Capital Ex
Edmonton’s summer celebration gets a new name and new focus.
Category:
Festivals & Other Events
What:
| Audience | | All Ages |
Profile
Out with the Old
For more than four decades, Klondike Days was the name and the theme associated with Edmonton’s summer exposition. A generation grew up with images of bearded prospectors, dance hall girls and other Klondike Gold Rush themed marketing. Fewer people remembered that the Klondike Days theme was adopted in 1962, at the urging of civic leaders who were looking to inject some pizzazz into Edmonton’s summer exposition. The Klondike Days theme was picked after it was discovered that some gold seekers bound for the Yukon in 1898 has passed through Edmonton on their way north.
However, by the mid-90s, the Klondike Days theme had lost its appeal with many folks, and the calls for a theme change began to be heard. After several years of hearing those calls for change, the exhibit organizers decided to act, and once all the surveys, focus groups and market research had been done, picked the name and theme Capital Ex.
In with the New
The new Capital Ex has retained some of the features that have been part of the annual summer exhibition. The colourful parade is staying, along with always popular midway and the thrills and spills of the chuckwagon derby.
Exhibit visitors will notice a few new features; the Ed Fest stage will feature top-name rock acts in a new venue, while the marketplace has been broken into the Northwest Originals, featuring unique handcrafted items that showcase Western Canadian talents, and Global Connections, which features shopping, food and cultural exhibits from a range of international theme countries.
For more than four decades, Klondike Days was the name and the theme associated with Edmonton’s summer exposition. A generation grew up with images of bearded prospectors, dance hall girls and other Klondike Gold Rush themed marketing. Fewer people remembered that the Klondike Days theme was adopted in 1962, at the urging of civic leaders who were looking to inject some pizzazz into Edmonton’s summer exposition. The Klondike Days theme was picked after it was discovered that some gold seekers bound for the Yukon in 1898 has passed through Edmonton on their way north.
However, by the mid-90s, the Klondike Days theme had lost its appeal with many folks, and the calls for a theme change began to be heard. After several years of hearing those calls for change, the exhibit organizers decided to act, and once all the surveys, focus groups and market research had been done, picked the name and theme Capital Ex.
In with the New
The new Capital Ex has retained some of the features that have been part of the annual summer exhibition. The colourful parade is staying, along with always popular midway and the thrills and spills of the chuckwagon derby.
Exhibit visitors will notice a few new features; the Ed Fest stage will feature top-name rock acts in a new venue, while the marketplace has been broken into the Northwest Originals, featuring unique handcrafted items that showcase Western Canadian talents, and Global Connections, which features shopping, food and cultural exhibits from a range of international theme countries.
