Author Archives: crystalcarwin

Edmonton Bakery Review: Ohana Donuterie

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A custom sign in their space.

I’ve been aware of Ohana Donuterie for a long time. Their business started with a food truck, and, while I enjoy those, I’m simply not that keen on tracking them down. Therefore, when I heard that they had opened a permanent location in the spring of this year, I knew I had to go. It took a few months, but come summertime when I was around Old Strathcona for the Fringe Festival, it seemed the perfect time to visit.

Kirk and I made our way over from Whyte Avenue to the door of Ohana Donuterie. It’s tucked to the side of a strip mall on 103 Street and 80 Avenue with its entrance facing a back alley that overlooks a McD’s. In other words, it’s unassuming and easy to miss unless you’re really looking for it.

The open, spacious interior of Ohana Donuterie.
The chalkboard with upcoming specialty donut flavours and a built-in bike rack.
The order counter.

On the plus side, as soon as you step indoors, you’re welcomed by a bright, spacious interior full of beachy colours. There are plenty of tables and seats, and there are even racks for people to hang their longboards and bikes. A chalkboard gives a glimpse of exciting flavours to come, yet, in reality, there were only a few specialty donuts available that day. Although those seemed enticing, I was more interested in trying their classics.

This window provides a glimpse into the making of a malasada donut.

If you don’t already know, the owners of Ohana Donuterie were inspired on a trip to Hawaii to bring malasada donuts to Edmonton. These are made with hand-rolled double-raised yeast dough. Every single one is made to order, so they’re incredibly fresh. There’s even a window that looks right into the kitchen, so you can watch them make your treats right then and there.

Kirk and I split three donuts (it pretty much ended up being our dinner that night): Original — Cinnamon Sugar — with Coconut Cream, Chocolate Dip with Vanilla Custard, and Vanilla Dip with Chocolate Custard. Since these were all filled, they were $2.75 a piece. Specialty donuts are $3.25 and unfilled donuts are $2.25 each. To drink, I opted for a House Lemonade ($2.75), which can be left as lemon or flavoured with blueberry or mango. I asked the employee what he recommended and he gladly told me blueberry coconut. It’s not an option that is listed, but it was his personal favourite and I said okay. Kirk went for a medium cup of plain old brewed coffee ($2.65).

Our trio of donuts.

Before paying, I was asked if I’d like to sign up for their rewards program. For every dollar spent, a point is earned. Once you’ve collected 75 points, you’ll get a credit of $5 to use on your next purchase. They also make note of your birthday, which I’m assuming leads to something special to celebrate. I kind of doubt I’ll be there often enough to earn points quickly; however, I figured it didn’t hurt to join.

I’d estimate that it took about five to ten minutes for our donuts to come out. They were still warm and the fillings were spilling back out onto the plates. As a reminder, if you plan to take the donuts home, it’s recommended not to order the cream fillings. They tend to melt inside the warm dough and may disappear before you’ve had a chance to eat them. The custards are much thicker and will last even if packed to go.

Chocolate Dip with Vanilla Custard in the front with the Vanilla Dip in the back.

I’ll start with my least favourite of the donuts, the Vanilla Dip. The consistency of the yeast donut itself was nice. Fluffy, yet still dense enough to hold up against the heavier filling. The abundant chocolate custard was delicious, almost reminding me of a creamy pudding. What I didn’t like was that the vanilla glaze kept cracking and falling off the donut onto the table, so I lost a lot of that flavour in the end.

The Chocolate Dip fared much better. I don’t know what the difference is in the glaze used to make the chocolate versus vanilla. All I can say is that the chocolate never cracked. It was smoother and not as dry, so it stayed together with each bite. The vanilla custard inside the donut had the same texture as the chocolate version, just with a less intense flavour profile. Chocolate and vanilla are a classic combo and it works well here.

Original with Coconut Cream

Nevertheless, our top choice turned out to be the Original. If Kirk had his way he wouldn’t even have bothered with a filling. But, I argue that the coconut cream was an ideal pairing with the cinnamon sugar. Overall, not too sweet, the cream was light and airy, and the little bit of crunch from the granular sugar tied it all together. I could have eaten a half dozen of those on my own, if we hadn’t already had a large brunch earlier in the day.

Blueberry Coconut House Lemonade

As for the drinks, I can never comment much about the coffee anywhere since I don’t drink it. I did enjoy the Blueberry Coconut House Lemonade though. It felt like such a summery beverage and it quenched my thirst on what would be the last weekend of the summer.

Ohana Donuterie isn’t going crazy outside the box of what we’re familiar with when it comes to donuts in this city. After all, it’s still a yeast-based concoction. What I think changes the game is that every donut is made to order, so you’re never going to get one that’s been sitting around in a showcase all day long. It’s freshly fried, filled, and glazed or sugar coated on the spot, and that is what makes all the difference when it comes to overall quality.

Edmonton Things To Do: Art Gallery of Alberta Adult Drop-In Studio

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Tons of Ideas by Vera Gartley

Earlier this summer, I was making plans with a friend of mine. Due to scheduling conflicts, it was somewhat difficult to find a time that worked for both of us to get together. Futhermore, I didn’t want to do our typical thing of just going for dinner or doing a Paint Nite event. So, I started to scour the internet for ideas of what else we could do in Edmonton.

Honestly, I don’t even know how I eventually ended up on the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) website, but I did. What I found is that they actually offer a weekly Adult Drop-In Studio every Wednesday night. While that particular day of the week didn’t work for her, I was intrigued and I wanted to check out a few of those sessions for myself. I gathered other friends of mine and I made it to three different classes over the span of September.

The first one I went to, I phoned ahead to reserve spaces for me and my friends because I wasn’t sure what kind of attendance to expect (there is a maximum of 20 spaces). You are able to hold spots the day of the drop-in, but you do have to provide payment info at that time. You can phone it in and pick up the tickets at guest services upon arrival at the gallery, or you can walk-in and pay in person.

Tickets are $18 plus tax per person and that includes all of the materials that you’ll be using. The price point is stellar for a two hour activity, especially when compared to the majority of other creative events running throughout the city.

Carving our designs out of lino.
Inking the roller to make our prints.
The table is covered with printmaking materials.
My finished prints from my lino carving.

As it turns out, reservations weren’t really necessary. Only half a dozen people showed up for printmaking the first night. Initially, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of direction. The website had indicated that we would be doing lino carving with a theme of cityscapes. Yet, it pretty much turned into a freestyle situation in that we weren’t at all limited. Everyone was allowed to design whatever they wanted, and guidance only came into play once we started doing more of the printmaking itself.

In fact, I loved printmaking so much that I made my way to Delta Art & Drafting Supply that weekend in order to pick up all of the materials needed to do the same thing at home (I have a couple of special projects planned). Thankfully, there was a sale going on.

Samantha Walrod’s Vanitas exhibition was inspiration for our Floral Studies session.
One of the finished pieces from Samantha Walrod.
The beginning of the floral clock in Samantha Walrod’s room.

The following week, my colleague and I ventured out into the cold to make it to the AGA for their Floral Studies drop-in. We arrived a little bit late, but, once we paid, we managed to catch the group of about ten people as they were heading up to the galleries. The instructor for the night wanted us to take inspiration from an exhibit called Vanitas by artist Samantha Walrod. She turned the RBC Work Room (a studio-like residence space) from an empty gallery into several pieces of finished art that explored the idea of life and loss using floral imagery and the passing of time. Her work utilizes layering through multiple mediums like collage, ink and paint.

Acrylic paint and chalk pastels formed the basis of our Floral Studies work.
Learning how to apply colour and texture to paper using different techniques.
I love how the blue flowers turned out.
My finished piece…just wish I didn’t get fingerprints everywhere.

I was kind of hoping that we would be doing something similar to what we’d seen. Instead, the focus was more on learning to work with chalk pastels and acrylic paints together. Not quite what I expected. Still, I managed to learn some new ways of applying colour and paint to paper, as well as creating my own colours using pigments from the chalk pastels and mixing it with the acrylics.

Finished Japanese stab bounded books.

The final session that I made it to was about book binding. I failed to take photos during this one, but I do have a picture of the finished products. We were taught how to put our own travel journals together using just paper, a couple of binder clips, a push pin, a needle and some thread. We used a simple Japanese stab process, which is easily searchable on Google or YouTube. After we each completed two books, we took them up to the James Wilson Morris gallery where we practiced our sketching techniques (i.e. shading, blind contour, gesture, etc.).

All of these turned out to be fun in their own unique ways. I’ve got my eye on a silk screening class in early-November, but in the meantime, they have a variety of other drop-ins like plaster casting or slow stitch through October. Additionally, if you show up to the gallery early, you can take advantage of the All Access Evenings. Those happen every Tuesday and Wednesday from 5pm to 8pm and it grants all patrons entrance to the exhibits for free.

The design of the AGA building is always fun to explore.
Manning Hall, accessible as you enter the AGA, always has interesting art. This one is from photographer M.N. Hutchinson.

The Art Gallery of Alberta is definitely making an effort to increase the accessibility and affordability of art and art-related activities. Don’t miss out. Sure, not every workshop is going to call to you, but in the scope of a year, there’s bound to be something that will get your creative juices flowing. Keep an eye on the AGA calendar and carve out some time at this local gem of an institution.

Support Local YEG: Black Box x Gibbard Block Kickstarter Campaign

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Three ventures to anchor the historic Gibbard Block.

Earlier this week, Kirk and I were invited to Salz for a media event. As you may or may not know, Salz is owned and operated by Nate Box and his partner Mike Forgie under the Black Box Hospitality Group umbrella. Alongside that business, they also run Elm Café & Catering, District Café & Bakery, and Little Brick Café & General Store. All of those forged ahead by embracing their place in the community to which they were situated.

Today, Black Box is embarking on their largest project to date. The evening we attended was an effort on their part to spread the word about their plans for not just one, but three endeavours that they intend to open in the historic Gibbard Block building (6425 112 Avenue) over in the heart of the Highlands neighbourhood. They are working closely with the landlord/developer, Sparrow Capital, to make this a reality.

The plans are already underway!

Their ambitious vision will see to it that the heritage of the building is not lost. Simultaneously, they want to bring new favourites into the area that will meet the needs of residents without impeding on other businesses that already call the Highlands home. While they have even more ideas in the works, it was after careful consideration that they came up with June’s Delicatessen (named after Mike’s mother), Fox Burger (the moniker is an amalgamation of Forgie & Box), and Highlands Liquor (dreamt up when they realized there were no stores selling craft beer in the vicinity). Those ventures are going be the anchors to the Gibbard Block, taking up 8,000 square feet of space on the main floor.

Anyone who has shown interest in the restaurant industry is probably aware that it’s a very fickle business. Even the best of the best don’t always succeed. Despite Black Box Hospitality Group’s stellar track record, the bank needs to know that they can meet them part way before they agree to fund a portion of the estimated $900,000 project.

A screenshot from their live Kickstarter page.

Therefore, Black Box is looking for help by turning to crowdfunding. They have just under three weeks left to raise their all-or-nothing goal of $100,000 through their Kickstarter campaign. Within the first day they managed to make it a tenth of the way there and they’re currently sitting at $30K; however, they need a big push to accelerate them to where they need to be.

It isn’t always easy to understand why entrepreneurs ask for assistance. After all, someone who owns a handful of successful businesses shouldn’t have any issues, right? The thing is, it doesn’t equate to millions or even hundreds of thousand dollars sitting in their bank accounts at this second. It just means that they’ve taken enough risks and seen enough gains to ensure that daily operations can run smoothly.

The campaign offers a number of fun rewards.

The beauty of backing a Kickstarter is that it comes with very little risk to you. If they don’t collect enough through pledges, your money stays in your wallet. Yet, if they do, you receive a selected reward in return. In this case, there are some excellent ones available at a variety of accessible price points: free monthly coffee for a year ($25), dinner for two at Fox Burger ($75), roof top kick-off party ($97 per person), customizable tasting for eight ($200), and many more.

Ultimately, by getting involved, you’re helping to shape the culture and the landscape of the community for the better. With a more vibrant area and an increase in jobs, it’s a win-win situation. So, I’ll stop preaching to you now, but I highly encourage you to visit the Black Box x Gibbard Block Kickstarter page. Watch their video and read through their pitch. They’ve got a great group of passionate people behind this, and I hope you’ll choose to back it like I have.

Versus: Edmonton Food Delivery Services

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The four current food delivery platforms in Edmonton.

Admittedly, I wasn’t the first to jump on the food delivery band wagon. For a while, I was aware of Just Eat or Nomme, but I never made the foray into using their services until players like SkipTheDishes, Uber Eats, DoorDash and Foodora joined the game in Edmonton. I dabbled with them just a little bit starting in 2015, and slowly increased my usage over the past few years.

Nowadays, UK-based Just Eat has actually bought out SkipTheDishes, originally a Winnipeg-born enterprise, in order to expand their territory. However, instead of shifting business over to Just Eat, they’ve kept the SkipTheDishes brand, continuing to offer delivery under that umbrella. Nomme, on the other hand, has joined forces with food ordering platform DoorDash, headquartered out of San Francisco. Users of Nomme are now redirected to the DoorDash site.

That recently left me with four apps to test. You may ask why I decided I needed to do a compare and contrast between them. The answer is that exceedingly worse service and one bad experience in particular with SkipTheDishes made me wonder if the others were also declining.

Here’s the background. At work on a Thursday (when we got our first official snowfall of the season), I convinced our manager to order our team pizza. He told us to arrange it and we could expense our lunch. Instead of getting the typical Pizza 73 or Panago, we decided to try Famoso Jasper Ave (just a 6 minute drive away). They deliver exclusively through SkipTheDishes, so I input our selections and submitted our order by 11:24am. The tracking information updated and provided a very standard expected delivery time of 30 to 40 minutes. Great.

About 30 minutes later, I received an automated message from SkipTheDishes informing me that there was high demand for delivery that day and a delay was expected. Fine. Next thing I know, another 5 to 10 minutes go by and I get a phone call from Famoso. Their culinary supervisor wanted to inform me that our food was prepared 20 minutes ago, but no courier had shown up. I let him know that we did get a notification from SkipTheDishes, so I was aware, and we were willing to wait it out. After all, how much longer could it take?

Really? Almost an hour into our wait and still another 75 minutes to go…at least?

Well, I pulled up the tracking information at 12:10pm. It showed a new delivery time of 75 minutes and it was stuck at “Famoso is preparing your order.” I knew that was a lie. I had spoken to someone at Famoso and they clearly had our food ready to go, which meant the problem didn’t lie with them. What’s most interesting is that I’d been watching the courier name change over and over again over the past 50 minutes. At least a dozen or more drivers had been assigned at this point. I was thinking, what gives?

Most emails sent to businesses typically aren’t responded to for at least 24 hours. So, I figured that my best bet was to try to reach out to SkipTheDishes for help through their app chat function. The problem with using chat is that it takes you out of the tracker and eventually, if you exit the chat function for too long, it boots you back out and the message you typed disappears. Should you attempt to begin another chat, you go to the back of the queue once more. On this particular day, there were around 160 people ahead of me all three times I tried to contact someone that way. This went on until about 12:50pm. That’s when I decided a phone call might be best. I ended up on hold for over 30 minutes. If you’re counting, we were pretty much at the 2 hour mark.

In the meantime, I had phoned Famoso’s culinary supervisor back. He let me know that there was no courier in sight and he felt terrible about sending off cold food to us by the time a driver would be available. I asked if there was any way to cancel the order with SkipTheDishes. He was a bit apprehensive at first because a cancellation placed on my end meant they’d still get charged by SkipTheDishes on their end. I didn’t want that to happen. It wasn’t Famoso’s fault and they shouldn’t have to take a hit because SkipTheDishes couldn’t meet the demand. Ultimately, Famoso phoned in the cancellation for me. I was grateful that they managed to get through to the restaurant customer service line much quicker than I could get a hold of anyone.

I was eventually phoned by a SkipTheDishes agent (at the same time someone finally picked up that 30 minute call I was on). My order was stricken and a refund would be issued to my credit card. Okay. No food yet, but I was going to get my money back. Famoso was nice enough to remake our order on the spot. We ended up sending a team member to pick up our pizzas from the restaurant and we paid them directly. The last I had seen on the SkipTheDishes tracker before everything was cancelled was that it would be at least another 40 to 50 minutes. If that was the case, we probably wouldn’t have had our food for another hour or more.

Speaking to the SkipTheDishes agent, they really had no explanation for why this happened. All I can chalk it up to is that they’re expanding much too quickly without the necessary structure in place. Colleagues and friends that I’ve discussed this with have also noted more frequent delays with the service at SkipTheDishes, so I don’t think it’s uncommon. Is it always as awful as this incident? I certainly hope no one else has had to deal with this.

I followed up with SkipTheDishes by email the next day, and didn’t receive an answer from them until a week later. That was only after I prompted them a second time. It was then that I realized they never issued a refund to my credit card, but they actually only provided me with a Skip Credit for the Famoso order. It took approximately another week for them to reply and rectify that. There was no way I was going to have my hard earned money tethered to SkipTheDishes when they hadn’t done anything to deserve it. The way that this was handled, I can’t say I’m likely to utilize SkipTheDishes anymore. Not soon, anyway. My confidence in them is shattered, which is unfortunate.

A screenshot from the DoorDash app after my order was placed.
Text messages received from DoorDash kept me apprised of my order status.

That’s when I decided to test run the other players in the city. Next up was DoorDash. I placed my order on another particularly wet and miserable day. It went in at 12:10pm at the peak of lunch service. I had selected Joey Restaurant Bell Tower to order food from, which is actually much closer than Famoso to our office (just 2 minutes by car), so I took that into account. Nevertheless, it didn’t matter. Everything was prepared and delivered to my door within 30 minutes. DoorDash had no problem assigning a courier to bring my food to me. It was quick and simple. Their app is designed to keep you up-to-date through the whole process using text messages.

DoorDash is probably the next largest service available in Edmonton. For quite a time, they were the only one to offer delivery from Splash Poke. Although, recently Splash Poke decided to join SkipTheDishes, too, due to overwhelming demand from customers. Thankfully, for now, they are sticking with both platforms. Had they opted to leave DoorDash, I would have been utterly heartbroken. Not just because they’re one of my favourites, but because DoorDash has a more reasonable delivery fee of $1.99 versus $3.45 between my office and their 109 Street location. The only downside to DoorDash is that they don’t have as many restaurants available in the southwest corner of the city, so my options are kind of limited when I’m home. But, downtown workers and residents have a lot to choose from.

Foodora’s app is similar to the rest. Unlike SkipTheDishes, they made it in about 30 minutes.

Foodora was test case number three. This is a business based out of Berlin. They expanded into Edmonton last year, basically taking over the social media pages of local influencers. Couriers carry bright pink delivery packs and can arrive either by car or bike. Their branding was definitely on point. But, I’ve noticed that they haven’t grown as quickly as the other delivery services. Regardless, they have some decent options for the downtown area (don’t bother if you’re far south as they don’t do delivery there; the only choice is to pre-order for pick up).

My order from Nosh Cafe on 124 Street was placed at 11:30am. This was, thus far, the furthest location from my office with an estimated 9 minute drive. Again, distance didn’t seem to matter. My lunch showed up at our office doors by noon and I was eating butter chicken at my desk five minutes later. No issues with the food or the courier.

Uber Eats gave a longer estimate, but delivered in less than 30 minutes.
When the food was deemed a problem, Uber Eats issued a full refund within a day.

A few days later, I put Uber Eats up to the challenge. I will state that I had fully intended to order my lunch from Let’s Grill Sushi & Izakaya (107 Street and Jasper Avenue); however, come time to order, their business sat greyed out and listed as “unavailable” in the app. I thought it was odd since it had previously listed an opening of 11:30am (so I waited), but I let it go when it didn’t work and I found an alternative. My second choice was Parlour Italian Kitchen (108 Street and 103 Avenue), which had a drive time of 4 to 5 minutes through Google Maps. Holding true to what I expected, Uber Eats followed suit with DoorDash and Foodora by delivering my Veal Parmigiana at 12:07pm. A total of 27 minutes, 10 minutes less than the initial estimate.

My only complaint was that the item the restaurant prepared was incorrect. Parlour had made a similar, but different dish off of the menu. Additionally, the veal was so tough that I found it to be entirely inedible and had to throw the whole piece away. I noted these issues with the food in the app. By the next day, I had received responses from their help desk, including an apology and a notice that the order had been refunded in full directly to my credit card. I didn’t have to fight them about it, they simply did it. The customer service from Uber Eats far exceeded my experience with SkipTheDishes the week prior.

I should also mention that Uber Eats doesn’t ask for a courier tip on top of the standard delivery fees prior to arrival. It’s optional to add one after your food has arrived, but it’s not mandatory. I suspect they get paid pretty well from their cut of the delivery fees alone since the driver said he was happy to have so many orders coming through that day and I hadn’t even tipped him yet. Also, on occasion, Uber Eats offers some great promos. You just have to keep an eye out for them. The following week, I happened to be looking on the app in the morning when I noticed that they were advertising free burgers from McDonald’s. I managed to snag one of the limited codes and I got to try the Creamy Black Pepper Angus burger for just $2.09 after fees. It made for a decent, inexpensive lunch that day, so it can certainly pay off to keep the Uber Eats platform as well.

I know that this was a very lengthy post, but I felt like it had to be written. I’m no newspaper, and I’m well aware that I didn’t test all of the platforms multiple times in a short span to see if service with each is consistent to what I mentioned above (sorry, I’m not rich enough to order delivery every day). But, I’ve used all of them long enough to realize that service through SkipTheDishes has been steadily diminishing. I’ve heard horror stories of orders having to be made and remade by restaurants because it sits too long while they’re waiting for a courier to come. So, what are your thoughts? Have any of you experienced the same thing as me? Or, do I have bad luck? So many people seem to be on the SkipTheDishes bandwagon (as seen in a poll published on Splash Poke’s Instagram stories last week), but they put me through the ringer and I just can’t support them like I used to.

Edmonton Event Preview: Vignettes Design Series 2018 & Nuit Blanche

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Salvador Dali is hidden in one of the Vignettes rooms.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Vignettes Design Series VIP Gala. It was held inside Edmonton City Centre in the old ATB Branch on the ground floor (next to the 101 Street West Entrance). When we arrived, we found a huge line already snaking across the mall. It seemed that we were in for a less than exclusive event.

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When we finally made it into the Vignettes space, we were each welcomed with a tiny disposable cocktail glass filled with a couple of sips of sangria. After that, all other food (aside from what was available in the Sanctuary room) and drinks required ticket purchases at an additional cost. Needless to say, for a $40 price tag per guest, I wasn’t too impressed with how this event was executed. It became much too packed way too quickly, making it extremely difficult to maneuver around (architecturally, the overall footprint is small).

Spectra was sort of a simple space, but it felt foreign because of the lighting, sound and simplicity.
Wabi Sabi designed this room about ever-changing realities and the beauty of imperfection.
This room was the craziest.
Everything was askew.
Artists Peter Gegolick and Marcus Coldeway were the visual artists behind this space.
Tiki door into a fantastical world by Bob and Kelvin.
Vintage Voyage
Got 99 Problems, but this Vignette Ain’t One
Northern Light vibes

Mostly, my hope of getting to mix and mingle in-person with the artists that had worked on the individual rooms was dashed. They were much too busy with the hoards of other guests that had also paid to get into this party. While I do understand that the money collected from ticket sales does go back into the creation of future Vignettes events, I would rather that the organizers made it a little more low key. Spend less money on getting a DJ (it’s so hard to talk or hear) and expensive catering and allow people who want a more in-depth experience to get just that.

The hidden bar.
Snacks inside the Sanctuary by FRESCO Culinary.
Chef Michel Nasrabadi of Butternut Tree was behind the menu in the Sanctuary.
The spread of food inside the Sanctuary.
Time stands still inside The Grand Palastrio.
What’s inside The Grand Palastrio door?
Rainforest vibes built by a 4th grader’s father.
Inspired by Dr. Seuss.
Save the sloths 🙂

Still, I don’t want to take away from the creativity of the work or the artists themselves. They did a phenomenal job transforming mundane offices, closets and walls into over a dozen fantastical or modern spaces. My favourites included a hidden bar, a rainforest (designed by a 4th grader and built by her father), a living space that utilized hydroponics (FRESCO Culinary provided snacks!), and The Grand Palastrio where time is questioned.

The idea of changing perceptions.
Search for the stars.
Closer inspection of the trees in Giselle Denis’ 3D space.
Giselle Denis live painting.
Public gallery opens Sept 28!

Thankfully, the Vignettes gallery will be open to the public every Thursday to Saturday for a month starting on Friday, September 28 and running until Saturday, October 27. While it won’t have the same crazy atmosphere of the VIP Gala (if that’s more your thing), tickets are only $15 per person and they will have timed entrances to help mitigate overcrowding. I expect that this setup will give visitors a chance to really engage with what’s in front of them without feeling rushed to move along. If you can fit this into your schedule before it’s gone, I do recommend taking the time to see this.

The Grand Palastrio

The launch of the public gallery for Vignettes also coincides with Nuit Blanche Edmonton 2018. The latter is a free late-night contemporary art party that takes place from 7pm on Saturday, September 29 to 7am on Sunday, September 30. Nuit Blanche is in its second full scale iteration (technically the third year in the city though), and this particular event happens for just the one evening throughout the downtown area. To find out what’s in store for this year’s programming, click here. Vignettes has been incorporated into Nuit Blanche and, based on the ticketing site, it appears as though they will not be charging for entry into that area during Nuit Blanche hours. However, you may want to check with Vignettes in advance just to be sure.

Nuit Blanche is an experience like no other with a lot of volunteers working behind the scenes to get the exhibits up and running (I was one in 2015). Although the weather forecast is looking chilly on Saturday night, venture out! Bundle up in a warm coat with a hat and gloves, and maybe bring a thermos with your favourite hot beverage. Participating works come from artists across the globe, and everyone who attends is bound to discover something that they fall in love with.