May is upon us, Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday, May 8, and there are plenty of things to do in Calgary right now to fill your time as we (hopefully) barrel towards summer.
This week in YYC, you can watch live theatre, go for a cheap movie date, have brunch at the zoo, visit a free art exhibit in a downtown office tower, and more.
Here are 14 of the best things to do in and around Calgary this week.
Watch a drag show while you brunch at the Mother’s Day edition of Eggs, Henny!
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What: Eggs, Henny! is back this month for Mother’s Day with a morning of food, drag, and live tunes. The event features drag queens Birthday Girl and Anne Xiety, along with award-winning Ontario country singer Nicole Rayy, and there will be cocktails and mimosas, and delicious brunch options including breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast, cinnamon buns, and more.
When: May 8
Time: 11 am to 2 pm
Where: The Prairie Emporium (#300 – 334 53rd Avenue SE)
Cost: $15 (food and drink not included in ticket price)
Shop local for Mother’s Day at Southcentre Mall
Courtesy of Southcentre Mall
What: If you still need to pick up a gift for Mother’s Day, visit Southcentre Mall on May 6 and 7 to find 19 unique vendors selling a locally-curated selection of goods, in partnership with Collab YYC. Items range from apparel and art, to food and beverage, to home décor and jewelry.
When: May 6 and 7
Time: 10 am to 8 pm
Where: Southcentre Mall (100 Anderson Road SE, Calgary)
Cost: Varies by purchase
Pick up some new wheels (or sell your old ones) at the Calgary Bike Swap
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What: Calgary Bike Swap provides a safe place to buy, sell, or donate a bike by tech-checking each bike and recording every serial number, and this year they’re focused on swapping children’s bikes. If you’re looking a new set of wheels, visit the bike swap event on May 8, or, if you’ve got an old bicycle to donate or sell, you can do so on May 7.
When: May 7 and 8
Time: Consign and donate from 8 am to 4 pm on May 7 and buy from 9 am to 2 pm on May 8
Where: Sunridge Mall (2525 36th Street NE, Calgary)
Cost: Varies by purchase
Shop for a good cause with a pop-up event from Lusomé and The Revente
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What: Lusomé is teaming up with The Revente for a one-day shopping event this week that you won’t want to miss, in support of Lupus Awareness Month. Calgary-based company Lusomé will help you make spring 2022 your best sleep season ever with the most advanced moisture management sleepwear on the market. During the pop-up, 10% of all sales will be donated in support of Lupus Canada, and throughout the month of May, Lusomé will donate 20% from the sale of its best-selling and iconic Donna Set in light blue to help fund crucial research.
When: May 3
Time: 4 to 8 pm
Where: The Revente (239 10th Avenue SE, Calgary)
Cost: Varies by purchase
Celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars themed drag show
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What: Celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars themed drag show featuring three iconic queens: Farrah Nuff, Tangerine Dream, and Misty Meadows. Expect a show like no other in the basement of The Wednesday Room with delicious Star Wars themed cocktails and drag offering a nod to the classic movies.
When: May 4
Time: 6 to 10 pm
Where: The Wednesday Room (#100 – 118 8th Avenue SW, Calgary)
Cost: $17.87
Walk for mental health at the Darkness into Light Calgary event
Darkness into Light Calgary/Facebook
What: Support mental health at the Darkness into Light event, walking or running five kilometres on Prince’s Island Park, beginning at 5 am and ending as the sun rises. Funds raised for the event in Calgary will go toward the Calgary Distress Centre in partnership with the Pieta House, Ireland’s leading suicide prevention charity.
When: May 7
Time: 5 am
Where: Prince’s Island Park, Calgary
Cost: $40 for adults
Watch the award-winning Calgarian play Cantata (Rumours Of My Crazy, Useless Life)
Courtesy of Sage Theatre
What: Cantata (Rumours Of My Crazy, Useless Life) is a dramatization and fictionalization of Clem Martini’s experience as a caregiver for a brother with schizophrenia and a mother developing dementia. The family undergoes much stress as the delicate balance of caregiving unravels.
When: April 28 to May 7
Time: Showtimes at 2 pm and 7 pm, based on the date
Where: cSpace King Edward
Cost: Tickets range from $5 to $60 in a Pay-What-You-Will model
Visit an immersive IBPOC dance installation in Chinatown
Courtesy of “SHED”
What: Avant-garde multi-sensory experience, SHED | knowing each other as different and the same, is an immersive dance installation featuring a collection of moving portraits, embodied by a roster of local IBPOC artists. Choreographed by interdisciplinary artist Pam Tzeng, SHED is a new body of work that invites audience members to pause, delight in their senses, and enjoy the slowing of space and time.
When: Wednesdays from April 27 to May 14
Time: 10 am to 6 pm
Where: The New Gallery in Calgary’s Chinatown (208 Centre Street S, Calgary)
Cost: Free; book your gallery here
Check out Glenbow’s new FREE satellite exhibit at The Edison
Rendering of Glenbow’s satellite location at the Edison (Courtesy of Glenbow)
What: Glenbow’s main building is currently closed for renovations, but its new satellite location at The Edison opens this week, featuring visiting exhibitions on temporary display. The first exhibition at The Edison, Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, allows visitors to experience 200 works of art by a generation of 20th-century women painters, photographers, weavers, bead workers, and sculptors who remained largely unrecognized amid celebrated male artists of the time.
When: Beginning April 9
Time: 11 am to 8 pm Monday through Saturday and 11 am to 6 pm on Sundays
Where: The Edison (150 9th Avenue SW, Calgary)
Cost: Free; timed ticket required for entry
See your favourite yellow square save Bikini Bottom at The SpongeBob Musical
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What: The SpongeBob Musical is based on the beloved animated series created by Stephen
Hillenburg and the stakes are higher than ever in this dynamic stage show, as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world.
When: April 22 to June 4
Time: 7 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays
Where: Beddington Theatre Arts Centre (375 Bermuda Drive NW, Calgary)
Cost: Tickets from $33.60 for adults
Watch live theatre during High Performance Rodeo
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What: The spring edition of One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts, gives local audiences the chance to watch touring performances from across Canada, acclaimed international shows, and new and experimental work from artists right here in YYC.
The festival boasts theatre, dance, music, film, free lunchtime concerts, late-night cabarets, and much more, with shows in the basement of the Calgary Tower, at the Royal Canadian Legion, in the city’s +15s, a wrestling ring, an elevator, in City Hall, at the Central Library, and other unique and iconic venues around the city.
When: March 27 to May 28
Time: Varies by performance
Where: Various venues in Calgary, ranging from the Globe Cinema to Contemporary Calgary, The GRAND to Big Secret Theatre, and more
Cost: Ticket prices vary by performance
Go on a cheap movie date at select Cineplex theatres
Cineplex/Shutterstock
What: Looking for budget-friendly entertainment options? Cineplex is featuring select movie screenings for $2.99 this month at several of its Calgary locations. The Cineplex Family Favourites series runs every Saturday at 11 am and offers the chance to enjoy a good flick at a great price.
When: May 7
Time: 11 am
Where: Varies by date; participating Calgary locations include Cineplex Cinemas Seton and VIP, Cineplex Odeon Crowfoot Crossing Cinemas, Cineplex Odeon Sunridge Spectrum Cinemas, Cineplex Cinemas East Hills, Scotiabank Theatre Chinook, and Cineplex Odeon Westhills Cinemas
Cost: $2.99; tickets available online
Have a “wild” brunch at the Calgary Zoo
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What: Enjoy weekend brunch at the Calgary Zoo. Held in the heart of Destination Africa, the zoo’s Safari Brunch features both gourmet and comfort breakfast foods, including a free-flowing chocolate fountain with fresh fruit, eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon, a Belgian waffle bar, and much, much more.
When: Every Sunday until November 13, 2022
Time: First seating 9 to 10:30 am, second seating 11 am to 12:30 pm, and third seating on select dates from 1 to 2:30 pm
Where: Calgary Zoo (210 St. George’s Drive NE, Calgary)
Cost: $44.95 for adults, $27.95 for children
Join Alberta Ballet for the blockbuster production Cinderella
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What: Watch a stunningly choreographed performance of a classic live as Co-Artistic Director Christopher Anderson’s take on the beloved fairytale Cinderella hits the stage this week in Calgary. The blockbuster production premiered in 2018 and was met with rave reviews by audiences and media alike, drawing large crowds and smashing box office records for the Ballet, so this is one show you don’t want to miss.
When: April 28 to May 7
Time: 7:30 pm, with 2 pm matinees on Saturdays
Where: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (1415 14th Avenue NW, Calgary)
Cost: Tickets starting at $62
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