The first Pembina River Nights Festival was created and developed in partnership by the Pembina River Nights Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and those who like to have a great time. This festival grew from strength to strength, delivering live programmes in 2016, 2018 and 2021, and a digital programme in 2020 making it one of the best Alberta festivals to visit and an ideal to do list to add to your festival event planner. Our goal is to bring the entire community together and build community pride while focusing on the beautiful nature resource, that is the river of the Pembina festival. Activities include a bathtub race, sports, speeches, performances, parties, parades, many great options to choose from of our meals to eat and drink, contests, many different competition events, and a wide variety of ceremonies.
Festival highlights: 2022
2022’s theme was Woods and Trees, exploring how we nurture, manage, and re-wild our woods and forests. The festival ensemble told the story of King Sessile and his hunt for the mythical White Deer through the forests of Pembina. The Pembina River Nights Festival attracted audiences of 32,500. 1,600 young people were engaged in workshop activities; 800 singers, musicians and community members participated in performances. This shpws we are more than just a river festival and we bring music to the table to make it a classic music festival as well!
Honoring key moments and celebrating holidays from different cultures
Our festival and community did many things regarding honoring historical moments that changed the world as well as celebrating different holidays from different cultures! These include but are not limited to the ones listed below. In response to the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, a moment of silence was taken, lit by candles along the river of our festival. The moment of silence was held the final Saturday evening of the 2002 festival and our river festival featured red, white, and blue shirts worn by runners to form a United States flag. This shows that we don’t forget our roots and consider the United States our neighbours as we get many welcoming visitors from the United States.
Every November 11th we honor our fallen soldiers by making a special event dedicated to them and add a 25% discount for the whole family of any member of the army of Canada or a family that had someone die in combat.
Every Halloween we add a special event for kids where kids can win a large amount of sweets and candy if they win competitions. Since we know many kids probably go trick or treating at night on the night of Halloween, we make sure the event is held between 1:00-4:00 p.m. so the kids don’t miss out on going trick or treating.
The most important of all, we cannot forget our ultimate holiday festive feast that we hold every December that includes many different fun activities and things to do. We add many surprises to our events so come one out this holiday to really know what we have in store!
How the COVID-19 pandemic changed festivals
Before the pandemic started in 2020, it was very common for people to dream about booking festival tickets. However, COVID-19 came around and took away all that passion and dream from new and regular attendees of festivals. Nevertheless, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for deprived music and festival enthusiasts. Although many people might view the festivals, they see post pandemic to be smooth and running well. That unfortunately is not the case in many situations. What people see on the outside is very different than what actually goes on inside the festivals behind the scenes. Not only has this taken a toll on businesses but also on those planning a trip to a festival in the post-pandemic time has been difficult. There have been factors that caused this issue as there has been many uncertainties among individuals after the virus started. Just to name a few these issues include travel restrictions, mask mandates and vaccination status. But there are much more issues the virus caused than this. Although people had no issue with the above items listed, such as already getting the vaccine shot, no issue with travelling and living in a country that offers many festival options such as Canada, they still had that fear inside of them like many people about attending a large gathering and catching the virus that killed millions of people globally. Another key thing to note about how much this pandemic really affected not just festivals but businesses in general is how much amount of revenue decreased. Less people coming means less money the company makes. Not only did the amount of people who attended decrease but also the number of artists who come to perform. Artists perform from all around the world. So, a lot of artists coming to Canada from a different country were uncertain about Canada’s travel policy. You can visit this link to visit the news article and learn more.
What's New & Exciting!
The Pembina River Nights Festival aims to connect communities, inspire and support creativity, and to interpret and celebrate our outstanding landscape. This includes working with partners to make arts accessible for all, embedding new skills that support individuals on their personal creative journeys, whilst fostering a deep appreciation of the environment.
To extend the range of the festival’s creative connections we have recruited five dynamic ‘Creative Community Champions’ working across the area from February to August 2022. All are talented local creatives who have been developing projects with local communities to build confidence, ambition, and skills. Their collaborations will feature in the festival and build lasting networks and partnerships that will enable the development of a year-round creative programme.
Our creative work with some communities has already begun, and as we grow and continue we’ll get around to everyone! You won’t miss out!
Festival Policies
Pembina River Festival will take place RAIN or SHINE. All acts of advertising have confirmed their appearance; however, acts are subject to change without advanced notice. There will be no refunds or exchanges resulting from festival schedule changes. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. Rock the River is not responsible for lost, stolen, or forgotten passes. No photo, video, or audio recording equipment aside from CELL PHONES are allowed (no detachable lenses, tripods, selfie-sticks). Bags larger than 12" x 12" x 12" are not permitted. All bags are subject to search. The festival venue is a non-smoking venue, except in the assigned designated smoking area. No outside food & beverages allowed. Concessions and bars are available. No public nudity or lewd conduct will be tolerated, if in violation you will be removed from the festival site and no pets allowed.
Overflow Festival Camping
Come up to Pembina River this july and make it a Riverfest weekend. There are an abundance of places to stay, from quaint B&Bs to camp sites. If you are planning on staying in the area on the Riverfest weekend, book early! In order to check in, you must present proof of your camping pass. They are good for camping on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. If you are a fan of riding boats in an environment of bright city lights in the dark than this is for you!
To extend the range of the festival’s creative connections we have recruited five dynamic ‘Creative Community Champions’ working across the area from February to August 2022. All are talented local creatives who have been developing projects with local communities to build confidence, ambition, and skills. Their collaborations will feature in the festival and build lasting networks and partnerships that will enable the development of a year-round creative programme.
Our creative work with some communities has already begun, and as we grow and continue we’ll get around to everyone! You won’t miss out!
