RiverFest today
City residents can head to Edmonton today to take a slow ride down the source of St. Albert’s drinking water.
Some 2,700 people are expected to raft down the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton today as part of the third annual EPCOR RiverFest. Organized by the River Valley Alliance, the event is meant to teach people more about the North Saskatchewan watershed (of which the Sturgeon River is a part) and encourage them to use the river valley for recreation.
The North Saskatchewan River valley is a natural gem but many take it for granted as they drive over or by it, said River Valley Alliance executive director Brent Collingwood.
“This is our drinking water, and it’s important we keep it clean and pristine.”
The alliance has for many years worked with Edmonton-area governments (including Sturgeon County) to build a linked trail system throughout the river valley that will end at its confluence with the Sturgeon, Collingwood said. They’ve built about 70 kilometres so far and hope to do the rest (which will include a foot bridge between Sturgeon County and Fort Saskatchewan) within seven years.
Collingwood said the highlight of RiverFest is an hour-long raft or canoe ride down the North Saskatchewan between Sir Wilfred Laurier and Terwillegar Park, during which you may see eagles, coyotes, fish, boaters, kayakers and other river valley inhabitants. The alliance is also for the first time offering similar boat trips at Devon’s Voyageur Park.
“You get to see the city from a completely different perspective,” Collingwood said.
While the river ride costs about $20, the festival features many free on-land activities in Laurier and Voyageur parks, including fishing clinics, wilderness walks, scavenger hunts, and fitness challenges.
RiverFest runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Aug. 10 in Edmonton and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Devon. Visit epcorriverfest.ca for details.
Mushroom fest Sunday
All this rain has made this one of the best mushroom seasons in years, say local mycophiles.
Fungi fans will be foraging around the University of Alberta Botanic Garden near Devon tomorrow as part of the Alberta Mycological Society’s annual City of Champignons Mushroom Expo. The free event gives guests a chance to learn more about how to spot, identify, and eat wild mushrooms.
This has probably been the best year in five years in Alberta for mushrooms, said expo co-ordinator Catherine Jevic.
“The rain makes all the difference,” she said, as mushrooms are about 85 per cent water.
St. Albert mushroom fan and city councillor Natalie Joly said she’s been finding boletes, fly agarics and many other forms of fungi in every forest she’s visited in town this summer.
“It’s a treasure hunt,” she said of mushroom hunting, as you need to know the precise habitat and conditions each mushroom prefers.
Mycological society members will have a large display of edible, unusual and poisonous mushrooms collected in recent weeks at the expo and will give free talks on mushroom identification and the role of fungi in agriculture, Jevic said. Guests can go on guided mushroom tours of the gardens and sample mushroom risotto prepared by chef Sonny Sung.
Joly said finding edible wild mushrooms helped her kids get a closer connection to their food.
“It’s exciting to find something, looking underneath a log and finding a big hericium (coral-like mushroom) you can eat for dinner.”
The expo is free with admission to the garden and runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 11. Visit www.albertamushrooms.ca for details.
