REGINA — For one week every spring, Regina’s Cathedral neighbourhood transforms into something almost impossible to replicate anywhere else in Saskatchewan.
Side streets become concert venues. Churches become theatres. Front yards become galleries. Coffee shops host poetry readings. Local musicians perform beside nationally recognized artists. Families crowd parks while buskers entertain along 13th Avenue. Entire blocks pulse with live music, food, colour and community spirit.
And this year, the Cathedral Village Arts Festival is bigger than ever.
The 35th annual festival officially launched Monday and runs until Saturday, May 23, under the theme “A Story Worth Telling,” bringing six straight days of free music, theatre, comedy, poetry, visual arts and cultural programming to the heart of Regina.
What started in 1991 as a small neighbourhood arts gathering has evolved into one of Saskatchewan’s largest volunteer-run cultural festivals. Today, the event attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually and has become one of Regina’s signature celebrations of local talent and community culture.
This year’s edition includes multiple concert stages, artist studio tours, literary events, family programming, comedy nights, theatre performances, poetry slams, artisan markets and expanded Indigenous programming.
And for the first time in festival history, there will be an entirely Indigenous-focused performance stage.
The new Sâkêwêwak Stage at Holy Rosary Park was created through a partnership with Sâkêwêwak First Nations Artists' Collective, which is celebrating its own 30th anniversary this year.
“This year I saw an opportunity to help sponsor a stage and fill it with Indigenous artists,” said Bill Stevenson, executive director of the Sâkêwêwak First Nations Artists' Collective.
The stage will feature performances by Indigenous artists including Drezus, Teagan Littlechief and Alberta-based singer-songwriter Melody McArthur, alongside traditional powwow dance demonstrations from the Coca To Boys dance troupe.
Stevenson said the goal is to showcase Indigenous artists in a highly visible and meaningful way while introducing audiences to the depth and diversity of Indigenous music and art.
“It’s important that we have a stage where we’re able to bring talented artists and recognizable artists to introduce them to the general public here in Regina,” Stevenson said. “We’re not just Indigenous artists. We’re artists that are Indigenous.”
The partnership also expands beyond live performances.
Festival organizers have added space for 10 additional Indigenous vendors this year, allowing artists and creators to display and sell their work directly to the public during the festival’s massive street fair weekend.
CVAF director Don Young called the collaboration a major step forward for the festival.
“Together, we’re creating a bigger and brighter festival for the whole city to enjoy,” Young stated.
Throughout the week, festival goers can experience a packed lineup of events across Cathedral Village.
Tuesday night includes Book Night at The Artesian featuring Saskatchewan Book Award winners, while the YWCA Regina Kikaskihtanaw Centre hosts a hands-on ribbon skirt making workshop celebrating Indigenous culture and artistry.
Music fans can catch performances throughout the week from artists including Jeffrey Straker, Jack Semple, Wolf Willow and Indigo Joseph.
Comedy Wednesday at the Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre promises packed crowds and local laughs, while Word Up Poetry Slam Night inside the Holy Rosary Big Top Tent will spotlight spoken word artists from across the province.
One of the festival’s most unique traditions returns Thursday evening when eight Cathedral-area artists open their private home studios to the public from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., offering visitors a rare behind-the-scenes look into Regina’s local arts community.
The festival reaches its peak Saturday with what organizers say will be the largest Cathedral Village Street Fair in festival history.
From 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., 13th Avenue will be packed with hundreds of artisan vendors, food booths, live performers and street buskers from across Canada.
Families can also head to Holy Rosary Park for Funville, which includes children’s activities, games, an ice cream eating contest and a Tug O’ War showdown featuring Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski, city councillors and Cathedral volunteers. CVAF communications co-ordinator Paul Dechene will be taking part in the event wearing an inflatable cow costume as well.
The festival wraps up Saturday night with an official after-party at Pumpjacks Cathedral Saloon & Steakhouse running from midnight until 3 a.m.
What continues to set Cathedral Village Arts Festival apart after 35 years is not only the entertainment lineup or the size of the crowds.
It is the accessibility.
Every concert, community event and performance remains free to attend. Donation tins placed throughout the festival help keep the event open to everyone regardless of income, background or age.
Nearly every part of the festival is organized by volunteers who spend months transforming the neighbourhood into one of Saskatchewan’s largest celebrations of local art and culture.
And for Stevenson, this year’s expanded Indigenous presence represents something even bigger.
“It’s important that these artists have opportunities to come into view,” he said. “There’s no denying that now.”
