High Fives for Five Years!

September 22, 2025

Five years ago, we started as an idea… 

To help connect creatives across Alberta. From a singer in Edmonton café corners to a national touring musician our Founder, Kaley Beisiegel, jumped through many hurdles faced by creatives in Alberta. Alongside her music career, Kaley also worked as a consultant in grant writing, event planning, project management, and partnerships, collaborating with communities across Alberta’s creative economy. Through this work, Kaley noticed a recurring issue: organizations, artists, and community partners were often working in silos. Even when pursuing the same goals, there was little networking or collaboration. She also saw promising strategies, meant to unite partners and industries, end up as unused documents.

Enter Bird Creatives

2020 brought many challenges to our local creative industries. Artists, venues, and communities were all left stranded and isolated in the wake of pandemic restrictions. The creative economy as a whole screeched to a halt. However, these challenges presented an opportunity. And so, Bird Creatives was born. The goal (and our slogan) was simple, “Let’s see what we can do together!” 

With relationship-building at our core, Kaley sought projects and processes where she could nestle together resources, information and connections. As we’ve grown in capacity and capabilities over the years, we’ve forged strong networks in the creative economies of Calgary, Edmonton, and Alberta, and have even taken on national projects, bringing our services across Canada and into the US. 

Let’s take a look back at our journey so far…

(Our first logo)

Our Timeline

2020-2021 – Bird incorporates

We begin building out our main services and take on our first contracts. Event Management is one of our first specialties.

Project Highlights

RISE UP Calgary

We supported local artists through the early 2020s by facilitating hundreds of live performance opportunities across the city.

2021-2022
We assist the creative community during the pandemic

Project Highlights

RISE UP Calgary – Pop-up Performances

We partnered with Calgary Arts Development, the Friends of the Federation of Calgary Communities, and the Calgary Foundation, to host 20 RISE UP pop-up performances across Calgary communities, supporting 57 local artists and acts.

CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy report

With research in collaboration with RISE UP Calgary, Calgary Economic Development,
The City of Calgary, and CityXLab, we published a creative economy ecosystem report mapping and detailing the value of the creative economy.

2022-2023
Our nest grows in team and in networks

  • We begin taking on more large-scale projects, including Chinook Blast and the CCMAs.

  • We expanded our team by 20 per cent with many of our consultants transitioning into full-time roles. 

  • We’re nominated for our first award and became finalists for the Calgary Chamber of Commerce’s TD Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award Presented by Pride in Business.

Project Highlights

Chinook Blast

As producers, we brought diverse programming, live music, art, and community partnerships to Chinook Blast 2022 and 2023.

CCMA Calgary

We launched the OFF-COUNTRY Music Festival presented by Calgary Arts Development, RISE UP, and Calgary Hotel Association.

Winter Whyte Light Up

Thanks to our new North Team, we started working on projects in Edmonton, including assisting with the production of the annual Winter Whyte Light Up along with the Old Strathcona Business Association.

2023-2024
A year of milestones

  • Our growth exploded with new projects in both Calgary and Edmonton.

  • We flew south for our first international opportunity, delivering signature programming, supporting
    Tourism Calgary in Detroit.

  • We took home two awards for both The Alberta Chamber of Commerce Community Attraction Award of Distinction and The Calgary Chamber of Commerce Air Canada Community Champion Award.

Project Highlights

Hydrogen Street Convention Party

Utilizing our artists connections, we organized the Hydrogen Convention Street Party in collaboration with Explore Edmonton, Edmonton Global, and DMG Events

Give Back Bash Event in Detroit

Working closely with Tourism Calgary, we had the opportunity to deliver Calgary-centric activations in Detroit promoting Calgary as a prime conference destination.

West Anthem Music City Strategies

Our research with West Anthem culminates in the launch of the much-anticipated Music Strategies for Calgary and Edmonton, along with a toolkit for Alberta’s rural and small cities.

2024-2025
New horizons

  • We produced Chinook Blast for its 5th anniversary.

  • We’re working with the CCMAs for a second and third time, taking the celebration to Edmonton (2024) and Kelowna (2025).

  • We’re starting to see our research reflected in our project work.

Project Highlights

Alberta Music Cities Grant Program

We assisted with the Alberta Music Cities Grant Program, made possible from funding partners, Calgary Arts Development, Alberta Music, and National Music Centre. The program will fund small-scale, experimental projects with the goals of tackling challenges in Alberta’s music scene through radical and innovative approaches.

Blue Sky City Creative Challenge

The five selected “Blue Sky Arts” pieces realize Calgary’s new brand identity by transforming spaces across the city with a statement on what living in a Blue Sky City means to each artist.

Check out our Portfolio for more
information on our work and impact.

Thank You for Being Part of Our Journey

The past five years have been nothing short of incredible and it’s all thanks to the support of civic organizations, local businesses, artists, and community leaders across Alberta we’ve had the pleasure of working with. Together, we’ve navigated the ups and downs brought to the creative economy, and we remain inspired by its resilience and potential for sustainable, equitable growth. We’ve been able to build an incredible team of creatives and changemakers passionate about the arts and the local community.

We’re proud to have contributed to so many projects that strengthen and celebrate creativity in our province. These first five years have given us real momentum and we’re excited to see where it takes us next!