world premiere set in the cell of a military prisoner camp in an alternate reality, is playing at the University of Alberta's Studio Theatre through April 11. The play explores the residential school experience through a sci-fi lens and was written for the graduating BFA acting class.
• Casey and Diana, which dramatizes Princess Diana's 1991 visit to Toronto's Casey House AIDS hospice during the height of the crisis, runs at the Citadel Theatre until April 26. Toronto-based playwright Nick Green, an alumnus of the University of Alberta's bachelor of fine arts program, told Liz Nicholls that seeing the production on stage at the Citadel is a "total pinch-me moment."
• Common Ground Arts Society announced its new artistic leadership team. Sarah Emslie will be the producer of the RISER program, Salem Zurch will be the producer of Found Festival, and Hayley Moorhouse will be the society's season producer. The new staff will transition into their roles alongside incoming managing producer Rainier Pearl-Styles.
• The Alberta Playwrights' Network has appointed Louise Casemore as its new executive director.

Books and publishing

• The Edmonton Poetry Festival is back for its 21st year this April with a month-long program that includes LRT activations in partnership with Edmonton Transit Service, a 30th-anniversary celebration of YouthWrite at the Roxy Theatre, and a poet showcase responding to the Art Gallery of Alberta's Wayfinders exhibition.
• Jane Park spoke to Postmedia about setting part of her debut novel, Inheritance, in Edmonton. "Before, I thought coming from Edmonton was the most boring place on Earth, but I realized that's what made me special and different and unique."
• The CroneCast featured writer, editor, and director Helen Metella discussing the practical side of caring for a loved one with dementia, from navigating paperwork to finding moments of laughter. Metella, whose mother has dementia, suggested reading picture books or playing music for loved ones as ways to find levity while caregiving. She has written a storybook for seniors called Marika and the Auction.
• The Research Recast(ed) podcast featured Sarah Copland, an associate professor at MacEwan University, discussing the ethics of storytelling, literary controversies involving James Frey and Joseph Boyden, and what online reviews reveal about how narratives affect readers.
• SSH: The Podcast from the University of Alberta featured a conversation about the SpokenWeb Partnership, a multi-campus project to build a literary sound archive. The episode explored efforts to preserve audio recordings of literary events and develop new methodologies for studying literature through sound.
• Alberta's government has tabled legislation that would require public libraries to keep materials with "graphic sexual imagery" away from children 15 and under; the Coalition of Alberta Public Libraries, which was not consulted, called the bill an act of censorship. Edmonton author Thomas Wharton responded with an essay arguing that the Bible — "the original dirty book" — is rife with violence, sex, and debauchery, and suggested those seeking to protect children from books should start there.
• Anna Marie Sewell, a former Edmonton poet laureate, spoke to CKUA about her 2025 Edmonton Artists' Trust Fund award, presented by the Edmonton Arts Council and the Edmonton Community Foundation.
• Edmonton-born translator Padma Viswanathan has been shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize for her English translation of Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia's On Earth As It Is Beneath. The winner will be announced on May 19.
• Tyler Enfield, a poet, novelist, and visual artist, has been named St. Albert's new poet laureate.
• Nighthawks by Lisa Martin was the top-selling poetry book on the Edmonton bestseller list from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta.

Screen industries

• Simon Glassman has released a trailer for his Edmonton-made horror-comedy Buffet Infinity — a film constructed from bizarre fake TV commercials set in a fictional small town — ahead of its April 24 theatrical release. The film is a finalist for an Edmonton Arts Prize and screens at NorthwestFilmFest on April 14.
• Filmmaker Sandro Silva of Dona Ana Films and Jacob Marfo of the Ezra Marfo Cancer Foundation spoke to the Edmonton Community Foundation about Marfo's effort to increase diversity in the stem cell donor registry so that Black Canadians battling leukemia have a better chance of finding a compatible match, as well as Silva's film about that work. The documentary, The Perfect Match, premieres on April 11 at the Garneau Theatre as part of NorthwestFilmFest.
• Beamdog co-founder Trent Oster shared reflections on how game development has changed over time, writing that "the Budget Wars were hard, but their time is passing." Oster was also a co-founder of success story BioWare, but left to pursue an indie path after the company was acquired by Electronic Arts. "Electronic Arts is an interesting animal once you understand it. It has a fundamental need to generate money on a fairly short-term basis," Oster told Taproot in 2023. "They need to make a lot of money to pay all the bills, because they've got thousands of employees."

More headlines

• The original organizers of Jane's Walk YEG have handed over the reins of the festival to the Edmonton City as a Museum Project. "It's kind of a perfect extension of the summer tour programming that we offer now," ECAMP's Kesia Kvill told Taproot. The festival of community-led neighbourhood tours takes place on the first weekend in May.
• A Sensory Gala and Community Festival coming to Bison Lodge on April 10 and 11 aims to create a truly inclusive experience while raising money for organizations such as Autism Edmonton, AdaptAbilities, and the Edmonton Association of the Deaf. The gala will include a performance by The Braille Tones as well as sensory zones and creative installations.
• The Devon Historical Society Museum will open for its summer season on May 7. The society is marking its 10th anniversary with an open house on April 10 at the historic 1949 School Building.
• Arts Habitat Edmonton shared a recap of Arts District Day at ArtsHub Creative Studios, which featured an exhibition and live painting by Greg Hoosier.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:

• April 9-11: Bonfire Festival at Rapid Fire Exchange
• April 10: Great Canadian Trade Fair at Millennium Place
• April 10: A Fringe Benefit starting at 7pm at Fringe Theatre Arts Barns
• April 11: Elisa Thorn, Conjvr, Rachel Burry & Mustafa Rafiq starting at 6:30pm at St. Mary's Anglican Church
• April 12: Writing Amiskwaciwâskahikan starting at 10am at Fort Edmonton Park
• April 12: Script Salon: Punching Judy starting at 7:30pm at Holy Trinity Anglican Church
• April 13: Audreys Classics Book Club: Invisible Man starting at 7pm at Audreys Books
• April 13: Rough Cut Comedy - Weekly Comedy Showcase! starting at 8:30pm at River City Revival House
• Until April 14: NorthwestFilmFest at Garneau Theatre
• April 15-19: Dreamspeakers International Film Festival
• April 15: Gnoss starting at 7:30pm at Arden Theatre
• Until April 27: Edmonton Poetry Festival

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• April 17-19: The Ukrainian Film Festival at Garneau Theatre
• April 19: Producer Lab: Pitching at Fringe Theatre Arts Barns
• April 23-24: Shumka: Back to Our Roots at Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.