Explore Edmonton seeks public input to reinvigorate K-Days

It’s one of Edmonton’s largest summer festivals and now, the public is being asked to weigh in on the future of K-Days.

Explore Edmonton, which has taken over management of the festival, wants to revitalize the summer fair.

The organization said it is building a new strategy to reinvigorate K-Days and wants to hear from people about what the love — and don’t love — about the long-running fair.

“Every iconic event finds a way to stay connected and relevant in their community,” said Traci Bednard, president and CEO of Explore Edmonton. “We know there’s always something more that you, as a community, are looking for.

“K-Days is an institution, and we need to both honour its past and refresh its role in the community.”

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Explore Edmonton has launched an online engagement tool to help build the future vision of K-Days. While planning for this year’s festival has been underway for months, the organization will use the feedback as a longer-term project involving focus groups and community leaders.

The online tool includes a 10-question survey. It will be open for the next three weeks. Feedback will be used to shape a new strategy and new programming for K-Days for the next decade, Explore Edmonton said.

“This process will begin to help us find the ways to make this your fair, and something that better serves your needs and desires. This is absolutely the next step in the fair’s evolution,” Bednard said.

Some of the questions asked in the survey include what you want the destination to be like, when the last time you attended K-Days was, what words you would use to describe K-Days and what key features you think should be celebrated at K-Days or a summer fair.

2:05 Northlands no more: K-Days and Farmfair will now be managed by Explore Edmonton

Explore Edmonton took over management of K-Days last year, after Northlands began to wind down its operations in the city.

Explore Edmonton, a City of Edmonton tourism and venue management organization, also runs the Expo Centre. Management of Farmfair International also falls under the organization.

It’s unclear whether the new vision for K-Days could include a name change.

The 10-day summer festival was, for a brief time, called Capital EX. The name of the fair was rebranded to Capital EX in 2006. For 44 years before that, the exhibition was known as Klondike Days, a theme centered around the Klondike Rush.

The name changed again after the 2012 festival, after public consultation found a lack of connection to the name Capital EX.

This year’s K-Days festival runs from July 22 to July 31.

The online survey can be accessed through Explore Edmonton’s website.