{"id":35000,"date":"2026-05-07T00:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/35000\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T00:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T00:06:09","slug":"globalfest-leaving-longtime-se-calgary-home-for-spruce-meadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/35000\/","title":{"rendered":"Globalfest leaving longtime SE Calgary home for Spruce Meadows"},"content":{"rendered":"

A longtime Calgary summer tradition is set to shift locations.<\/p>\n

After 23 years at Elliston Park in southeast Calgary, Globalfest is officially relocating to Spruce Meadows in the city\u2019s deep south. <\/p>\n

Festival organizers say they\u2019ve outgrown the Forest Lawn site, which has hosted the fireworks and cultural celebration since 2003 and typically draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. The move is driven by the need for more space, better accessibility and room to expand programming, according to organizers.<\/p>\n

Local businesses along International Avenue are already bracing for the change. Bijal Desai, who opened Red Swan Pizza in December, says she was counting on the festival\u2019s summer crowds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel sad because I don\u2019t know now in summer how we can cover that kinda business or food cost,\u201d she said, adding that neighbouring shop owners told her business can jump by more than 40 per cent during Globalfest.<\/p>\n

But not everyone sees the relocation as a loss. Parmjit Brar, owner of Brar Fine Indian Cuisine, says the festival often created more disruption than benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a loss actually for the business,\u201d Brar said. \u201cBecause the road is closed, not too many people are coming here because of parking issues, and they close both sides of the road actually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Globalfest COO Ken Goosen says accessibility challenges were a major factor in the decision. Limited parking and long commutes made it difficult for some attendees to reach Elliston Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made it difficult at times to even want to go to Elliston Park because they couldn\u2019t park,\u201d Goosen said. \u201cAt Spruce Meadows, there\u2019s a closer CTrain station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby residents who have long watched the fireworks from their homes will also feel the change. But for some, the move is still welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cStreets closed, pedestrians everywhere not going with the crosswalks\u2026 just crossing the street wherever they feel like it,\u201d said Laurie Hanischuk. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that Spruce Meadows will be a better place for Globalfest.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s festival will be shortened to four days and will run in late August<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tCalgary, Canada – August 26, 2012: A breathtaking fireworks display closes another night at the GlobalFest festival. (Photo: iStock) SCoutts <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A longtime Calgary summer tradition is set to shift locations. After 23 years at Elliston Park in southeast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[51],"class_list":{"0":"post-35000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-calgary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}