“A rather cute ceremonial act in front of City Hall last week made it official, as two organizations exchanged gifts of a set of juggle balls and a paintbrush — both shiny and golden.
Thus it was publicly demonstrated at a joint press conference that Edmonton International Street Performers Festival and The Works Art & Design Festival are partners this year, occupying the same space at the same time.
Running Friday through July 17 on Churchill Square, this collaborative hybrid is likely just a one-year affair, and both festivals are still using their own branding and staging individual events……”
Creative Overlap
“And then the performative nature of some of the pieces The Works have brought also really lend themselves nicely to that same overlap.”
Pre-pandemic, The Works would typically run for 13 days in late June or early July. In the past few years, both festivals have spent time away from Churchill Square’s downtown construction, Street Fest living in Old Strathcona, with The Works at its temporary spot of the Legislature Grounds — though the latter fest returned to Churchill last year as a smaller presence, with no stage.
The decision to combine audiences was made back in January.
“We’ve been off the square since 2017,” notes Street Fest’s executive director Marian Brant. “So we feel we’re coming back home.
“And Churchill Square is going to be full.”
The Works’ executive artistic director Amber Rooke agrees, saying, “The advantages we were pretty sure we were going to have is a lot of activity — ongoing activity — on site…..”
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