The museum is located in the heart of downtown and share the same building as the Telus…read moreConventional Center. I came on a Thursday night after 5 pm. Every first Thursday of the month is free admission sponsored by Servus. I had to take advantage of this offer. Regular price admission is $18 per person. Why pay when you can go in for free. Plus I am not a tourist so might as well visit on a Thursday. All exhibits/galleries are open on the free admission day. The museum is very specifically tailored to the First Nation history and history of Calgary. They do have an interesting section on geology: rocks, minerals, stones, geode and etc. That gallery was slightly out of place compared to the rest of the museum/items on display. The first floor is really the gift shop and museum ticket/concierge/info center. Second floor is the first nation artworks. There are paintings and a few pieces of artwork. Third floor is about the oil and gas industry. As well, as the first settlement and the history of Calgary. Fourth floor is more tailored to the British Army and a section on the history of Africa. Everything is well documented, comprehensive and well referenced in the museum. Expect to spend about 2 hours minimum here. Overall, I enjoyed my stay. I don't think this museum changes much and so it is really one time visit. Note that no big backpacks are allowed into the museum and would be required to be checked in.

Lovely end to our Calgary trip. Visited the museum before dining at Sky360. Artist is quite…read moretalented and impactful.

Cobbs Adventure Park in Calgary AB was definitely a great and fun place to visit !!!…read moreIt is a mix of zoo, activities, games and rides for the kids and family, a little restaurant and sweets stand :) The zoo is a bit of an animal farm with two capybaras, kangaroos and wallabies, sheep, goats, pigs, porcupines, emus, chickens / roosters and a turkey, and a sloth. Part of the experience is that, with the purchase of tickets, you can go into the capybara enclosure and meet the capys, feed and pet them. We are big fans of capybaras, we saw them in person at the Edmonton zoo, and follow many accounts on Instagram, but this was our first time meeting and petting them. They are super relaxed and super friendly. We had the opportunity to feed them fruits and greens, which was so funny!! We then visited the kangaroos and wallabies. Both were friendly, soft and used to humans. We visited with them, and fed them foods. We visited and interacted with the sheep and alpacas, which were also nice to see and pet. The staff of the park were very friendly and professional, and answered any questions visitors would have about animals. The ambiance was very nice - visiting with the animals, having a snack or busy with the games, it was a great day to enjoy the outdoors and animals!!

It was a great experience for my family and I, thanks to Joe. He went above and beyond my…read moreexpectations to make us feel like we were VIP's. I would recommend everyone and their families to check it out. Thanks Joe. Carl Lewis

This is a terrific venue in the Cultural District downtown, across from city hall…read more It is huge and takes up a full city block, has 6 levels and is over 400,000 square feet. Inside there's a number of theatres and theatre companies -Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Calgary, One Yellow Rabbit, and the Engineered Air Theatre. Plus the Calgary Philharmonic plays in the Jack Singer Concert Hall. Many awesome concerts play at the Jack Singer, too - the acoustics are are amazing! There's also a ticketmaster in the centre court for all your entertainment needs!

The EC is one of the largest entertainment halls in Calgary, in fact it occupies a full block…read moreoccupying 400,000 square feet, and that is about 10 acres. It is a 6 level complex downtown so it is near the train terminals and after 6 pm there is very cheap parking underground and free parking on the streets. There are 4 theatres at the EPCOR Center and one hall. EC provides theatre entertainment as well as music entertainment from all around the world. I watched an Argentinean guitar quartet there a half a year ago and although we were a little late we managed to be accompanied directly to our seats by a very pleasant usher. The concert hall is enormous, but there are various entrances that can take you very close to where you need to sit. The concert that night was glorious, this is fine classical guitar picking, that is very erratic and elaborate and I swear I could feel and hear every guitar string being plucked. The acoustics there at EC are fantastic and the seating is super comfortable. The roster of entertainment is so diversified at the EPCOR, in fact in January Chef Anthony Bourdain has been sold out since October. You may recall this guy, he travels all around the world eating anything that is exotic, and I believe the last time I saw him on television was seeing him eating cow testicles in Thailand. So expect incredible variety and high quality entertainment at the EC.

This place is very cool. Visited Calgary & Banff for a week from California and wasn't sure what to…read moredo on our last day. We debated between here and the kids museum. Decided to go here as it was the more unique option. It did not disappoint. My 3 and 5 year old loved the ride and I loved that we didn't have to pay extra for them. I think I enjoyed the rides as much as them. They weren't as nauseating as modern rides, imo. They were also unique twists on them - particularly the carousel. The horses go forward/back, instead of up/down. According to a little plaque on the ride, it's only one of two in the world that do this. How cool?! It was also nice to stroll around and look at various historical homes and such. Prices were also great! The ice cream is a must! Probably amongst one of the best ice creams I've had in my life. I really enjoyed the coffee/choco cookie flavor I got. Lunch at the Asian place was not bad, but not that great either. My biggest complaint would be the train. I have one of those strollers that folds up really small. I forgot to bring my backpack for it, so they wouldn't let us on, claiming that it was "too big". Only umbrella strollers are allowed. However, if I had it in the backpack, they would've allowed it. It would've easily fit between or under my legs, so the claim that it was "too big" is BS. There was plenty of parking. We came on a Monday in early August and there were pretty much no lines for anything. However, it's a huge place and we spent literally all day (from open to close) there.

What can I say, I was wowed by my family's visit here this summer. I hadn't been here before and…read morewhile we only made it to about half of the park we really enjoyed what we did and saw. From the paddle wheel boat to the train, the amusement park rides to the playground, the Gasoline Alley Museum to the absolutely excellent and earnest musical entertainment performed at the Opera House, our stay here was great! I loved talking to the interpreters at the pharmacy among other highlights. I will definitely want to return here in the future to take in areas we didn't have time to visit. Parking was reasonable (be sure to pay!) and ample.

I've only been to the Esker Foundation Contemporary Art Gallery twice but it's one of my favourite…read moreart galleries/exhibition spaces in the city! It's a beautiful place that easily accommodates both large & small scale artwork. It also regularly features pieces of various mediums including sculpture, painting, photography, interactive exhibits, film & any combination of the above. I've yet to see a live performance piece there, though they do seem to have the capacity for it. The Esker also features talks by artists, family art events & kid focused hands on art lessons! You'll have to register via their site but they are entirely free! It's also FREE for regular visits! As an extra bonus, they have nice longer hours, especially on Thursdays & Fridays, when they're open till 8pm. The place is clean & modern. There's some beautiful architectural elements to the interior without imposing on the features works. There's also a nice sitting area with a fantastic view of downtown if you just want a nice break. The only negative about the space is that the main revolving door is a little too seamless! Meaning: the actual openings to come in and out look way too similar to the glass panels! If you're not touching the glass walls or you're not paying attention (eg: you're talking to a friend or your phone just rang, etc) you can actually miss the opening & have to do the turn again! It's embarrassing, believe me! :( Other than the main door this is one amazing space! I love this place very much, please check it out sometime, or catch one of their talks. Those can get a bit crowded even with registration, so go early! Have fun & fill up on some amazing works of art!

Visiting the Canadian Rockies has been on my bucket list. We saved it for when we moved to Florida…read moreand wanted to get out of the summer heat. We arranged our travels around the annual stampede, The Calgary stampede is considered to be "the greatest outdoor show on earth." This 10 day annual rodeo, exhibition & festival annually in July attracts over 1 million visitors. It features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing, and First Nations exhibitions. It started in 1886 when the Calgary & the District Agricultural Society held its first fair. In 1912, The first rodeo and festival, known as the Stampede began when World War I veterans came home. In 2008, the Calgary Stampede was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

Does Calgary know how to do a parade! Friendly people, well organized, diverse and the sanitation…read moredepartment cleaning the horse manure during and after the parade. A bucket list experience that if you have the opportunity to do it, do it!

The Arrata Opera centre is a 29,000 square foot facility set in the newly redesigned Wesley United…read moreChurch on 7th Street SW. Its prime function is to support the education and the development of new opera works in Canada. It also provides a very central and funky space for events, rehearsal, gatherings and productions. The rehearsal hall can occupy 175 people and the Nexen Gallery can accommodate 228. They also have a Studio and a greenroom for smaller groups. The Arrata also provides seating, lighting, and sound facilities and even has a costume and laundry shop for costume rentals. There are non profit rates that are very reasonable as well as corporate rates. Because of their relation and the beautiful architecture of the previous historic church incarnation, Arrata can provide a unique venue for your special events.

I've been working on rounding out some of my exposure to the arts. Opera is not something I "get"…read more Theatre? sure. Musicals? yes please! Classical music? yup. Subtitles on Foreign films? AOK. But Opera had been a scary frontier for some reason. Last year we saw a reasonable price for seasons tickets come out and we decided to give er a go. We were told it was a well rounded season to get an idea of the art. OK... if nothing it's an excuse to dress up and go to the Jube for a evening. I'm kind of glad I had a season to experience Opera without making a judgement. Opera Calgary is a very classy company that seems to attract some excellent talent. Definitely worth checking out if your interest draws you to Opera. I also discovered Opera Calgary has a program for professional under 35s that allows for cheaper tickets and special events - Club Allegro. I didn't do the cheaper tickets because I had my season tickets but I did get to check out one of the events and they did give a little talk to help us understand Opera for beginners (as opposed to just the pre talk which can be a little over my head) which was nice. Ohh.. and free Jube water I could take to my seat... amazeballs.. that's like a $3 value! I still find Opera challenging... maybe that's not all that uncommon. I still think I'd check out a play or symphony over an Opera but I'm not really scared of them and I'm growing to appreciate a very nice aria. I do still have a couple more years of Club Allegro to see if I can build on my understanding a bit more.

This garden leads you on a beautiful, walk up to the reader Garden Café! Even if you do not want to…read morego eat the delicious food at the reader Garden Café. I would still highly recommend going for a walk around the garden and spending some time outside it is so beautiful and has following out the vision of William Reader who used to be a superintendent for Calgary parks! I learned that by reading some of the signs throughout the Garden.

I highly recommend this garden it's stunning and free and this is the perfect time of year to see…read moreit. Help yourself, hoping you like my pictures.