Held along a six-block stretch of International Avenue, the independent music and food festival transformed 17th Avenue SE into a choose-your-own-adventure experience, inviting attendees to bounce between 10 unconventional venues for a night of live music, local cuisine, and community connection.

Unlike traditional festivals that centralize everything around a single site, East Town Get Down uses the neighbourhood itself as the venue. Restaurants, pubs, cafés, juice bars, and even Paradise Lanes become temporary stages, with artists performing rapid-fire 45-minute sets throughout the evening. The result feels refreshingly DIY, encouraging exploration while highlighting a part of Calgary that many residents rarely experience in depth.

The festival’s unofficial nickname, “East Town, Chow Down,” feels equally appropriate. Each participating venue offered a $5 mini-dish, turning the event into a roaming food crawl as much as a music festival. Pupusas, pad thai, mango salad, mac and cheese bites, and Filipino spring rolls were just a few of the highlights available to festivalgoers making their way between performances.

The musical lineup was every bit as varied as the menu. Artists spanning hip-hop, folk, pop, post-punk, hardcore, and indie rock kept crowds moving throughout the night. Sets from The Besnard Lakes, Art d’Ecco, Brett Cassidy, Concrete Vehicles, Kacy Lee Anderson, and King of Foxes drew enthusiastic audiences, with several venues overflowing onto the sidewalks.

Some of the evening’s biggest discoveries came from lesser-known acts. Stuck delivered one of the standout performances of the festival at Pacific Hut, while Perra’s set at Paradise Lanes transformed the bowling alley into one of the most energetic rooms of the night.

Even when venues reached capacity, the momentum never stalled. The sidewalks themselves became part of the experience. Festivalgoers gathered beneath neon signs and fading storefronts, sharing recommendations, plotting their next stop, and soaking in one of Calgary’s first truly warm evenings of the season. With a glowing sunset overhead and music spilling out onto the street, International Avenue felt less like a collection of businesses and more like a single interconnected venue.

Besnard Lakes

That sense of discovery has always been East Town Get Down’s greatest strength. The festival offers a reminder that some of Calgary’s most vibrant cultural experiences exist beyond the city’s most familiar neighbourhoods. By pairing local music with the incredible diversity of International Avenue’s food scene, it creates an event that feels deeply rooted in place.

For one night each year, East Town Get Down turns a stretch of Calgary often overlooked by outsiders into one of the city’s most exciting destinations. And if you missed it this time around, International Avenue’s restaurants, shops, and hidden gems are still there waiting to be explored long after the stages have come down.

Witch Victim

Perra

Autonomous Ape

Concrete Vehicles

Paris Pick and The Pricks

Minot

King of Foxes