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There’s always something happening in Edmonton. Learn more about the things you can do during your leisure time at the official Edmonton Tourism website.  

Edmonton is Alberta's provincial capital and Canada's fifth largest municipality with a growing population of 1 million in its metropolitan area.

A few fast facts about Edmonton:

Multiculturalism
Edmonton is a rich, multicultural society that values the diverse experiences and traditions of all of its citizens. Edmonton hosts one of Canada's largest multicultural festivals, the Heritage Festival, which is attended by nearly 400,000 participants from over seventy cultures around the world that live in or near the city.

Arts
Edmonton's thriving arts & culture scene boasts everything a major metropolis should offer: galleries, museums, live theatre, concerts, symphony, opera, ballet and — uniquely Edmonton — an incredible range, depth and variety of festivals. Edmonton, Canada’s Festival City, has more than 30 established festivals each year, and the Festival City Calendar has all the details on current and upcoming festivals. The Royal Alberta Museum is a world-class attraction noted for innovative programming and exhibits that highlight natural and human history.

Education
Edmonton is an educational hub for Alberta and Canada, with over 150,000 students in 10 post-secondary institutions. These include the University of Alberta, a top research and teaching institution that attracts the best professors in the country, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), which trains more apprentices than any other institution in Canada, and Grant MacEwan College, Alberta's largest college, which offers degree and diploma programs, as well as university transfer courses.


Aboriginal Culture
Edmonton’s Aboriginal culture, the second largest urban Aboriginal population in Canada, is a dynamic, vibrant, and energetic community. It is young, entrepreneurial, educated, culturally active, artistic, and caring. As a result, Edmonton is the corporate and political headquarters of many Alberta Aboriginal organisations and government agencies.

Urban Outdoors
The City of Edmonton is built around an urban park network 21 times larger than the famed Central Park in New York City. This “Ribbon of Green” along the North Saskatchewan River has opportunities for plenty of outdoor activity right outside your door: cycling, running, walking and in-line skating trails are just a few minutes away. Edmonton’s network of parks has plenty of amenities and activities for outdoor recreation.  

 

Shopping
With a multitude of boutiques, farmers markets and malls, there is no limit to the treasures you might find. Edmonton’s heritage district in Old Strathcona has a wide range of unique shops, while the world-famous West Edmonton Mall is an shopping and entertainment magnet for many visitors.

Sports

Golf: With more than 40 golf courses within an hour of downtown Edmonton, you can enjoy a new course every day. Two city-owned golf courses, Victoria and Riverside, are within a short drive of the downtown area, and championship level courses are less than an hour away. Visit Edmonton Golf  to learn more about golf courses in the Edmonton area.

Football: The Edmonton Eskimos play in the Canadian Football League with uniquely Canadian rules for North American football.

 Soccer: Edmonton is home to many different teams that play soccer, the game familiar to many international visitors as football. The Alberta Soccer Association has information about local soccer leagues and facilities.


has information about local soccer leagues and facilities. Baseball: Edmonton has a rich baseball history, and many Major League Baseball players have played here. The Edmonton Capitals team plays in the independent Golden Baseball League.

 

What to do in your spare time before, during, and after the World Congress:

Day Trips

Within a short drive from Edmonton you can enjoy these attractions.

The Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, an hour south of Edmonton, celebrates the history of Alberta’s machines, focusing on transportation, agriculture, aviation and industry.

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, 45 minutes east of Edmonton, showcases Ukrainian settlement in East Central Alberta and includes costumed role players portraying real-life Ukrainian pioneers.

The Devonian Botanic Garden, 45 minutes west of downtown Edmonton, includes gardens, woodlands, wetlands and other botanical features.

Canadian Rocky Mountains

Take advantage of our close proximity to the magnificent Canadian Rocky Mountains. It’s only three hours to Jasper National Park and four and a half hours to Banff National Park; be sure to leave some extra time to visit the majestic Rocky Mountains during your visit to Edmonton.

Any visit to the Rockies is a chance to see wildlife like Bighorn Sheep, mountain goats, elk, bears, moose, and deer.

One of the scenic highlights on any trip to the Rockies is the Icefields Parkway, a 237 kilometre spectacular journey from Lake Louise to Jasper through the rugged heart of the mountains. Thundering waterfalls, aquamarine alpine lakes, peaks and glaciers and many more scenic delights can be enjoyed from numerous roadside viewpoints.

Many visitors also enjoy the Rockies by rail, and Via Rail Canada’s vacation packages include several excursions that take visitors through the mountains on their way to Vancouver.

Outdoor Adventure

Throughout Alberta, natural settings are home to many species and diverse ecosystems. Our natural heritage includes some amazing scenery as well as ancient relics from prehistoric times.

	photo credit: albertaclipper
	photo credit: albertaclipper

Drumheller
Located in southern Alberta, Drumheller is approximately 4 hours south of Edmonton. Drumheller is home to the best Badlands scenery in Canada; see Hoodoos, eroded sandstone formations  that took millions of years to form and stand 5 to 7 metres tall. Some of the richest deposits of fossils and dinosaur bones in North America are found in Alberta, and you can visit the world-famous Royal Tyrrell Museum showcasing the world’s largest collection of dinosaur bones. Visitors may also want to plan their travels to include a trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site two hours southeast of Drumheller.

Elk Island Park
Less than an hour away from Edmonton, Elk Island National Park protects the wilderness of the ecologically diverse aspen parkland, one of the most endangered habitats in Canada. This island of undeveloped nature is home to herds of free roaming plains bison, wood bison, moose, deer, and elk. The park is home to some 250 species of birds and is a bird watcher's paradise. Elk Island is home to one of the highest concentrations of big game animals in the world and was the first large mammal sanctuary established in Canada.
Elk Island National Park borders on the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area. Both parks are part of a larger aspen parkland ecosystem known as the Cooking Lake Moraine. 
Some of these sites are also visited on the optional tour to the Beaver Hills, taking place on Sunday, 14 June.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
A UNESCO World Heritage site approximately 4 hours south of Edmonton, it is known around the world as a remarkable testimony of prehistoric life.  Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump bears witness to a custom practised by native people of the North American plains for nearly 6000 years.

 

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
The cultural heritage of Alberta’s First Nations is also vividly evident at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, 175 kms southeast of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, where rock carvings and paintings bear testimony to a unique interaction between the people and the land.