Good Morning, Edmonton! 🌬️

Were you blown away by the tornado yesterday? What was that?!

With the spooky season in full-swing we have plenty of haunted houses and scream-inducing outings on the docket this week!

Plus, some signs of revitalization on Whyte Ave and in the downtown food scene…news we’re not so used to hearing these days!

Hope you are enjoying the fall colours and having the most wonderful week. 🍂

Enjoy this edition of River City Lights.

—Eric

Old Army and Navy Building Begins Its Comeback on Whyte 🏬 The long-vacant former Army and Navy building at 104 Street and Whyte Avenue is starting to fill up, with Anytime Fitness confirmed as its first tenant. Developer Leder Investments hopes to add three to five more businesses on the main floor and turn the 15,000-square-foot space into a lively new destination on Whyte Avenue.

Artists Bring New Life to Westmount Community Hall 🧵 Fashion designer Maria Wozniak and artist Sophia Lengle have turned a former preschool space inside Westmount Community League into a shared studio and creative hub. The space now hosts workshops, upcycling events, pop-ups, and fashion-focused programming for the community!

Edmonton Food Scene Gets a Boost ☕ Edmonton Startup Week put local food innovation in the spotlight, with 7 Summits Snacks winning the People’s Choice Award alongside pitches from businesses including Flat Out Feasts, Zwick’s Pretzels, Token Mocktails, and more. Tesoro Caffè Bar has also officially reopened downtown, bringing the longtime Edmonton café back to the core.

Edmonton Game Studio Turns Blinking Into Horror 👁️ Edmonton’s COG Studios is developing Our Eyes See No Evil, a survival horror game that uses webcam eye-tracking to react when players close their eyes. The four-person team began as a University of Alberta capstone project and recently showcased the game at Gamescom in Germany as part of Edmonton Screen’s Summit Push program.

Proudly sponsored by our Official Arts Partner: NUOVA Vocal Arts

🆓 Edmonton Design Week (October 13–18) 🎨 Explore Edmonton through a creative lens with exhibitions, architecture tours, interactive displays, and conversations about the city’s buildings, public art, and design scene. Events take place across Edmonton, including downtown, with some activities requiring advance registration.

🆓 Galactic Atmosphere Light Installation (October 16–25) 🪐 Churchill Square transforms into a glowing, space-themed installation filled with illuminated planets and immersive visuals. It’s free to visit and makes for an especially good evening walk or photo stop downtown.

🆓 Harvest Festival at Currents of Windermere (October 17) 🍂 Currents of Windermere Town Square hosts a free fall celebration from 11 AM–3 PM with a petting zoo, family crafts, a photo booth, giveaways, and other seasonal activities.

🆓 Griesbach Pumpkin Walk (October 17) 🎃 Patricia Lake lights up from 6–9 PM with glowing jack-o’-lanterns, twinkling lights, and Halloween displays. The walk is free and makes for a festive evening outing in Griesbach.

🆓 Manning Monster Mash (October 17) 👻 Manning Town Centre hosts a free Halloween celebration from noon–3 PM with airbrush tattoos, balloon twisting, photo opportunities, and family-friendly fun.

🎟️ Picklefest Edmonton (October 17) 🥒 Fan Park at ICE District hosts a quirky food festival dedicated to all things pickled, with creative pickle-inspired dishes and local vendors. The event starts at 11 AM. Grab your tickets!

🎟️ Edmonton Short Film Festival (October 17–18) 🎬 Landmark Cinemas at Edmonton City Centre celebrates local and international filmmaking with Saturday’s red carpet gala and Sunday’s Long Shorts showcase. Tickets range from about 15–30. See what’s screening!

🎟️ NorthwestFEARFest (October 15–18) 👻 The Garneau Theatre goes full horror with cult favourites, new genre films, and special anniversary screenings, including Friday the 13th Part VI and Big Trouble in Little China. Get your tickets!

🎟️ Deadmonton Haunted House (Select Nights October 15–21) 😱 Deadmonton returns to the former Edmonton Sun building with three haunted house experiences, disturbing characters, and immersive horror scenes. Get scared here!

🎟️ Edmonton Fall Home Show (October 16–18) 🏡 The Edmonton EXPO Centre fills up with renovation ideas, interior design inspiration, decorating trends, products, and local home improvement experts. Get your tickets!

Did Edmonton Help Invent “Trick or Treat”? 🎃

Edmonton’s Halloween history goes back to the 1880s, with public parties and dances appearing by 1902. By the 1920s, trick-or-treating was starting to take shape here too, and a 1922 Edmonton Bulletin headline reportedly used the phrase “Treat or Tricks,” one of the earliest known printed references to the tradition.

Kids often visited Jasper Avenue businesses instead of houses, where apples, popcorn, and nuts were handed out to avoid the “trick” part of the bargain.

After the Second World War, the tradition shifted into residential neighbourhoods and became more focused on candy than mischief. Today, Edmonton’s Halloween season has grown into weeks of haunted houses, pumpkin walks, horror festivals, and other spooky events across the city. 🎃

The Craft Vault 🎨 10336 82 Ave NW

New to Whyte Avenue, The Craft Vault is a permanent home for Edmonton’s handmade scene, bringing together locally made art, jewellery, stationery, apparel, home décor, gifts, and more under one roof! The shop just opened in September after its owners spent years participating in local markets and seeing just how strong Edmonton’s maker community had become.

The husband-and-wife team behind the shop moved to Canada from the UK in 2022 and originally got involved through handmade greeting cards and weekend markets. Eventually, they decided to create a space that could give local makers a more affordable and consistent way to get their work in front of shoppers.

If you like discovering things you probably won’t find at a chain store, this is THE place to browse while supporting a whole collection of Edmonton makers all at once. 👇

📸 @thecraftvault.ca
📍 10336 82 Ave NW
🕒 Mon–Sat 10 AM–6 PM; Sun 11 AM–4 PM