Lindork’s Lists #252 – Deep Freeze Festival, Chinatown Dining Week, a WINTERRUPTION YEG Giveaway & MORE!
Newsletter for January 15-21, 2025
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Things to Do This Week
Experience Deep Freeze: A Byzantine Winter Festival (90-95 St. & 118 Ave)
Deep Freeze, Edmonton’s first festival of the year, returns this Jan. 18 & 19 along Alberta Avenue, with FREE, all-ages outdoor winter activities like snowshoeing, freezer races, live music, storytelling, bannock roasting, ice sculptures and more! This year’s theme is “Barnyard Blitz” so find barnyard-inspired ice sculptures, rustic lamppost displays, and farm-themed activities.
Get tickets to the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Edmonton! (8712 109 St.)
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is on tour with film screenings in Edmonton at the Metro Cinema at the Garneau Theatre from Jan. 17-19. There will be two programs featuring mountain sports and culture, each featuring eight different short films. Featuring mountain sports and culture.
Watch Beetlejuice—a show about death—live! (11455 87 Ave.)
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! The musical, the musical, the musical (people who know the plot will understand the repeat lol) is showing in Edmonton at the Northern Jubilee Auditorium this week until Jan. 19. I was invited to Opening Night and had a lot of fun! I had no idea what the story was going to be about (I’ve never seen the movies, cartoon, or original musical), and I thought it was really funny with really great special effects.
Check out the RiverCity Bluegrass Festival (11843 Kingsway)
The first RiverCity Bluegrass Festival runs this weekend Jan 17-19 at the Edmonton Inn Conference Centre featuring eight bands. There’s also a Kids Fiddle Academy you can register for as part of the festival on Saturday.
Here are two Lunar New Year events this weekend:
The Lago Lindo Community League presents “A Red Envelope Gala” for the Year of the Snake this Saturday, Jan 18 at the north Edmonton community hall (17123 95 St.). It’s FREE to attend, with performances, cultural celebrations and activities, plus a fun interactive red envelope activity. Pre-purchase red envelopes to participate!
The Edmonton Vietnamese Association is hosting a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday, January 18—the FREE family-friendly activities are on from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.. at St. John Cultural Centre (10611 110 Ave.) and there is also a ticketed concert in the evening.
2025 is the Year of the Snake! I’ll include more LNY events next week.
Here are a few other events you may be interested in this week…
Winter City Weekends (Ice Grooves and Swing & Skate) takes place every weekend til Feb. 28. There are also FREE daily skate rentals City Hall Plaza!
Two of my favourite local improv comedians are back with ‘Agent Thunder: An Improvised Espionage’ at the Grindstone Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 18.
There’s a New Year, Still Queer event at Felice Cafe (10930 84 St.) this Saturday, Jan. 18 (which includes free cover at Evolution Wonderlounge’s Halfway to Pride Dance Party). Free to attend (but register online).
The Original Edmonton Witches Market is on Jan. 18 & 19 at Bellevue Community Hall (7308 112 Ave.) with 40+ vendors. Free to attend.
There’s a Robert Burns Celebration at the Rutherford House this Sunday, Jan. 19 featuring bagpipes, traditional dancing, and haggis!
Got an Edmonton area event, virtual event, or something coming up you think my readers would be interested in knowing about? Let me know!
Giveaway + Save the Date!
Winterruption YEG, Edmonton’s premiere, multi-venue winter music and arts festival in downtown Edmonton, is back for another great year January 22-26, featuring nearly 100 artists! You can get individual show tickets or a festival wristband for access to all venues hosting Winterruption 2025 events. Shows include music, comedy and drag performances!
The folks at Winterruption YEG also gifted me tickets to give away for newsletter subscribers!
If you’re reading this on my blog then you missed the newsletter giveaway!
I regularly run email subscriber-only giveaways. Become a free subscriber to get weekly recommendations on Things to Do, Eat and Know Each Week, plus access to exclusive giveaways!
(there’s also a paid option if you’d like to support my work further!)
Food to Try This Week!
Plan to eat at multiple Chinatown restaurants for Chinatown Dining Week!
The 8th annual Chinatown Dining Week returns Jan 16-26 with 27 participating restaurants offering $10 or $20 food specials!
I was invited to preview Lee House Korean Restaurant’s Chinatown Dining Week specials and it was so good. Choose from the $20 Bossam (Korean Boiled Pork Wrap) or $20 Japchae (Beef or Veggie) OR the $10 Jjajangmyeon (Noodles in Black Bean Sauce) or $10 Seafood Tofu Soup. Or get all four! lol
Also worth noting that 16 of the 27 Chinatown Dining Week restaurants are also participating in my Chinatown Chow Down initiative! You can get a bonus event sticker plus the restaurant sticker if you’re taking part in the Chinatown Chow Down Challenge.
Try the sweet and salty sandwich at Lift Me Up (12407 108 Ave.)
Alex, my new intern (👋🏻), had this food recommendation for the week!
“Lift Me Up Sandwich Bar by Tiramisu Bistro offers an array of different Italian sandwiches all on sourdough focaccia bread. My favourite is the Fior Di Toscana. The sweet and salty combo of prosciutto and fig spread is delicious!”
Check out the new Barbaretta Wine & Cocktail Bar (115 First Ave., Spruce Grove)
Barbacoa, the best restaurant in Spruce Grove (just 15 minutes west of west Edmonton), has opened its sister Wine & Cocktail Bar Barbaretta! I was invited to their soft opening and really enjoyed the food, drinks and vibe. Indigo Sky, Fresh & Flirty, and Chai & Chill are all excellent cocktails. Scallops, siu mai, and pan con tomate focaccia were top bites! Enjoy!!
Try White Rabbit Ice Cream (10546 110 St.)
I tried White Rabbit Ice Cream shop near MacEwan downtown this week and enjoyed my White Rabbit Matcha and housemade matcha cookie. This gourmet, small-batch ice cream shop started as a food truck over a decade ago before opening their cute little storefront with rotating menu. They’re also right next to Vietnamese sandwich shop Banh Mi Diddy, which I haven’t been to yet but, worth popping into both if you’re at one!
Try the new Golden Sparrow restaurant (10704 124 St.)
The new Golden Sparrow restaurant on 124 Street is now open! Specializing in cocktails and shareable plates, I haven’t been yet but the room, drinks and food photos they’ve shared so far on Instagram look really nice. Reservations are recommended. Wishing them luck in this space!
And here are some upcoming food events you may be interested in!
Campio Brewing is throwing a five-year birthday party on Jan. 16.
Delavoye Chocolate Maker is offering Wine and Chocolate Pairings and an Intro to Chocolate Tasting experiences this Jan. 17 & 18. There are also a number of other experiences to choose from with dates until June.
Out of Bounds Restaurant is running a food series featuring different global flavours, including Jan. 18’s “Taste of India.”
Spilt Bar, Alberta’s first mocktail bar, is hosting ‘Dry January’ Classic Mocktail Classes every Tuesday in January.
Labo Coffee is hosting a Coffee Tasting on Feb. 9.
Le Petit Chef a 3D immersive dinner theatre with the “world’s smallest chef” is on at the JW Marriott with dates listed until April 2025.
Seven Paintings, an interactive dinner show that combines art + technology (like super elevated Paint Night!) is on at the Renaissance Hotel with dates listed until May 2025.
Ate something amazing recently? Want to show some love to a struggling restaurant? Have a take-out suggestion? Let me know to include in this newsletter.
Save $$$ with my Discount Codes
I regularly partner with awesome companies to offer discounts that save you money!
Here’s a few promos you may be interested in…
Get 20% off regular priced items at Bamboo Ballroom with my code LINDORK20.
Get 10% off cooking classes at Secret Ingredient YEG with my code LINDORK10.
Get 10% off massage, acupuncture, energetic healing and medical aesthetics services at Park Integrative Health when you mention LINDORK at payment.
See all current discount codes on my blog!
As a TELUS Ambassador, if you sign up for TELUS products or services using my referral link / code, I also get some revenue (unfortunately you don’t get a bonus lol).
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