Hello friends and welcome to 2020!
We are a bit late getting out our annual “Year In Review”...2019 was a VERY busy year for team Wild Heart, with a full event season extending into Christmas, as well as working with our amazing clients. Check out our highlights for 2019 See below for a few highlights on the past season and a sneak peeks into our 2020 season!
124 Grand Market and Little Beans
2019 saw some vibrant new faces to the 124 Grand Market. We introduced a brand new dream team to Thursdays and Sundays; Sam, Bert, Riane, Lowell and Francy did an INCREDIBLE job managing both markets on a weekly basis in what was arguably our most challenging weather year yet. They helped to keep spirits light and create an environment for vendors and patrons that was positive and warm (even when the weather was not).
We also started a our brand new partnership with Leftovers, a group who are dedicated to reducing food waste in Edmonton and bridging the gap between communities and quality food. Leftovers reported that we were able to redirectdivert 1,034 lbs lbs of food in 2019 (approximately 434 lbs of carbon dioxide equivalents) through the support of our market vendors at both locations--that is incredible!
We are grateful to our community and we are looking forward to our 9th season back on 124 Street on Thursdays and Sundays starting in May. Vendor Applications are now live for the 2020 Market season. We hope you’ll consider joining our Vendor Family!!
Community Partners
We cannot forget to recognize and thank our friends over Robertson Wesley Church on 102nd Ave! Since our Sunday market began on the south side of 124th, our friends at Robertson Wesley have shown nothing but support! Offering us storage space, use of their facilities, and encouraging the community to enjoy their beautiful lawn as a relaxing picnic space… or for doggos to cool off in their pool!
We are extremely lucky to have such amazing neighbours and value Robertson Wesley as friends and an asset to the community!
We also were thrilled to welcome the new McLaren building by Edgar Developments on 102nd ave! There was a lot of construction going on in 2019 in that neck of the woods, but it was great to see the transformation take place throughout the season. 2020 marks the first year they will be fully open, and we are anticipating a great friendship in the future.
Arcadia
If you are a part of the market fam, you know that Arcadia is a favourite local haunt after a Thursday night market! It has all of our favourite things… food, local beer, and our buddy Darren who is also a 124 community member! Not only does Darren serve great food and drinks, he is also a great supporter of our market as one of our season Sponsors.
Without Darren, our lives would be a whole lot more difficult and we consider him to be a very important member of our 124 Grand Market team! So if you love the market, do us a favour and go and get yourself a beer from Arcadia and tell them we sent you!
Edmonton Made Collab
If you live in Edmonton you have probably seen (or heard tell of) Edmonton Made Gifted! We jumped at the chance to host the launch of the 2019 Gifted Catalogue given many of our 124 Grand Market Vendors were featured alongside some of our city’s most talented makers!
We opened up our market street to some new businesses who joined our regular Thursday and Sunday roster. The guests were welcomed by our vendor family, and the event made for an amazing week of collaboration! Patrons noticed the different vendors and were excited and intrigued to have so many unique products to peruse on market street.
We had a great time hosting all our new friends… and some of them joined us for Christmas Market and will hopefully be joining us more in 2020!
Grand Taste Tour and Open Farm Days
Grand Taste Tour returned in 2019 in conjunction with Alberta Open Farm Days! This year we were able to visit our friends at Stonepost Farms in Wildwood Alberta and enjoy a delicious farm to fork meal by local chef Paul Shufelt of Workshop Eatery and Woodshed Burgers.
Guests were greeted on site by the Doherty Family, along with our friends from Colleen’s Chocolates, Bent Stick Beer, and Camola foods! After enjoying some samples, we all boarded shuttle (aka the wagon being pulled by Farmer John’s tractor), got a tour of the property and livestock and then travelled on to the beautiful dining site overlooking the farm, beautifully decorated by our friend Nora at Bud and Bloom.
This was one of those times in 2019 when mother nature had some tricks up her sleeve. The skies had been clear with a zero possibility of rain predicted, but as soon as guests were going to be seated, it began to pour rain. Now this could have been a devastating situation, but thank goodness for good people and teamwork! Everyone was so understanding and, as a team, we were able to set up several tents over the dining area, allowing the evening to continue.
After this small setback, the event continued successfully and we were all able to enjoy several courses of amazing fare and great company!
Folding Mountain Summer Collective
2019 marked the 2nd birthday of Folding Mountain Brewing, just outside of Jasper National Park. Team Wild Heart was once again brought on to help bring this party to life! Wild Heart managed Vendor recruitment, management, as well as talent coordination.
The day itself was spectacular! We saw a great turnout and enjoyed the live music and amazing beer in the picturesque mountain backdrop. And maybe a few delicious beers on their fantastic patio!
All in all we were very lucky to be included in this event and look forward to taking part in the years moving forward!
Open Streets
Fast forward to Open Streets. We had a short timeline to help our friends Paths for People organize and execute Edmonton’s largest street party to date. This endeavour definitely kept us on our toes and forced us to think outside the box… but we were extremely happy with the results!
On August 25th we were up at the crack of dawn to start prepping 6 blocks of empty roadway along Jasper Ave. from 103rd to 109th street. The huge list of activities and programming included:
A pop up drag performance by Lillith Fair
An outdoor public living room by Find Edmonton
Agility and dogsport demo by Dynamo Dogs
Bike parade and Ein Brise
Local vendor market
Food truck alley
Outdoor yoga and fitness classes
Inflatables and climbing wall by our friends at Mr. Inflatable!
The day turned out to be beautiful and sunny! We had originally set our sights on getting at least 5,000 people to attend the event, but ended up with over 10,000 Edmontians walking, rolling and dancing downtown to celebrate!
We are excited to be a part of this event again in 2020… and that this year there will be two events instead of just one! Paths for People have decided to utilize last year’s site downtown, as well as one in Old Strathcona!
Eats on 118-Dine the Ave
One of Wild Heart’s favourite events since 2016, Eats on 118 returned with an updated look for 2019. An evolution from food tours, Dine the Ave was a week long campaign celebrating the hospitality businesses along Alberta Avenue.
Guests got to taste some delicious bites and preview some of the hospitality and service patrons could expect from their visit, all while showcasing local Edmonton business!
Participating establishments included everything from fast food and coffee to more formal sit down atmospheres.
It was a great chance for us to catch up with previous participants, as well as get to know some new faces (and food)!
Beverly Dining Week
Beverly Dining Week returned to Olde Town Beverly and work, once again, with our friends at the Olde Town Beverly Business Association! We formed some great partnerships with local business owners! There are many new talented faces popping up along Beverly… and some excellent food!
Some of the participants of Dining Week:
We hosted a Media Tour on October 16 with participating businesses and the reviews were VERY positive. Our team has never been so full! The campaign overall was extremely successful, especially for the new businesses in the area who were joining the event for the first time.
Vignettes
2019 wouldn’t have been complete without our good friends at Vignettes! Their annual pop-up festival returned to the downtown core at a brand new space. Muse launched October 5 and Wild Heart helped with site support for their grand opening festivities!
The festival’s opening was a huge success, to say the least, and hundreds of Edmontonians came through the doors to get a peek at the designs, get some photos, and enjoy some music, food and drinks with friends! It would be safe to say that it is probably the most instagrammable place in Edmonton!
We have partnered with Vignettes many times in the past, and we are super excited to see what they have up their sleeve for 2020.
Storefront Cinema
Storefront Cinema has become an institution among residents along Stony Plain Road. That is why we were thrilled to be asked by the Stony Plain Road Business Improvement Area to assist in executing the event in 2019!
The event played host to musical entertainment, free hot chocolate and popcorn, campfires, sleigh rides and, of course, a film viewing by Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta!
It was a chilly evening but, despite the weather, there was a great turnout of community members and folks stayed cozy and enjoyed the festivities!
Edmonton Christmas Market
To end the season, Wild Heart took on the task of introducing Edmonton Christmas Market to the downtown core at ATB Place with the help of Triovest! With very short timelines, the team was tasked with gathering community partners, organizing vendors and programmers, decorating a large site, and eventually welcoming the inaugural event.
The site was beautiful and aglow Thursday, Friday and Saturdays for four weeks from Nov 28th to Dec 21st. Patrons were able to come out and enjoy:
The indoor vendor market hall presented by 124 Grand Market as well as the live indoor entertainment, interactive workshops and the FIND Edmonton public living room space!
The revolutionary winter market huts by Factotum makers which housed vendors outside on the plaza! These tear drop shaped structures were specifically developed withfor Edmonton winter events in mind and were perfect for our outdoor market vendors.! They are meant to be easy to assemble and disassemble for temporary use, feature light weight insulation and are heated and lit for vendor comfort! This was a HUGE part of the event
Some festive food and drinks (including pretzels by TYPE YEG, Bent Stick Beer and Gluwhein!)
Visits to Santa’s Knotty Pine Cabin for Santa photos and the chance to share their wishlist
Some time by the fires… complete with blankets supplied by Winter City and marshmallows for toasting! Live music was featured on the outdoor stage, sponsored by Sonic Edmonton!
Outdoor programming such as games, visits from Krampusnacht, and the Holiday Express by Mr. Inflatable!
Not to mention our incredible marketing partner Makespace for all of the illustrations and visuals for our first year event!
This event was an immense challenge for our team, being it was a first year, large scale event. We had many learnings and many successes over the 4 weeks, not to mention the new friendships and partnerships that formed between community members and vendors!
We are excited to see what 2020 will bring for Edmonton Christmas Market! It was embraced by the community and we are pumped to use our experience to better the event and make it even more of a spectacle this upcoming Holiday season!
All in all, 2019 turned out to be a pretty great year for the Wild Heart team! We just want to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you that joined us for any of our events this past year. You are what drives us to pursue new adventures and to bring new activities and programming to our great city. We already have irons in the fire for 2020 and can’t wait to show you what we have up our sleeve!
We will be seeing you soon!
-The WHC Team