Facebook Twitter YouTube tumblr Instagram

"Thx again for the love, #Saskatoon. And merci to the fab indie @bwaytheatre. A gem of a theatre on the prairies."

- Jian Ghomeshi (via Twitter)

tourism_saskatoon_header
eBulletin - February 2013

Sask Jazz announces first four headliners for 2013 festival

The SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival is pleased to announce its first four headlining shows at the TD Mainstage!

City and Colour will play this year’s festival on the heels of his new album release. The Juno awarding-winning singer-songwriter Dallas Green is a well-known artist across Canada thanks to the success of his previous three full length albums. The concert takes place on the TD Mainstage in the Bessborough Gardens on Thursday, June 27, with a special guest opening the show.

Herbie Hancock, a true icon of modern music, is playing the festival on Wednesday, June 26, at the TD Mainstage. Being a member of the Miles Davis Quintet, he has been an integral part of every jazz movement since the 1960s.

Grammy award-winning Dr. John, or Mac Rebennack, is universally celebrated as the living embodiment of the rich musical heritage exclusive to New Orleans. With a musical career spanning five decades this legendary artist recently produced the 2013 Grammy award-winning, “Locked Down”, produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.

Juno award-winner Serena Ryder joins the lineup on Monday, June 24, at the TD Mainstage. Influenced by folk, roots, country and adult contemporary, this Toronto native has been producing music since the young age of 17. Serena’s latest album, Harmony, features the hit track “Stompa” that is sure to get you up on your feet!

Tickets for these concerts go on sale Friday, March 1 at 10 a.m. and may be purchased online, by phone at 306.652.4700 or 1.800.638.1211, and at the Festival Box Office, located on the 7th floor of the Delta Bessborough Hotel (707-601 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon).

The rest of the ticketed concert lineup will be released on May 3. Stay tuned for more in May!

Source: SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival

Back to Top


Roots of the Blues defines Acoustic Blues Room at 2013 Saskatoon Blues Festival

The Saskatoon Blues Society presents the story of the blues and the history of its people, unfolding in the lineup at the 2013 Saskatoon Blues Festival Winter Meltdown Acoustic Blues Room at the Hilton Garden Inn. What you can expect is soul-moving music with a touch of self-effacing humour thrown in for good measure.

Acoustic Blues Room at Hilton Garden Inn - Friday, March 1 at 8 p.m.

DAVID "BOXCAR" GATES sets the stage for your weekend of acoustic blues. If you think that a guy who uses a homemade harmonica holder constructed out of bicycle and lampshade parts and a few other odds and ends might just be a real bluesman then you need look no further than David Boxcar Gates. This Vancouver based musician, an astonishing acoustic-ragtime-Delta blues guitar talent, is an up and coming Canadian blues “shooting star” who has been mesmerizing audiences across Canada, USA and the Europe. No hype, no frills, no gimmicks (well, maybe the harmonica rack), just a man playing his blues with genuine sincerity and honesty. A sheer pleasure to experience, this amazing one-man blues presentation is a not-to-be-missed performance.

STEVE JAMES, who refers to Austin, Texas, as “where I keep my stuff”, is a songsmith and bottle-neck guitarist who emerged very much at the head of the class of the young American blues instrumentalists from the 60s. Historian, educator and captivating stage performer Steve James plays an accomplished finger-style blues and sings some great stories. You will no doubt get a history lesson or two from this one of a kind bluesman. No studio tricks, no production grandstanding – it’s more like – “what you hear is what you get”.

Acoustic Blues Room at Hilton Garden Inn - Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m.

ROSS NEILSEN, the Fredericton native and the acoustic stage Saturday night opener, who is now sharing his blues prowess coast to coast via rail, will be doing a “whistle stop-over” to make a special appearance. The Saskatoon blues audience will love his organic, rootsy sound, staying true to the soul of blues, for this unique one night performance. His latest album “The Shack Up Sessions” is a testament to blues at its finest.

JERRON "BLIND BOY" PAXTON, the songster, busker and itinerant bluesman from Louisiana, is the real package. Country blues fans will pick up on the swampy blues of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. This witty, fast rhyming musician, who picks banjo and guitar, and plays harmonica and piano, started to go blind at the age of fifteen, but continues to be a joyous entertainer, humorous with a dazzling wit, and a terrific storyteller who exudes an affable excitement. Blues fans in the know toast Blind Boy as a “once in a generation blues star in the making.”

Source: Saskatoon Blues Society

Back to Top


Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo site marks 100 years

Cougars pad quietly in the snow and elk stand majestically against the winter landscape at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo.

The park and zoo draw thousands of visitors in the summer. But zoo manager John Moran says winter is an excellent time to go.

"If you come in the summer, it's warm, most people come midday, and the animals are all laying under the trees resting and that's what they do," said Moran.

"Wintertime, they're more active. It's a great opportunity to get some exercise with your family, taking a walk around the facility, and you're going to learn and see more. The animals are just really active and the site itself just makes for a real pleasant walk."

The park and zoo cover nearly 61 hectares on the city's northeast edge.

The site started as the Sutherland Forest Nursery Station in 1913 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It has supplied 147 million trees over 50 years to northern parts of the Prairie provinces, according to the City of Saskatoon's website.

When the nursery was closed in 1966, the city reopened the site as the Forestry Farm Park. It's a National Historic Site.

"Our lawn areas are still used as a gathering place. In the summertime, you can't hardly get a picnic site in here," Moran said in a telephone interview.

The zoo opened in the early '70s and has species that are indigenous to Western Canada, such as wolves, cougars, bison, caribou, elk and bighorn sheep.

"The bears, even though they're half-hibernating, they're out every day. The grizzlies are out every day, moving in slow motion," he said.

Kids can actually meet some of the animals through public programs run by the Saskatoon Zoo Society, an independent organization that works with the zoo.

Kathleen Zary, the society's program co-ordinator, says they'll have drop-in interpretive programs from April 3 to 5.

If you can't make it in the winter, you might want to aim for May 26 when events are planned to mark the anniversary. Moran said there will be a quilt show at the superintendent's residence, which was built in 1913, a blacksmith will do demonstrations and there will be horse-drawn wagon rides.

Read more: The StarPhoenix

Back to Top


New Food for Health exhibition at the Saskatoon Western Development Museum

Food is a topic of endless discussion. It’s something we can’t do without and it can also be a source of great enjoyment. Is there anything as personal or as important as the foods we choose to eat each day? Our health depends to a large extent on what we eat. The Food for Health exhibition takes a fresh look at the foods we eat and answers many of the questions Canadians have about their food choices, about food safety and about the role food plays in ensuring good health.

This 140-square-metre bilingual travelling exhibition, which features fun hands-on activities, multimedia displays, historical artifacts and graphics, is on display at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon until March 31, 2013.

Food for Health’s companion bilingual website www.foodforhealth.ca makes the exhibition’s important ideas and knowledge available to many more millions of Canadians, including school children and Canadians living in more remote areas.

The Food for Health exhibition and website are presented nationally by the Canada Agriculture Museum (CAgM), in Ottawa.  The exhibit  can be visited Tuesday to Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through March 31 at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon and online at www.foodforhealth.ca.

Source: Western Development Museum

Back to Top


Register for the 2013 TMAC Conference & AGM

Saskatoon is delighted to host the 2013 Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) Conference and AGM, June 12 to 15.

Last year, the conference focused on the art of place in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This year, delegates will experience Saskatoon, a city on the edge. On the edge of what? Attend the conference to find out!

Follow the story on Twitter (@TMACyxe2013) and Tumblr for the latest information on the 2013 conference and Saskatoon events.

Don't miss out on the media marketplace, professional development sessions and networking opportunities - register today!

Back to Top


To arrange a media visit, please contact:

Alexandra Stang
Media Relations Coordinator | Tourism Saskatoon
Ph: 306.931.7587 | [email protected]

Angela Moore
Director of Media | Tourism Saskatoon
Ph: 306.931.7585 | [email protected]

Copyright 2012 Saskatoon Visitor and Convention Bureau. All rights reserved.