REGINA — A larger street fair, packed performance venues, record-breaking crowds, stronger Indigenous partnerships and thousands of people filling parks, galleries, stages and sidewalks helped make the 2026 Cathedral Village Arts Festival one for the history books.
Festival organizers are still counting donations and final attendance numbers, but early signs suggest this year's celebration surpassed even last year's record-breaking attendance of 50,000 people.
"So far, based on what we saw coming in from donation tins, fundraising is looking really good. And the Street Fair did exceptionally well," said Cathedral Village Arts Festival communications co-ordinator Paul Dechene.
"As for attendance, with only a few exceptions, all our shows were at or near capacity. That's amazing."
For six days, Cathedral Village became a living gallery. Musicians filled stages, artists opened their studios, theatre performers tested new material, writers shared stories and thousands of visitors wandered through one of Regina's most vibrant cultural districts.
The festival's signature Street Fair once again served as its largest public gathering, but organizers say the event was noticeably bigger than ever before.
"The Street Fair was extremely well attended — and it was physically larger and one hour longer," Dechene said.
The growth did not happen by accident.
Street fair co-ordinator Casey Peart said organizers continually build on community feedback and new ideas while staying true to the festival's original mission.
"Every year, we've kind of been able to build on ideas from each year, feedback from the community, and then ideas from new committee members to kind of grow the festival according to our mandate," Peart explained.
That mandate remains simple but increasingly rare in today's event landscape: make art accessible to everyone.
"We pride ourselves on being a free festival, meaning that nobody pays to enjoy or experience any of the art," she said. "We also pride ourselves that all of the artists that perform in any of the events in the Cathedral Village Arts Festival are paid."
The combination has helped transform the festival into one of Regina's defining cultural events while ensuring artists are compensated for their work.
As festival attendance continues to climb, organizers believe one of this year's biggest achievements was strengthening relationships with Indigenous artists and creators.
For the festival's 35th anniversary, organizers partnered with the Saskatchewan-based Sâkêwêwak Artists' Collective, bringing Indigenous vendors, performers and cultural programming to the forefront of the celebration.
"I think this year, one of the big exciting aspects of our festival was our partnership with the Sâkêwêwak Indigenous Arts Collective," Peart said.
The partnership introduced Indigenous artists from Regina and surrounding Treaty 4 communities to the street fair while also helping create a major new concert experience in Holy Rosary Park.
"We had an incredible showcase of all the Indigenous artists that are in our community," Peart said. "We wanted our festival to reflect the greater community, which obviously includes a large Indigenous presence, but we wanted to do it in a meaningful way."
The result was one of the festival's defining moments.
Organizers estimate at least 1,000 people packed Holy Rosary Park on Saturday night for performances on the Sâkêwêwak Stage.
Perhaps even more impressive than the crowd size was the atmosphere.
"Despite the fact that there were so many people in Holy Rosary for that, it was a really friendly event," Dechene said. "We didn't have any altercations or security problems. Just great music and awesome vibes."
The festival also continued expanding opportunities for visitors to experience art beyond simply viewing finished works.
Street fair co-ordinator Amy Bedell said organizers have increasingly focused on bringing working artists directly into public spaces.
"We've been trying to bring in live artists and that is something that we are hoping to continue and maybe make it even a bigger thing again," Bedell said.
This year's street fair featured artists creating work in real time, allowing visitors to see the creative process unfold before their eyes.
"It's really great for people to not only see what things look like at the end, but to see the process and see artists working, ask questions and engage with the art as it's happening," she said.
While the crowds often gravitate toward the Street Fair, organizers hope people increasingly discover the hundreds of performances, exhibits and community events that take place throughout festival week.
"A lot of the time when people are talking about the arts festival, they think of the Street Fair solely," Peart said.
"I would just encourage folks to check out the offerings through the entire week because it is truly really quality programming."
From artist studio tours and theatre productions to literary events and live podcast recordings, Peart said the festival continues to offer something for virtually everyone.
"There really is something kind of for everyone. The calibre of art is really great," she said.
Behind the scenes, making a free festival of this scale possible remains a community-wide effort.
The festival relies heavily on sponsorships, vendor participation and public donations collected throughout the week. Those contributions help fund operations and ensure artists are compensated for their work.
"Creative work is work," Peart said. "And so we believe that everybody should be compensated as such."
That philosophy has become part of the festival's identity over the past three and a half decades.
As organizers begin wrapping up the books on another successful year, one thing already appears certain: Cathedral Village Arts Festival continues to grow not just in size, but in impact.
For Dechene, the verdict on the festival's milestone 35th anniversary is already clear.
"Overall attendance was definitely up from last year's record-breaking 50,000 for the whole week," he said. "We're writing the 2026 Festival up as a Wild Success."
