Explore Edmonton's Signature Event at Innovate Canada
Welcome to our Signature Event
Explore Edmonton is delighted to be hosting you at our Signature Event during Innovate Canada in partnership with Destination Canada. We're so glad you could join us at the Art Gallery of Alberta for a great evening of food, drinks, and music.
Explore this page to discover more about the music and menu you are experiencing.
Discover Featured Local Businesses
Tonight's was made possible thanks to a variety of local businesses and vendors. Keep reading to learn more about each of them, and what part they played in tonight's menu.
Meuwly's
Meuwly's is Edmonton's source for Charcuterie, with award-winning house-made smoked and cured meats plus a curated selection of fine cheese and gourmet accompaniments. Since 2016, they've been supplying many of Alberta's top restaurants with fine foods while also offering catering, a monthly subscription box, and food classes and experiences! Their 124th street food boutique also features a lineup of locally-made small-batch foods from many of the community's up-and-coming brands.
Meuwly's is proud to pursue sustainable business practices wherever possible including supply chain, circular practices and upcycling, collaborating with industry peers to share resources and reduce waste, and advocating for a healthier local food system. Co-founder Peter Keith is a past chair of the Edmonton Food Council, our community's municipal advisory group for all matters related to sustainable food and agriculture in Edmonton.
Little Potato Company
Food You Can Feel Good About
We responsibly work with our environment so we can feed the world, better, for generations to come. We See Ourselves as Stewards of the Environment. Sustainability is one of our core beliefs, and we reflect it in everything we do. From choosing the right partners, to responsibly using our precious farmlands, to the facilities we package and ship our Little Potatoes from, we take great care to leave the earth better than we found it so our farmers can continue to grow for generations to come.
NAIT
Where the Culinary Arts meets Food Science: Join the NAIT Centre for Culinary Innovation while we demonstrate the science of food.
Our team will prepare and provide innovative fermentation ingredients derived from sustainable, prairie grown pulses. We take a new view on a traditional fermentation process applied to soy miso and spin it around with a fully Canadian miso using our sustainable chickpea, faba bean, yellow peas. Experience the novel flavours we found in the Miso Paste and taste them in a Miso Caesar Mocktail developed in our Research Kitchen.
Prairie Gardens
Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm is located just 25 minutes NE of St. Albert and Edmonton on Hwy 28 between the towns of Bon Accord and Gibbons. Our farm has been part of the local landscape for over 75 years. We have welcomed over 1,000,000 guests to our farm since 1956! Visitors enjoy an array of safe, clean and kid-friendly activities that include:
- Sunflower and Corn Mazes
- U-pick gardens (seasonal)
- Garden Centre with Greenhouses
- On- Farm Annual Festivals
- Orchard Tours and How-to-Grow Workshops
- Farm-to-Table Dinners
- Campfires
Token Bitters
Join Token Bitters at Innovate Canada's signature night in Edmonton for an enchanting cocktail hour featuring our distinctive non-alcoholic beverages.
Experience the vibrant zest of our Distemperance Haskap Citrus Chili Sangria, crafted with locally-sourced Haskap berries from Rosy Farms, offering a tantalizing mix of flavor, color, and spice that promises to banish any alcohol FOMO. Or warm up with our rich and complex hot Mulled Haskap Mocktail, a non-alcoholic take on traditional mulled wine that combines Haskap berries, a bouquet of spices, and a hint of Token Calder Chai bitters for a perfect winter treat. Our drinks are a celebration of Alberta's bountiful agribusiness, meticulously created for discerning palates, ready to transform your perception of alcohol-free alternatives.
Prairie Willow Co.
Explore Tonight's Musicians
Skilled musicians filled the Art Gallery of Alberta with a warm and inviting atmosphere. Keep reading to discover the local artists that set the tone for this memorable evening.
Stirling John
Stirling John is an Ojibwa Inspirational Country Artist from the Saugeen First Nation Reserve in Ontario, now based in Alberta. He is dedicated to supporting Indigenous youth and actively volunteers to develop music programs in underfunded schools while addressing critical issues like substance abuse and mental health. His second inspirational album, Image of Love, was released on September 1, 2024 reflects his personal journey and commitment to community.
Stirling has received numerous accolades, including a JUNO nomination for album of the year, multiple awards at the GMA, Western Canadian Music, Okimaw, as well as the Country Music Alberta Awards. Additionally, he established the non profit Stirling John Foundation for Youth Empowerment and serves as the first Ambassador to the Veterans Association Food Bank in Alberta.
Lucette
Lucette is the stage name of Canadian artist Lauren Gillis. Her debut album, "Black is the Color," produced by Dave Cobb, received widespread acclaim, quickly establishing her as a rising star in the music scene. The success of her first album led to opportunities such as opening for Sturgill Simpson on his Metamodern Sounds of Country Music tour and performing at SXSW, among other high-profile engagements.
The Gadjo Collective
The Misery Mountain Boys
You might hear the tunes of the Misery Mountain Boys drifting from behind a rotating bookcase of a 1930’s speakeasy. Harkening back to a simpler time, the MMB’s create a collaborative soundscape infused with tongue in cheek wit, playfulness, and nostalgia. With a mix of catchy originals and contemporary songs reimagined in driving swing, the band’s performance delivers as both classic and fresh, offering a generous variety of sweaty jazz numbers, velvety love songs, and swingin' jump-blues.
About the Art Gallery of Alberta
Home to exhibitions from Alberta, Canada, and around the world, the Art Gallery of Alberta is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Explore over 6,000 objects created by a mix of local and international artists throughout three bright and airy floors of viewing space. With 85,000 square feet, this state-of-the-art facility caters to a variety of events and provides stunning views of Edmonton’s eclectic downtown Arts District through its 35-foot windows.
