Looking for plans that go beyond the usual brunch + errands combo? Whether you’re craving live music, moody dance floors, vintage cinema, or a puppy stampede (yes, really), Calgary’s weekend lineup is stacked. Here’s your hit list:
Calgary Folk Fest: The Island Goes Electric
📍 Prince’s Island Park
📅 July 24–27
Over 70 artists. Seven stages. One island. Calgary Folk Fest hits Prince’s Island Park like a summer daydream with sets from BADBADNOTGOOD, Cake, Los Lobos, Michael Kiwanuka, Steve Earle, and more. Expect genre-mashing sets, festival energy, and that unbeatable feeling of live music under an open sky.
Pro tip: Bring a blanket, a low chair, and zero expectations. This one always surprises.
📍 Dickens Pub
📅 July 24–27
If you like your music brooding and your atmosphere immersive, this one’s for you. Calgary’s annual dark electronic festival lights up Dickens with a fierce lineup of synth, post-punk, EBM, darkwave, and industrial sounds. This is the deep end of the underground scene — all mood, all movement, all night.
Dress code: black on black (on black). Vibe: intense.
98 Degrees: The Boy Band Era Lives
📍 Grey Eagle Event Centre
📅 July 25
Time to relive your early-2000s heartthrob phase. Nick & Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre are bringing their boy band magic back to the stage with hits like “I Do” and “The Hardest Thing”. They’ve sold over 15 million albums, and they’re not done melting hearts yet.
There will be harmonies. There will be swaying. There may be tears. You’ve been warned.
Summer Nights at The Grand: Casablanca
📍 The GRAND
📅 Friday, July 25
Step into vintage cool with a special screening of Casablanca. Doors at 5:30 PM with cocktails, Tubby’s pocket dogs, and the romance-espionage-drama masterpiece that gave us “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Whether it’s your first watch or your fiftieth, seeing it on the big screen is pure magic.
Wear something noir-ish and get there early — this one’s gonna fill up.
Pet-a-Palooza: Dogs. Everywhere.
📍 8th Ave SE
📅 July 25 & 26
The streets go to the dogs — literally. Pet-a-Palooza returns with puppy yoga, a dog pool party, the puppy stampede, and a whole lot of wagging. It’s Calgary’s top-tier dog festival, completely free and overflowing with swag, vendors, and very good boys.
Bring your pup. Bring your camera. Bring your serotonin levels back up where they belong.
