Kaleido festival sets up in the city

Jacques Schwarz-Bart said he was eager to come to Edmonton for the Kaleido Festival, and bring his unique flavour of Guadeloupean jazz to the 2022 event's diverse lineup. (CTV News Edmonton/Matt Marshall)

The 2022 Kaleido Family Arts Festival starts Friday night, bringing art, music and performance to Alberta Avenue.

The free, family-friendly festival is run by Arts on the Ave, a registered charity that aims to promote the arts along 118th Avenue and support the communities it runs through.

"We believe in having complete access to all of the arts, and so folks that maybe would never go to a ballet will be able to sit down and watch a ballet performance," said Christy Morin, executive director of Arts on the Ave and general manager of Kaleido Family Arts Festival.

"They'll be able to come and just take part."

Morin said the event will have 10 stages to visit, as well as street performers, an artisan market and several galleries. She added that there will be lots of activities for the kids, too.

"It's just a beautiful mix of cultures, arts, diversity and life of Edmonton," she said.

The festival will begin Friday night with a lantern parade and end Sunday.

Morin said there is still time for people hoping to help out to join as volunteers.

"If people can give four hours, we really would appreciate the time. And we know Edmonton will come to the table — they always do.

Jacques Schwarz-Bart, a saxophone player and professor of music at Berkeley University, is one of the performers this year. He said he will be bringing his own compositions to the festival, blending Afro Caribbean Guadeloupe traditions with American jazz.

"This is exactly the type of festival that represents my ideology of inclusion, you know, and equality between people of all gender, all race, all nationality and culture," he said. "It's about togetherness."