One of Edmonton’s most popular summer food festivals will have a new temporary home in 2018, close to the Alberta Legislature.
Taste of Edmonton will move to the plaza at the Federal Building in 2018, near Capital Boulevard.
Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason and Events Edmonton general manager Paul Lucas officially announced the move late Tuesday morning.
“We’re pleased to offer the Federal Building plaza as the location for the 2018 Taste of Edmonton Festival,” Mason said in a statement. “The plaza provides an exciting, centrally located space for Albertans to enjoy the food and entertainment of one of the capital region’s most loved and anticipated summer festivals.”
Officials said the province and festival organizers will work together to finalize plans in the coming months. The festival is held in July.
Currently, rules prohibit drinking and dancing on the legislature grounds, but Mason has the power to make an exception, and it’s something he said he’s happy to do for this event.
“Events Edmonton is pleased with the outcome of our collaboration with the Alberta government and the City of Edmonton to find a temporary home for Taste of Edmonton in 2018,” Lucas said in a statement. “We have fine-tuned the plan and settled on what works for each of us, while respecting the challenges of the site and ensuring Taste still delivers its key program elements.”
Lucas said issues such as power – it costs more than $100,000 to provide power for 48 pavilions, and there isn’t the infrastructure to do that at this time. Another issue is keeping the granite plaza clean.
The festival has been held at Churchill Square for years, but the move will be temporary as the square will not be able to host events until 2019, due to Valley LRT Line construction.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
