Grand Opening of Festival Square in downtown Lethbridge

Malcolm said the Heart of Our City Master Plan, the city’s long-term project to revitalize downtown Lethbridge, is about creating an environment where people feel comfortable visiting and enjoying the downtown.

“Bringing Festival Square into the mix, it offers entertainment and offers markets and offers those things that keep people down here for longer, which makes the downtown more vibrant,” said Malcolm.

“It also means that there’s a better chance that those folks are spending money in our local business and really trying to drive our local economy,” he added.

Residents celebrate the grand opening of Festival Square in downtown Lethbridge, June 22, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

The long-awaited grand opening has been in the works for many years, and Malcolm says its a culmination of several people’s efforts.

“Many of the people that worked on this project, it’s kind of the final piece of over ten years of planning, of seeking out their funding, detailed planning, engineering, and then construction through a pandemic,” said Malcolm, “which was definitely not easy, both in terms of the project team, as well as all the businesses that had to deal with the construction complications and issues, as well as dealing with changing restrictions and what they have to do with their business.”

Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen took the opportunity to thank business owners for their patience during the construction phase of the project.

“I want to give just the biggest shout out to the businesses,” said Hyggen. “The businesses, what they’ve had to endure over this past, well, year of construction, so huge shout out to them, especially during COVID, that they were able to keep operating, and now to have this open, we hope to get this business back to them.”

According to a June 22 news release, the City of Lethbridge is hoping to capitalize on creating a further economic catalyst for downtown Lethbridge. LNN asked Mayor Hyggen about the economic forecast running into the future as a result of the new Festival Square.

“The exact numbers I couldn’t tell you, but I’ve got to say something,” said Hyggen. “When you see the traffic here now, and I think into the future here, with what is shown and what we’ve been able to do down here, I think that’s gonna be definitely a huge economic driver for the businesses downtown here.”

Analog Books’ owners Penny and Scott Warris, who opened their downtown store about a year ago, said some people may have thought business was dying downtown, but that’s not the case.

“They might have a perception that it just went down during the pandemic, but on this street alone, six new businesses have opened up,” Penny said.

Now, they’re excited about the completion of Festival Square, and what it could mean for the area.

“The patios will be open, people will be coming downtown for things that are happening at Galt Gardens and everywhere else,” said Penny. “I really believe that when people come downtown, they’re gonna be like, ‘Wow! This has changed so much.'”

While many changes have been completed, according to Andrew Malcolm, there are still a few minor things to finish up, including:

Programmable lighting
Some final touches on the stages
Bike racks
Third Avenue and Fourth Street intersection needs to be finalized

Several events and activities will be taking place at Festival Square this week. On Thursday, June 23, a Farmer’s Market and Cartoonist Eric Dyck will be on site from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and an artisan market will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. There will also be many performances throughout the day.

Several events are also scheduled on Friday, June 24, including Family Fun on Festival Square, Lethbridge Musical Theatre, a Pop-Up Yoga session, and more.

A full list of scheduled events is available at Lighting Up Festival Square.

Read more on the Festival Square construction process:

Sept. 7, 2021: Construction work to begin on Festival Square in downtown Lethbridge
Dec. 16, 2021: Festival Square construction paused for winter; resuming in the spring
April 1, 2022: Final construction phases to begin next week on Festival Square
April 26, 2022: Festival Square construction resulting in road closures this week
June 2, 2022: Grand opening for improved Festival Square set for June 22
June 15, 2022: Festival Square grand opening to take place in Lethbridge next week

Read more Lethbridge News Now.

by Mario Cabradilla

Grand Opening of Festival Square in downtown Lethbridge

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