Calgary’s Lilac Festival

By alantvuong on June 9, 2019

The Lilac Festival is an annual FREE one-day street festival in Calgary that started in 1989. Traditionally it was held the last Sunday of May and moved to the first Sunday of June starting 2016. It is held on 4th street SW and initially was only a few blocks long and now it stretches to over 12 blocks from 13 ave SW to Elbow Drive SW. It starts at 10am with a parade and goes until 6pm. I used to live on 4th street so I have gone every year for over a decade. The 2019 edition mark’s the Lilac Festival’s 30th anniversary. There is just so much to see and do making this one of Calgary’s best free festivals.

30th anniversary of the Lilac Festival

Parade

The parade starts at 10am and signals the start of the festival. It begins on 25 ave and goes right to 13 ave. The parade itself only lasts about 15 minutes and just showcases some local organizations, companies, colorful costumes and a marching band. I only seen the parade a couple times over the years because it is a smaller parade and I like to arrive at the Lilac Festival later in the day.

start of the parade

Food

There are just so many varieties of food that can be found at the Lilac Festival. All the restaurants and food places along 4th street all have their doors open and booths ready to have your business. From fast food to Asian, Mexican, Italian there are just too many food options. There are specials and deals to be had too. There are also hundreds of booths along 4th street featuring local made foods that will tempt your tastebuds. Food trucks can also be found throughout the festival.

one of the food booths

Vendors

Of course there will be plenty of shopping at this festival. There are lots of artisan vendors featuring locally made products. This would be a great time to support local and help out fellow Calgarians. For example, there are lots of unique types of clothing, artwork, shoes and jewelry. They also have booths promoting other upcoming events and festivals like GlobalFest Fireworks Festival and more.

running into a friend at Upendo Souls booth

Music/Dance Stages

This year there are 5 music stages and 3 dance stages located throughout the festival. There are independent and upcoming acts from all over Canada. With over 100,000 people attending the Lilac Festival, this is a great way for smaller acts to be seen by a large audience. The schedule of each stage is posted in front of that stage or can be found online.

one of the smaller music stages

Beer Gardens/Patios

Beer Gardens and patios are especially busy the nicer the weather is. Since there are so many people attending the Lilac Festival, it is also a good excuse to gather a group of people and socialize at the beer gardens or sit at one of the restaurant patios. Just be prepared as there could be long waits as it seems that every one of them are packed.

didn’t go this year, but one of the beer gardens behind me

Family Time

The streets can be very busy for families to walk through but luckily there is a kids area complete with a bouncy castle and lots of games for the kids to play. There is also face painting and balloon animals too. Everything kids want. Even if there are no kids with you, this festival is a great activity for families and friends to spend an afternoon together.

Pets Allowed

Even though it is quite packed with people, dogs are welcome at this festival. Some vendors do leave a dog bowl filled with water by their table in case dogs get thirsty. Since it does get very crowded, people just have to make sure that their small dog does not get trampled or that their dog does not bite or get aggressive towards people or other dogs.

it can get a lot busier for pets

I really enjoy visiting the Lilac Festival every year as there are so many things to see and do. Even though it gets really busy and crowded, I can still manage to get my wheelchair around. The better the weather, the longer I like to stay to check out Calgary’s local vendors and meet up with friends.