The Dawson Bridge crosses the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, a little east of downtown.
Here are some photos taken of the bridge and from the bridge in early September 2021:

Here are some photos from August 12th (2021) of the North Saskatchewan River in central Edmonton (at Dawson Bridge).
It was nice to see Dragon boats back on the river
This is the start of perhaps the most beautiful time of year for the river – slow and relaxed, clear and colorful.
In this post I take a look back at the year 2018 in Edmonton, through my photos of Edmonton landscapes and landmarks – a couple of photos selected for each month.
January: The year started off rather frosty and cool. Photos: suspended wires crossing the river near Dawson Bridge and the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald
February: Notably longer, sunnier days but still the snow on the ground wasn’t going anywhere yet (other than piled into windrows in the middle of the road. First photo is Jasper Avenue east of 97th Street. The second photo is the old (but not that old) Bank of Montreal building (on 101 St. at 102 Ave.) being demolished.
March: Winter persisted and the Crashed Ice event returned to Edmonton’s river valley in Louise McKinney Park. The second photo is looking south on 108th Street, past one of the intriguing pieces of art on that street, towards the Alberta Legislature.
April: Finally winter (and the ice on the North Saskatchewan) broke. Unfortunately a rapid snow melt lead to flooding of paths like shown in the second photo from Rundle Park.
May: This month brought the explosion of green that I so look forward to. The first photo is in Mill Creek Ravine; the second looking east over the river valley from the top of Edmonton’s funicular site.
June: More downtown construction, on 102 Avenue for the new LRT line and around City Hall, forced the festivals, normally centered on Churchill Square to more elsewhere. The Works festival, with its musical stage was at the plaza north of the Alberta Legislature grounds.
July: This month brought more festivals and celebrations, starting with Canada Day and a delightful program of band music in Borden Park. July also brought some typical mid-summer stormy weather with the dark, ominous skies that typically roll in from the west.
August: The skies of mid-August were filled with choking smoke (from not-so-nearby forest fires). I noticed that the sun-blocking smoke really stalled by garden in what should have been a prime part of the growing season. By the end of the month the smoke had dissipated and the sky was relatively clear (save for the occasional rainbow)
September: As is typical for this month, it starts with the hint of autumn colors and ends with a blast of yellow and red (with the lingering green) in the river valley. (Not shown is the first significant dump of snow that occurred mid-month)
October: By the tenth month the days are noticeably cooler and the days shorter. The first photo is of the top of the riverbank in the glow of the rich late-afternoon sunlight. The second photo is of Edmonton’s new Walterdale Bridge, that in October I finally had a chance to get down close to (even though I think it had been operational for around a year.
November: The Edmonton landscape continues to cool and dullen in November and ice begins to form from the edges of the North Saskatchewan River. This November was special in Edmonton as the City played host to the Grey Cup game and celebrations. Part of that fun is shown in the second photo – a couple of guys on a zip line, down into the river valley from high above Jasper Avenue.
December: The final month of 2018 brought more dullness, a bit more snow and continued freezing of the river, but from what I can remember the temperature were relatively mild and we didn’t get hit with a typical early-winter cold snap that can drop temperatures to -20C for a week – so we can’t complain.
In this post, IÂ countdown my 10 favorite photos of Edmonton* that I took in 2017:
Number ten:
Convention Centre
9:
Churchill Square
8:
Dawson Park
7:
Edmonton City Hall
6:
North Saskatchewan River by Dawson Park
5:
Rowland Road
4:
108 Street
3:
ATB Tower
2:
Dawson Park
and finally my favorite (at the moment) for 2017:
Forest Heights Park
*I should further qualify that these are from just among the photos I took with my DSLR and each has some recognizable Edmonton viewpoint.
Bonus, a few other photos that made the shortlist (but not Top 10):
Today (Tuesday June 27, 2017) I did something I really enjoy doing during the Edmonton Jazz Fest – going to Churchill Square at noon and taking in the free jazz performance on The Works stage. These events are especially delightful on warm, sunny early summer days. Alas, today was not one of those days. It was cloudy, cool and a bit of rain came down (at least during the first set).
However, the jazz performance put on by the Brett Hansen trio, made putting up with the elements, worthwhile.
The Brett Hansen Trio
The trio comprises Brett Hansen on guitar, Murray Wood on bass and Jamie Cooper on drums.
Brett Hansen
Murray Wood
Jamie Cooper
The 2016 Edmonton International Jazz Fest was a good one! I made a point to take in as many of the events as I could and between June 24th and July 3rd I attended 12 events and enjoyed 14 bands. As much as I enjoyed the varied jazz music I also enjoyed photographing the performers in action.
Ths first performance I took in was at noon on Friday June 24 on the Works with Jazz stage in Churchill Square. This show featured guitarist Marc Beaudin, with bassist Josh McHan and Sandro Dominelli on drums.
Marc Beaudin
Dominelli and McHan
On Saturday afternoon I was at the Community Big Band Bash. Three big bands associated with MacEwan University performed on the OSPAC (Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre) stage.
Littlebirds All-Star Big Band
The Littlebirds opened, followed by the MacEwan Outreach Big Band and finally the MacEwan University Big Band. All three groups were solid and very enjoyable.
On Monday at noon it was Brett Miles with his Magilla Funk Conduit taking the Churchill Square stage for a couple of sets starting at noon. Their form of jazz was wonderfully funky and energetic.
Magilla Funk Conduit leader/vocalist/saxophonist Brett Miles
Magilla Funk Conduit
Jamie Philp
Mo Lefever
Magilla Funk Conduit
Later that afternoon, I was at the Yardbird Suite (somehow, it was my first visit ever to the venue but it would be there three more times that week). The afternoon I observed a Master Class with Marianne Trudel and Ingrid Jensen. They listened to and gave good feedback on performance and composition to three student combos – quite interesting.
That evening, Trudel (piano) and Jensen (trumpet), with Remi-Jean LeBlanc (bass) and Rich Irwin (drums) put on an innovative/experimental sometimes atmospheric/moody and always captivating, performance.
On Tuesday at noon, I was back in Churchill Square to enjoy another free performance on the Works stage. This day is was the MacEwan Jazz Combo – a sextet performing a fairly standard jazz combo fare with impressive improvised solos.
MacEwan Jazz Combo (2016 June 28)
Eric Doucet
Ryan Plishka, drums
Dave Morgan
Jonny McCormack & Sascha Liebrand
Well that was the first half of the 2016 festival and of course only touching on those performances that I was able to get to – there was something like 27 events over those first 5 days!
See more of the Edmonton International Jazz Festival in Part 2.
Today (2015 June 23) on The Works stage in Churchill Square, Edmonton was a band that blew me away – The Heavyweights Brass Band.They are a Toronto-based, New Orleans influenced group. Being a trumpet player myself I have passion for brass instruments in general and trumpets in particular. This band features TWO excellent trumpets as well as a trombone and sousaphone and sax and drums – what a powerful sound!
Some may wonder why there would be two trumpets in a sextet but there was more than enough work to keep the two of them busy. Each took a turn with some impressive solo work and when they teamed up it was great.
Also very impressive was saxophonist Paul Metcalfe.
Metcalfe was a passionate performer and the composer of a number of the band’s original pieces. The original pieces were good as were their versions of traditional jazz pieces (St. James Imaginary Blues was great) and some unexpected jazzifying of rock/pop tunes including Rush’s YYZ and Michael Jackson’s Beat It.
Butcher, who lived in Sherwood Park for a number of years, was the band’s leader on stage.
It was a very enjoyable show and although I had intended to just be there for the first set, I just had to extend my lunch hour and stay around for the second set. I also had to buy one of their CD’s – their latest Brasstronomical.
This performance in Edmonton was just one stop in their cross-country tour this summer. I doubt that I’ll get a chance to see them again soon but I will definitely look for a future opportunity.
Today I spent my lunchtime in Edmonton’s Churchill Square taking in three of my favorite things: sunshine, art and jazz. As part of The Works (Art and Design Festival) and tying in with the Edmonton International Jazz Festival there are daily jazz concerts from 12:00 to 2:00. Today on stage was the John Sweenie 4Tet.
The quartet’s leader is Edmonton saxophonist John Sweenie:
With some solid original works and good takes on classics, the John Sweenie 4Tet delivered a very enjoyable performance! I look forward to hearing them again someday and hearing other jazz artists over the rest of this festival.