Picks and Previews

Plan ahead to check out these not-to-be-missed events
×

Search Events

Today Tomorrow This Week This Month Next Month
Theatre
An image of promo poster for 2004 High Performance Radio

High Performance Radio

Recorded live at the 2004 High Performance Rodeo inside the Big Secret Theatre and broadcast nationally on CBC Radio. Enter a play within a play. A story of a director, writer and two actors who are trying record an important radio play, but are faced with many problems. Listen now!

Showtimes Vary
Location: Stream OnlineFree
Visual Art
A photo of Everywhere We Are on display at Contemporary Calgary

Everywhere We Are

An ambitious exhibition and public program series addressing challenges, merits, impacts, and advantages associated with art collecting, it is intended to express that boundaries are often mutable, flexible and even artificial, and that art is owned by the person who sees it.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)With Admission
Music
A graphic for the Sunday Jazz Jam at Asylum for Art

Sunday Jazz Jam

Join Asylum for Art for a Sunday jazz jam with Esteban Herrera, followed by an open jam. The jam is the one of the traditions that shaped the origin and evolution of jazz music everywhere anytime. Come and enjoy playing or listening with friends. Tickets are by donation.

Showtime: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Asylum for Art (2505 14th St. SW)By Donation
Visual Art
A dramatic photograph of a person with long hair

Legends of the Trans

This photographic work continues Vivek Shraya’s queering of performance, photography, and storytelling to reflect an ever-evolving notion of herself and the immense value of non-conforming role models. Making is a way to disrupt these hierarchies and break the rules.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Esker Foundation (1011 9th Ave. SE)Free
Visual Art
A promo image for Daphne Boyer's otipemisiwak exhibit

otipemisiwak

Otipemisiwak, which translates from Cree to people who live by their own rules, showcases recent works by Daphne Boyer, visual artist and plant scientist. Boyer’s practice combines plant material, high-resolution digital tools and women’s traditional handwork to create art that celebrates her family’s Métis heritage.

See website for details
Location: Fort Calgary (750 9th Ave. SE)With Admission
Visual Art
An image of Simone Elizabeth Saunders

u•n•i•t•y•

Simone Elizabeth Saunders explores personal history, Afro-diaspora, and Black sisterhood through bold and colourful textiles, creating tufted portraits of singular figures, each a montage of powerful, inspirational Black bodies that collectively surface as a strong and resilient community.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)With Admission
Visual Art
An image of Corri-Lynn Tetz in a studio

Art Lover

Corri-Lynn Tetz works as a painter, focusing on the female figure as a way to explore identity, sensation and desire. Borrowing from personal archives, fashion photography, film and pornography, she is interested in the ways images and meaning are transformed through painting.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)With Admission
Visual Art
Ah image of artworks by Maya Beaudry

The Pergola

Maya Beaudry’s installation considers the idea of interiority and containment as it relates to the natural and the built environment. Wrapped in a fabric printed with photographs of dwelling spaces, the pergola offers a structural fluidity of being between inside and outside.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)With Admission
Visual Art
Image of Marilyn Olson, Richard Boulet, A Molecule of Perfect.

Perspectives From Within

This major group exhibition features video, painting, textiles, film, sculpture and photography that critically engage with mental health. All artworks are based on the lived experiences of mental illness, with six artists bringing compelling insight into the highs and lows of their circumstances.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW)With Admission
Festival
An image of people enjoying firepit and ice sculptures

Hygge Hut

The contemporary, Scandinavian-style Hygge Hut, inspired by the Danish idea of Hygge, is winter’s favourite gathering place where you will find weekly programming like ice carving demos, live music performances with Music Mile, community dog walks, fireside storytime with Calgary Public Library, pop-up food trucks and more!

See website for schedule
Location: Celebration Square, East Village (508 7th Ave. SE)Free
Theatre
A graphic for The Soul of Motown at Stage West Calgary

The Soul of Motown

Brothers Eddie and Brian Holland, and Lamont Dozier wrote and produced many hits that helped develop and ultimately define the Motown sound through the 1960s and 70s. Stage West invites you to relive the music and experience the fascinating story of this trio.

See website for schedule
Location: Stage West Calgary (727 42nd Ave. SE)Prices Vary
Visual Art
An image of someone's hands with gloves on

An Act of Irrepressible Reclamation

Stride Gallery is excited to present an exhibition of artist Farihah Aliyah Shah’s photography and film work, curated by Eva Birhanu. Shah’s new body of work, Without a Leg to Stand On (2021) challenges the technological changes to film and photo production and racial bias throughout the decades.

See website for gallery hours
Location: Stride Gallery (1006 Macleod Tr. SE)Free
Visual Art
An image of "U-Tea-Rus" by Josefina Rodríguez Varela

HAND PIC’D

VivianeArt presents the 8th edition of their annual invitational exhibition, HAND PIC’D, featuring works by Jasmine MacGregor, Sadia Fakih and Josefina Rodríguez Varela. Each artist explores their cultural heritage through a female lens as a means to instill empowerment, strength and belonging. Drop on by!

See website for gallery hours
Location: VivianeArt (1018 9th Ave. SE)Free
Visual Art
A promo image for Rough Around The Edges

Rough Around the Edges

Experience the beautiful textile art by Barb Drake! This show consists of two of her bodies of work Nostalgia, a small collection of assemblages created using vintage paint and her second more recent, Explorations with Botanical Dyes. Make sure to check it out!

See website to book a viewing
Location: Loft 112 (535 8th Ave. SE)Free
Visual Art
image of work by Alex Linfield

WYSIWYG

Alberta Printmakers presents WYSIWYG by Alex Linfield. Materials such as dust are known for their strong connection to the passage of time. However, through the works in this exhibition, many fundamental concepts of being are defamiliarized through subtle digital manipulations of familiar materials and surfaces. Check it out!

See website for gallery hours
Location: Alberta Printmakers Gallery (4025 4th St. SE)Free
Visual Art
You Listen Better to Echoes

You Listen Better to Echoes

This exhibition by Florence Yee contends with anxieties surrounding diaspora, racialization and queerness. Yee seeks to de-romanticize emotions of nostalgia and healing through centring ugly feelings, denying any cathartic and healing release through the hand-embroidered pieces that comprise their work. Make sure to check it out!

See website for details
Location: The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)Free
Theatre
Image of promotional poster for Cipher

Cipher

A secret code is found sewn into a dead man’s clothing, and for decades the cipher remains unsolved. Forensic toxicologist Grace Godard thinks her scientific approach is leading her close to an answer, but efforts to crack the case have consequences no one could have imagined.

See website for details
Location: Vertigo Theatre (131 9th Ave. SW)Prices Vary
Festival
A graphic for the 2022 Exposure Photography Festival

Exposure Photography Festival

Exposure encompasses over 40 shows that display a wide range of narratives, subjects, practices, and explorations of the photographic medium. The exhibitions promise an exciting and diverse programme of group and solo exhibitions and various curatorial themes that audiences can engage with. Check out an exhibit near you!

See website for schedule
Location: Various VenuesPrices Vary
Free
A black and white Image of a conductor

Free This Week

We may be inching closer to the holidays, but there is still no shortage of things to see and do! Take your pick of holiday markets and live music—both online and in-person! Check out some of the free events that are happening this week.

Learn More
Free
Images of Francesca Ekwuyasi, Tessa McWatt, and Guy Vanderhaeghe

Free This Week

December continues to be a busy time, packed full of things to see and do! From holiday markets to live music to online literary events, here’s a quick look at some of the free events that are happening this week.

Learn More
Free
An image of ustin Luchinski with Tim Janz

Free This Week

There are no shortage of events happening this holiday season, and here are some options for you to check out for free this week! From festivals and online talks to live and in-person concerts, there’s something for everyone.

Learn More
Free
Cherish Violet Blood in Deer Woman

Free This Week

The leaves might be mostly off the trees but Calgary’s arts community has plenty of colourful options for you to check out for free this week! From powerful, online theatre productions to live and in-person concerts, there’s something for everyone.

Learn More
Visual Art
A dramatic photograph of a person with long hair

October Exhibitions

While autumn is in full swing, the month of October always brings a plethora of visual arts programming to Calgary’s arts community. From new shows and workshops to a ton of socially distanced show and sales, there’s so much to see!

Learn More
Free
A promo photo of Jiajia Li Li

Free This Week

A new week brings some serious change as September wraps up and October sees a bunch of new and free events to check out. From concerts to talks to art shows, get out of the house this week and explore these offerings.

Learn More
Festival
Audience members in a theatre

Calgary International Film Festival

Bringing together more than 175 films in-person and 60 virtually online, Calgary International Film Festival offers a lineup of the year’s most ground-breaking and must-see movies in a hybrid formula.

Learn More
Free
A photo of books in the the Parks Pat Mystery series

Free This Week

Despite some cancellations and postponements, the first week of fall brings a plethora of free arts and culture events to check out including book launches, outdoor concerts, workshops, and so much more. Plan to check these out!

Learn More

Questions?

Contact Calgary Arts Development’s communications team at 403.264.5330 ext. 211 or by email at events@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.

Submit an Event