Calgarians love their arts and culture, and they have the galleries, theatres, concert halls and festivals to prove it. If it dances, sings, struts, wails, boggles, wows, entertains or inspires, you'll find it in Calgary.

Calgary’s dynamic arts and culture community offers up an exciting schedule of live performances, festivals and exhibitions year in, year out. You’ll find a rich cultural district blossoming downtown. The Olympic Plaza Cultural District, including Stephen Avenue Walk and the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts, is home to many of the city’s theatre and performing arts groups including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

There’s also a host of theatre companies: Theatre Calgary stages both classic and contemporary productions, while Alberta Theatre Projects focuses on recent Canadian and international successes in contemporary theatre. One Yellow Rabbit and Theatre Junction at the Grand are two progressive companies that feature innovative performances by local and international artists, while there are specialty companies like Vertigo Mystery Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, Jubilations Dinner Theatre, Stage West Dinner Theatre and a host of other smaller independent companies constantly putting on shows.

High-profile events like the High Performance Rodeo, Calgary International Film Festival, Wordfest and the Calgary International Children’s Festival draw crowds from around the world to celebrate the arts in Calgary. The Southern Alberta Jubliee Auditorium is home to Alberta Ballet, which stages both imaginative family favourites and cutting-edge dance shows, as well as Calgary Opera, which thrills audiences with classic performances and world premieres. If you’re looking for a little visual inspiration, city galleries like Art Central, New Gallery, Truck and the Art Gallery of Calgary are inspiring, centrally-located venues.