Festival Square ready to rock by June

It’s almost time for the grand opening of the new Festival Square project. The area will be located on the corner of 3rd Ave and 6th Street in downtown Lethbridge. Festival Square will be an outdoor event space that will host farmers markets, music events, outdoor movie showings, and social gatherings. The project comes off the back of the Municipal Stimulus Program from the Alberta government to complete the $1.71 million project. City Council voted 6-3 last summer to move forward with the square.

“Right now this $1.7 million project, which is fully funded by the province of Alberta through the Municipal Stimulus Program is currently under budget. Which we’re also excited about. We’re thrilled to see the progress and what this space will lend itself to the ongoing efforts of revitalization of our downtown,” says the Urban Revitalization Manager for the City of Lethbridge, Andrew Malcolm.

The chair for the Heart of Our City Committee, Lorien Johansen, says every week she drives by just to see what’s going on and to see how much more progress has been made on the square, “Choosing everything from the design of the concrete, the lighting, and the pillars, and the overhead bar that’s going to welcome people into Festival Square. All of those choices have been made by a fabulous group of people. To watch it grow and develop, and I can’t wait to see what the next three weeks will bring. They’re going to fly by. Then all of a sudden we’re going to have this space welcoming everyone on the 22nd of June for the ribbon cutting ceremony.”

“It’s extremely meaningful. It gives businesses and events another avenue and another facility to set themselves up in, and catch that much more foot traffic and the eye of that many more people,” states the Community Director of the Downtown Lethbridge BRZ, Sarah Amies.

Other events like Street Wheelers and Oktoberfest will also be hosted at Festival Square in the future.

For more information on Festival Square and upcoming events you can visit https://downtownlethbridge.com/blog.asp?bnID=3166