Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia

Doors Open Alberta

Edmonton

The second annual Doors Open Edmonton Festival will be held May 23rd and 24th , 2009.  Doors Open Edmonton Festival is a celebration of place, buildings, creativity and identity.

Doors Open Edmonton Festival brings together people at places and events that celebrate Edmonton's built heritage, modern buildings and arts community. The festival shows how landmark buildings and spaces contribute to the cultural development of Edmonton's past and future.

Doors Open Edmonton Festival opens doors, creates venues, identifies places and creates events where residents and visitors can experience performances, readings, art exhibits, tours, debates, discussions all while appreciating the striking buildings and spaces that are Edmonton.

This year's events include a number of specially created tours that will take the public Behind the Scenes of the Alberta Legislative Building, City Archives and theatres in Old Strathcona as well as a Visionary Tour of Edmonton hosted by a well-known Edmontonian. Again there will be numerous historical and contemporary Doors Open sites including the popular places of worship.

Events happening on Saturday, May 23, can be found listed on the Saturday page.

Events happening on Saturday, May 24, can be found listed on the Sunday page.

Doors Open Edmonton - A Small but Mighty Festival Features 25 Events

May 7, 2009 - Edmonton, Alberta - Through a series of cultural events, the Doors Open Edmonton Festival celebrates Edmonton's built heritage of old and new structures. The festival shows how landmark buildings and spaces contribute to Edmonton's development and civic pride. Doors Open Edmonton 2009 takes place May 23-24, 2009.

Adriana Davies, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Heritage Community Foundation, notes: "Our special buildings and spaces define us as individuals and communities. We must focus on Edmonton's essence - it's 'Edmonton-ness' that separates us from other cities - and celebrate that. If we believe in 'disposable architecture and buildings,' we will leave no legacies for future generations. Each generation grows Edmonton and everyone, citizen and visitor alike, is aware of this as they walk our streets and enjoy our public spaces. The Doors Open Edmonton builds awareness of the City and how it has evolved and continues to evolve through time."

The Doors Open Edmonton Committee invites you to visit places of worship, tour the collection facilities of the Art Gallery of Alberta, visit the Francophone Quarter, watch a short film on the University of Alberta downtown campus, debate how place influences writers, hop on a bus for insider stories on landmark buildings, get lost and found on a psycho-geography tour, join a walking tour of the Poetry Trail at Louise McKinney Park hosted by the Works, take a Garneau Block Walking Tour with Todd Babiak and enjoy many other events.

Festival Producer Miki Andrejevic emphasizes that "the buildings we live in and the public spaces where we work and congregate shape our lives so we should preserve them both physically and emotionally. This is the way to build pride in our great city."

To find out more about Doors Open Edmonton events visit www.doorsopenalberta.ca, which is part of the Alberta Online Encyclopedia - www.albertasource.ca - developed and maintained by the Heritage Community Foundation.

For event registration and information, please call 780 424-6512, ext. 226. For media inquiries contact Festival Producer Miki Andrejevic at 780 424 6512/ext 233 or miki@albertaheritage.net

Printer friendly PDF can be downloaded here.

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