What started as a community-led initiative among a handful of local artists in Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood, nearly 10 years ago, has since evolved into one of the city’s annual high water marks, offering a healthy blend of free-to-attend programming from industry panels and workshops, to graffiti jams and film screenings atop High Park.

Don’t get it mixed up, though. The main thing is certainly still the main thing. 

“Our bread and butter is very much doing murals in the Beltline,” says Ryan Tram, BUMP’s festival and events manager. “I don’t think people are immediately thinking Calgary is a city with 120 murals, but by this time in our tenure as an organization, we’ve been able to achieve that,” he adds. “I think, on one hand, that’s incredible. I think the other thing is, through the eight years that we’ve run as an organization, we’ve really insisted on having free and public events to partner with that.”

A scene from BUMP’s 2023 Alley Party (Photo: Kyle Wilson)

Now in his third year of overseeing events for the festival, Tram and the rest of the team are leaning into the success and inspiration from last year’s Alley Party, which featured the Calgary debut of internationally recognized Toronto DJ, BAMBII. 

“From a high-level perspective, bringing BAMBII was something that in the planning stages I identified as a little bit risky, because we don’t have a ton of these inter-genre, interdisciplinary DJs that play in Calgary a lot of the time, but I think it turned out better than we could have hoped,” says Tram. “When I was planning for this year, I was like ‘Okay, let’s look at that. How do we take that kernel of success and, like, spin it into something even bigger?’”

Enter the Trinity Kiki Ball and Rave: an homage to the pageantry of  twentieth century East Coast Ballroom culture tethered to high-energy electronic soundscapes co-curated by local organizers, Ambien. MikeQ will headline the event, while supporting sets from San Francisco DJ/Producer Jasmine Infiniti and the electrifying Toronto duo Redliners round out an entirely Black, entirely queer lineup. 

Toronto duo Redliners will be among the artists performing at the the Trinity Kiki Ball and Rave on Aug. 17 in Calgary, AB as part of BUMP Festival. 

“It really adds up to this very interactive type of  show,” suggests Tram. “The energy of it will be frenetic, and also really fun. If people have the urge to dance, I would say this event is the place to do it,” he laughs.

Ostensibly, the Trinity Ball offers Calgarians one last seasonal respite to blow off steam before another cold, long prairie winter sets in, but simultaneously, it represents cultural upheaval for a city on the cusp of being Canada’s next creative cynosure. As BUMP’s concluding festivities confront locals with a portal to new expressions and unfamiliar territory, Tram hopes it can be a northstar for the next line of visionary programming in the city. 

“In my heart of hearts, what I want for Calgary, following us throwing these kinds of events, is that people take it away. They want to learn more about it. They want to listen to more of the artists, and they want to delve into some of the history. They want to get involved.”

The Trinity Kiki Ball & Rave is on Aug. 17, (5pm to 12am) at 727 11 Ave. SW | INFO