Historic Calgary Week
Back for its 36th year, Historic Calgary Week runs from July 24 to August 3 and features more than 75 events including walks, tours and presentations that look at the places, people and events that have played a role in Calgary’s evolving identity as a city. The theme of this year’s festival is “Chinook Country: Influences and Icons.” It features events like the Tyndall Stone Tour, which explores Calgary buildings featuring this special kind of limestone filled with fossils. Plus, learn more about historic Calgary neighbourhoods including Chinatown, Mission (formerly called Rouleauville) and Marda Loop.
Various locations, chinookhistory.ca
Design Week Calgary
Held by the Design Talks Institute (d.talks), Design Week is an annual, city-wide festival that celebrates Calgary’s design community and how we interact with design in our daily lives. The theme of this year’s festival is “In Tune,” and encourages everyone to notice the city and structures we see every day. The festival runs from August 6 to 8, and features a variety of talks with experts, exhibitions, tours, film screenings and community events, many of which are free. Some events to check out are Scentscapes, which looks at how scent influences how we design, and YYC Soundscapes, which features a motion-capture stage where each step you take creates a live soundscape inspired by the city.
Various locations, designweekcalgary.com
Heritage Calgary Stephen Avenue guided tours
Until August 21, learn more about Calgary’s iconic Stephen Avenue through a guided walking tour. The tours run Thursday through Saturday, with two tours a day starting at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. On the tours, which run for an hour and a half, you’ll learn about the historic buildings that line Calgary’s busiest pedestrian street. Heritage Calgary has also created a self-guided tour for you to explore at your own pace, free of charge.
Calgary Tower, 101 9 Ave. S.W., heritagecalgary.ca