Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival launches with over 70 concerts, talks, readings, exhibitions, performances, and screenings—including 50 free events—running from May to September, 2025
Held every summer at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta, the 2025 festival is themed around “gatherings and conversation,” and will feature Jeremy Dutcher, an evening dedicated to Oscar Peterson, an opera adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, the 15th Banff International String Quartet Competition, a new venue, and more!
BANFF, AB, April 3, 2025 – A tradition since 1950, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is again turning its campus into the grounds of the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival. Starting with a single week of events to welcome the public into its Theatre, Music, and Fine Arts programs, the festival is now a months-long calendar of free and ticketed activities, welcoming some of the finest artists in the world to Banff. Tickets are now available for the 2025 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival, beginning on May 1 and ending on September 5, at banffcentre.ca/summer-arts-
“This festival is a highlight of the year because it’s an invitation to the public to participate in the work that goes on at Banff Centre all year long,” says Chris Lorway, President and CEO of Banff Centre. “We’re the ultimate artistic laboratory—like when a famous comedian tries out new work at a small club. Audiences in Banff can see and hear renowned artists try out new projects and get immediate feedback.”
“There can be a tendency for audiences to view things in silos—you’re an opera person, a jazz person, or a film person,” says Josephine Ridge, Executive Director of Arts at Banff Centre. “But artists roam freely across these definitions.”
See the full lineup of the 2025 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival here. Festival highlights are below.
Theatre
On May 2, join Banff Centre for a one-night-only performance of SEARCH PARTY by multi-hyphenate writer Inua Ellams. Born in Nigeria, Ellams is now one of Britain’s most beloved
contemporary playwrights, known for works like the acclaimed Barber Shop Chronicles and The Half-God of Rainfall. In SEARCH PARTY, Ellams uses audience prompts to search through an electronic archive of his writing for a spontaneous, moving, and ever-evolving performance.
- SEARCH PARTY
May 2, 7:30 p.m.
Margaret Greenham Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Music
Banff Centre’s Soundweavings program celebrates intercultural exchange, inspired by the histories and traditions of the invited participants and faculty members from Australia, India, Korea, Vietnam, and Canada.
- Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, Sandeep Bhagwati & Hand to Earth Trio
May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity - Jeremy Dutcher: MOTEWOLONUWOK ᒣᑏᐧᐁᓓᓄᐧᐁᒃ
May 3, 7:30 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity - Soundweavings Participant Concerts
May 7 & 9, 7:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
FREE
Art of Piano returns after a successful run of participant and faculty concerts in the 2024 festival. Combining legendary faculty with emerging talents, this program pushes the instrument to new heights. Concerts include:
- Hung-Kuan Chen & Tema Blackstone
May 25, 7:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity - Joanna MacGregor
June 3, 7:30 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity - Art of Piano Participant Showcase
June 5 & 6, 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Rolston Recital Hall at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
FREE
Banff (The Beautiful) Celebrates Oscar Peterson at 100 is an unforgettable evening of music and stories honouring Peterson’s love of jazz and Banff Centre. Hear music from his nearly seven-decade career with reflections from his daughter, Céline Peterson.
- Banff (The Beautiful) Celebrates Oscar Peterson at 100
July 18, 8 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Also returning to the 2025 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival is Amp Sessions, where Bow Valley is invited to take in a performance by a local musician in the gorgeous setting of the Shaw Amphitheatre. With exclusive pre-show deals on the Maclab Bistro patio—the Amphitheatre is the go-to after-work summer destination!
- Amp Sessions
July 10, 24, 31, & August 21
Shaw Amphitheatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
FREE
Visual Arts
Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery will open a new exhibition during Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival, Elliptical Lineages. Drawing from Banff Centre’s collection of works and histories with generations of visual artists, this exhibition presents work by artists that engage with the work of a family member or someone they consider kin. Go deeper into the exhibition at the opening reception on June 27, Artist Discussion on June 28, or an exhibition tour on July 2 or August 20—all free to attend.
- Elliptical Lineages
June 7 to September 7, 2025
Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
FREE
Opera
Banff Centre’s Interplay program returns in 2025 to celebrate the intersection of opera and chamber music. Featuring the fan favourite Opera Pubs and workshop performances of new operas-in-progress, from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion to An Evening with Karim Al-Zand, the festival’s opera programming culminates in the world premiere of the opera adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in a new chamber orchestration by Dan Schlosberg, commissioned by Banff Centre.
- Opera Pub
July 4 & 19, 7 p.m.
Banff Legion
FREE - Opera Workshop Performances
July 11 & 25, 7:30 p.m.
Margaret Greenham Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity - The Handmaid’s Tale
July 26, 7:30 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Film
Closing out the 2025 Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival is a weekend of free film screenings in the Shaw Amphitheatre, under the stars. As summer closes, we look forward to the fall’s Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival with highlights from the World Tour and a 2024 festival film, Stories We Have Earned: The Stoney Nakoda Film Project by Cody Lefthand.
- Outdoor Screenings at the Amphitheatre
September 4 & 5, 8:30 p.m.
Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
CLVB ’33
Banff Centre is proud to unveil its newest venue—CLVB ’33! Named after the year Banff Centre was founded, 1933, CLVB ’33 also harkens back to the storied Banff Centre cabaret space, The Club. Located on the rear lower level of the theatre complex, CLVB ’33 is the go-to space for after-party jam sessions, intimate Literary Cabarets, and endless surprises.
- Ghostkeeper
June 27, Doors at 8 p.m.
CLVB ’33 at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity - Literary Cabarets
May 15, 20, 22, August 21, 26, & 28, 7 p.m.
CLVB ’33 at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
And that’s just a taste of what’s coming up this summer! Visit banffcentre.ca for the full lineup of events and contact the Banff Centre Box Office for tickets at 1.403.762.6301.
