2017 was an incredible year for Wild Heart Collective. Some huge areas of growth, many successes and learnings. We moved into (another) new office space, made fresh connections, and forged new partnerships. See below for a snapshot of what we have been up to this past few months!
Special Events
The Winter Cities Conference returned to Edmonton in 2017 and once again Wild Heart was thrilled to take part in planning another outdoor winter festival. With a new location at the Armature in the Quarters downtown, Wild Heart collaborated and consulted with the Core Committee to execute "Shake-Up Festival". Uncharacteristically balmy February temperatures made producing a “Winter Festival” a bit difficult but team Wild Heart was able to improvise and work within budget to produce an inclusive, family-friendly event. Our production team built an outdoor Crokicurl Rink (without ice) and hosted an incredible outdoor concert with multicultural performances among many other things!
Kicking off the year in our new space brought the return of our Wild Heart Signature Series Wild Heart Brunch Club. Supporting over 25 vendors in the unique collective space along 124 Street, Brunch Club ran twice during the winter season. We featured burlesque performer Kiki Quinn, Jazz singer Mallory Chipman, and Singer-Songwriter Justine Vandergrift. Our partners for both events were Sailin’ On Food truck and Truffula Living Deli, 124 Grand Market favourites who curated a seriously delicious all vegan brunch and high-tea. Patrons got to enjoy a delicious meal, witness live entertainment and shop locally in a fun environment. Featuring Vendors like Ampersand Eve, Smithstine Copper, Violet Chocolate Company, Fruits of Sherbrooke and Dallas LaRose Fine Art, Wild Heart Brunch Club continues to be a great way to bring the market vibe indoors and beat the dreary ‘winter blues’.
Spring launched another year of partnership with Alberta Avenue Business Association with the return of Eats on 118. We announced three tours scheduled for April, June and August.
Eats on 118 was a huge success, selling out two seatings for each tour and garnishing tons of media attention. Wild Heart was thrilled to work with the diverse business community on Alberta Avenue for this event series for a second year in a row!
Another Signature Event that returned for 2017 was Wild Heart’s Grand Taste Tour. Once again Wild Heart teamed up with Taste Alberta to produce this educational, interactive event. This year the Grand Taste Tour toured out towards Red Deer and visited our friends at Doef’s Greenhouse, Blindman Brewing and Rock Ridge Dairy. The day ended with a gorgeous dinner in the greenhouse created by Chef Liana Robberecht and Chef Michele Aurigemma.
Another incredible project that the Wild Heart team had the pleasure to work on was Experience Jasper Avenue. For 4 months, Wild Heart worked with local businesses, musicians, artists and designers to program and animate the stretch of Jasper Avenue between 109 and 114 Streets from July to October. It was a great learning experience for Wild Heart and truly exercised what it means to be a “Collective.” For more info on this project read our previous blog post here.
Another returning partnership, Wild Heart was thrilled to once again produce an event working with Nuit Blanche Edmonton. IMPULSE+LOOP was the latest instalment for Nuit Blanche Edmonton working with the folks at the City of Edmonton. Wild Heart had an incredible time working with their Collective to program a unique nighttime carnival!
124 Grand Market
Wild Heart was THRILLED that the market would be returning to its newly renovated home on 108 Avenue and 124 Street. 2017 was our 6th season with the 124 Grand Market and it was our biggest and busiest season yet! We had a packed market street each week, with 50+ vendors each Thursday and local entertainers in our newly revamped park. The Little Beans kids program returned as well with a record breaking amount of check ins and registrants.
Our Holiday Bazaar presented by the 124 Grand Market was also a highlight. This year we set up camp in the Vignettes Design Series building Downtown. We had over 50 vendors, an amazing entertainment series, and the entire area was licensed courtesy of our friends at Sherbrooke Liquor. It was a fun and festive way to close out our season and celebrate our wonderful market community!
Wild Heart Collective
Probably the most significant highlight of 2017 was the official launch of Wild Heart Collective. LTD.
After 5 years of producing events and working with small business in Edmonton, Wild Heart officially launched our website and social media presence. We would like to thank everyone for the support over the last 6 years. Because of our patrons, business partners, and clients we are able to continue to work together with other passionate individuals to build a resilient and colourful communities.
Wild Heart celebrated this launch with a notable milestone in 2017 with our nomination for two Edmonton Design Awards. We were acknowledged for our work with Nuit Blanche in 2015 and with our involvement with Experience Jasper Avenue in 2017. While we did not end up winning any awards, just to be nominated among such amazing candidates was an honour. YEG you are something incredible!
We are so excited for some new things coming down the pipes for 2018. Stay tuned to see what new stuff is coming up!