Chinook Blast 2026 | New Lights. New Location. Next-Level Vibes.

March 31 | Calgary, Events, What's Happening

This year’s festival was our biggest spectacle to date! ❄️

Calgary’s signature winter festival returned once again to deliver an entirely free community experience that lit up the city. From January 31 to February 16, 2026, downtown Calgary became THE destination for another unforgettable winter experience, this time at a new location. The Bird Creatives team was immensely proud to produce Chinook Blast for its fifth consecutive year. From taking on the production of the festival in 2022, we experienced new and unique challenges each year. While 2026 was no exception, we’re proud to say that this year was a true blast, and we’re so thrilled to foster this festival into the Calgary staple it is today.

New challenges – new opportunities

Finding a New Home

While Chinook Blast’s usual home of Olympic Plaza and Stephen Ave is currently under construction, we needed to find a new location that could host our unique winter experience.

Eau Claire Plaza

With the input from key festival partners, we made the heart of the Bow River at the newly renovated Eau Claire Plaza and Prince’s IslandLagoon, our new home. With a new site came fresh possibilities, and our team began ideating what a winter festival could look like at this exciting location.

With Chinook Blast in a completely different setting, we understood that we needed to deliver a standout spectacle, giving locals and visitors alike a compelling reason to visit, especially in winter.

To help us level up this year’s festival, we teamed up with some of Calgary’s powerful creative visionaries.

Elevating Programming

With a new location came new expectations. We understood that simply transplanting previous programming into Eau Claire Plaza would not be enough; we needed to craft a truly one-of-a-kind experience that would attract crowds downtown.

We partnered with some incredibly talented curators based here in Calgary.

Installation Curator – Paul Magnuson

As the founder of Big Art, Paul is known for pushing boundaries with large-scale, interactive, and immersive installations and he absolutely delivered. From standout works sourced from near and far to Big Art’s own playful TIC-TAC-TOTES (plus the eye-catching tote backdrop on the mainstage), the plaza became a glowing playground!

RISE UP Calgary Community Stage with Big Art’s Totes

Electric Grove by Biolumina

The Dome, sponsored by Calgary Foundation

Performance Curators – Victoria Bucholtz & Kayla Bigras

When it came to performances, we brought in powerhouse duo Victoria Bucholtz (aka Karla Marx) and Kayl a Bigras (aka Smokey Waters/B.Sassidy). Between drag, burlesque, comedy, DJ sets, cabaret, and multidisciplinary magic, they helped transform Eau Claire Plaza and the Lagoon with bold visuals and unforgettable moments.

Karla Marx

Joey Jay

Addi Pose

Performers of Drag on Ice (2026)

Together, these curators helped our programming team find the best talent to showcase for this year’s festival. We’ve been able to forge new partnerships, platform new artists, and deliver many new experiences that have truly redefined winter in Calgary.

More unique partnerships

Our production team delivered a truly stacked lineup of artists at The RISE UP Calgary Community Stage, from upbeat DJ sets to local singer-songwriter swoon sessions, and from multicultural showcases to hip-hop performances.

This year, we turned up the volume, literally. We partnered with some of Calgary’s best music partners and organizers, including PK Sound & Friends who took over the mainstage for a full evening rave. On Valentine’s Day, Blue Jay Sessions took over the stage with an expertly curated lineup of singer-songwriters representing some of Alberta’s best local rising talent.

Cary Chang performing on the main stage – as part of –MOVE–, presented by PK Sound & Friends

Le Cirque de la Nuit giving a fire performance as part of –MOVE–

The Librarian performing on the main stage with Le Cirque de la Nuit LED dancers as part of –MOVE–

Rebuilding Audience Awareness

With the new festival location and refreshed slate of programming, required us to build audience awareness, increase exposure, and promote hype.

A refreshed brand

Taking into account feedback from previous festivals, our marketing team understood that we needed to refresh Chinook Blast’s website navigation, as well as a new design direction to better communicate the essence of the festival, as well as its diverse, all-ages appeal.

Our website and design partners at GOOD Company understood the task and crafted a clear, intuitive and easy-to-use website that showcased all the exciting events and programs at the Chinook Blast Hub in Eau Claire Plaza, as well as “Beyond the Blast” events across the city.

Main Chinook Blast 2026 announcement graphic

Chinook Blast x The CORE gift card contest

The new direction gave the festival a fresh and friendly modern feel, combined with a retro simplicity aimed at appealing to all ages. Our marketing team was also able to create standardized assets, maximizing cross-partner promotions.

Five years of production

This year marked the sixth edition of Chinook Blast and the fifth year of Bird Creatives producing and marketing the festival. We are incredibly grateful to the many partners, sponsors, collaborators, artists, and crew members who help bring this event to life each winter.

We’re thankful to be able to deliver such a vibrant community event for the city, connecting residents and visitors with an accessible way to experience the local arts scene. Chinook Blast is an important part of Calgary’s downtown strategy to support local downtown businesses in winter.

Community Response

Here are just a few testimonials from community members we’ve collected!

“Love it. Would love more events here!”

“One of our favourite festivals!! Really helps get us through the winter in style!! 🎉🎉”

“Chinook blast was so much fun!!”

“Wow! What a great time! Thanks so much for the awesome DJs and dance party! 🙌”

Planning has already begun for 2027!

As we look ahead, Chinook Blast continues to reflect Calgary’s thriving creative economy in action. By amplifying Indigenous, Black, Asian, 2SLGBTQ+, and other diverse communities, we strengthen not only the festival itself but the cultural fabric of our city. It is a privilege to help shape this evolving winter tradition, and we look forward to growing Chinook Blast in 2027!