2024 Crowsnest Pass Heritage Festival starts August 1

Posted on 29 July 2024 by Ryan Dahlman

The 19th annual Crowsnest Pass Heritage Festival will take place from August 1 to 5. This years’ festival will be a mix of traditional and in-person festival events and virtual activities. 

The 2024 Heritage Festival theme “Prohibition – The End of an Era” commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ending of Prohibition in Alberta and Crowsnest Pass rum running heritage. This year’s launch event which takes place on Friday, August 2 at 7 PM at the Polish Hall features the Heritage Youth Theatre Company’s production of “The Bootleggers Last Run” a live radio show, complete with sound effects, music and mystery inspired by this year’s theme.

This years’ festival also includes the popular “Food and Tunes” component featuring cuisine and performances by local musicians at various venues in the community; opportunities to visit local artist studios and engage in indoor and outdoors activities and celebrations of our community’s unique cultural and natural heritage.

The festival starts on Thursday, August 1st, “Kids Fest” at the Crowsnest Community Market in downtown Blairmore Gazebo Park. That evening the Crowsnest Conservation Society will host a presentation on “Wildlife Photography in the Crowsnest Pass” at 7 PM at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. 

On Friday, the Coleman Seniors will be hosting a  Spaghetti Dinner at the Seniors Drop In Centre in Coleman from 3 to p pm.

On Friday and Saturday the Crowsnest Conservation Society will be conducting Guided Bird Walks and Uplift Adventures will be offering a Historical Tour of Lille.

Saturday events include the Coleman Country Market, Artist Studio Tours, Train Rides and a BBQ at the Blairmore Lions Train Park; Open House at the Masonic Hall in Frank, 50th Anniversary Crowsnest Pottery Club sale, Booze and Bars Tour of Coleman and a Guided Hillcrest Cemetery Tour.

Also all day on Saturday Discovery Adventure at the Museum, an educational kid friendly scavenger hunt and activities will be at the Crowsnest Museum.

On Sunday at Gazebo Park, there will be a  Bandstand Concert featuring the Crowsnest Symphony Orchestra, Second Fiddle, and Tera Hazelton.; Prohibition in the Crowsnest Pass – guided bus tour; Guided Blairmore Cemetery Tour; and a Lille Historical Tour.

On both Saturday and Sunday there will also be, and Booze and Bars Tour. Also Sweetriders will be offering Historical Mining E-Bike Tours on both those days.

Throughout the weekend, the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre will be offering many in- person and virtual activities. The Crowsnest Museum, Alberta Provincial Police Barracks Building, Bellevue Underground Mine and the Crowsnest Pass Art Gallery (“Myth Making” – feature exhibit and Gushul Photo Exhibit) will be open for visitors throughout the festival. 

The Crowsnest Museum also will be hosting “Escape the Barracks” at the APP Barracks on Thursday,Friday, Saturday and Sunday which can be booked at http://www.appbarracks.com. 

On Monday Uplift Adventures will be offering a Miners Path Historical Tour.

The Heritage Festival includes individual and family self-guided outdoor activities such as historical downtown walking and driving tours, heritage hikes, or outdoor heritage attractions such as Leitch Collieries, Frank Slide Trail, Crowsnest Community Trail, UROC Bike Park, Miners Path, Hillcrest Mine Disaster Memorial Park and Coleman National Historic Site. Uplift Adventures will be providing a Lille Historical Tour and, can be booked at http://www.upliftadventures.ca. 

The full schedule of events and details for the various festival events including musician performances for the Food and Tunes events; Artist’s Studio Tours and that the events require pre-registration are included on the festival website http://www.cnpheritagefest.ca