Way Out West Festival

Way Out West Fest (WOW Fest) is celebrating its comeback edition! The fourth annual edition includes a full slate of 20 adventure and workshop events, as well as the Head West Maker’s Market and the elegant Pure West Art & Artifact Auction.

It’s no secret to the people who call the West home that it is truly a special place. WOW Fest events, which are held within Calgary and points west of the city, offer up a truly remarkable set of inclusive experiences of adventure and learning, sport, music, art, history, culinary, craft, in which participants can expect a healthy bit of Wild West tossed in.

The event runs June 10 – 12 and offers 20+ events including the popular Head West Market, a maker and artisan market in its new inner-city location of Fort Calgary, and the third edition of the Pure West Art & Artifact Auction.

Each handpicked event has a distinct element of exclusivity – meaning you won’t find this experience just anytime, or anywhere. Examples include:

• Two Alberta creative icons, Paul Hardy and Paul Van Ginkel, open their studios and talk design and painting at the new and innovative Shedpoint space in Calgary.
• Sketch in the Charlie Russell way at a privately owned, once dude ranch to WWII pilots, tucked away in the foothills.
• Explore three ranches, including the movie set ranch of John Scott, as well as attend a branding, during the two-day photography workshop with renowned Texas photographer, Scott Slusher.
• Major sponsor Eau Claire Distillery will host a gin tasting at their Turner Valley Distillery.
• Hard Knox Brewery, of Black Diamond, comes on board as a sponsor and offers a beer tasting with a west-inspired menu.
• Seeped in spirituality and culture, a First Nations drumming event will be part of the Head West experience.
• Take a ride on the wild side, with a horseback ride up to historic John Ware’s ridge followed by an exceptional gourmet lunch.
• Join us for the Canadian Premiere of Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait – award winning documentary out of Texas, showing at the BurnsWest Theatre at Fort Calgary, during the Head West Market.

WOW Fest acknowledges and embraces local producers and food purveyors with tastes of the West, such as the award-winning Alberta Whisky Cake at their events.

The mission statement of the WOW Fest is seeded in appreciating the richness of living in the western way, recognizing its authenticity and celebrating how it enriches all of our lives. Each of the Festival’s workshop leads and members of our team are deeply connected to the West, and committed to preserving it. Each event offers up a portal to an authentic West.