Festival 101

The NatureCity Festival will be back as soon as conditions permit.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the NatureCity Festival for the spring of 2022. Circumstances permitting, we will be back, bright and bouncy from May 2023. Here’s an advance peek at what you can expect:

The NatureCity Festival offers dozens of opportunities to spend quality time with our wild neighbours.

Whether in your backyard or along the Meewasin Valley trails, Saskatoon is bursting with life. Crocuses welcome the spring’s first bees — foxes give birth to their pups – birds return in a rush — and we come out of our winter doldrums to enjoy their life, colour and song.

The NatureCity Festival is a community-based event funded by dedicated sponsors and created by passionate volunteers.

Over the past eight years, we have been proud to partner with dozens of individuals and organizations to create hundreds of opportunities for Saskatonians to experience the spiritual, emotional and economic benefits of access to healthy natural spaces. In addition, we have offered a free enrichment program for classroom groups and have coordinated the biannual NatureCity Awards.

Inspiring keynote events give us all the confidence to act.

The NatureCity Festival keynote speakers have brought messages of urgency and hope, reminding us that positive change is necessary and possible. In a rapidly urbanizing world, cities and city dwellers have a role to play in protecting the wonders of life on Earth. Year by year, the Festival has focused on important aspects of this challenge:

2013 Celebrate Nearby Nature, with architect and planner Doug Olson of O2 Planning and Design. The role of regional planning.

2014 Take A Walk on the Wild Side, with Grant Pearsell, City of Edmonton; Cam Collyer, Everygreen Foundation and Michelle Molnar, Suzuki Foundation. Valuing urban natural areas.

2015 Healthy by Nature, with Dr. Shimi Kang and Cam Collyer, Evergreen Foundation. Nature and nature play for mental and physical health.

2016 Âniskopicikêwin, Everything is Connected, with Maria Campbell and friends. Environmental justice and reconciliation.

2017 We are Water, with Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians. Protecting water, the basis of life.

2018 Nature Needs Half, with Harvey Locke. The key role of protected areas.

2019 I Spy With My Wild Eye, Dr. Maureen Murray, Urban Wildlife Institute. Urban wildlife research and citizen science.

2022 Prairie People, Deep Roots, featuring the Saskatoon Swales.