Last weekend, Calgary hosted the four day annual Sled Island Festival. This year it expanded to include arts, movies and plenty of live music events, many dotted around downtown bars and pubs. It culminated in a two day epic down at the Mewata Barracks with a perfect set up of two stages right next to each other providing almost endless music to the masses.

Although both headliners, Broken Social Scene and Mogwai disappointed to end each day on an upbeat note, instead playing slower melodic tunes, the rest of the festival provided some awesome goodness including the amazingly enchanting duo, Tegan and Sara. Calgary weather held strong for the two days, with sunshine lasting until extremely late in the evening and the occasional cool wind providing relief from the dry heat.

Although this festival didn’t have any huge names, it provided an opportunity for the local talent to shine. Local band ChixDiggit (shown above) had plenty of funny little jokes and got the audience in on much of their act. Their music, more suited for live entertainment than probably on a CD was a great addition to the festival line up.

Saturday saw the San Francisco based band, Still Flyin’ barely fitting on their stage although their fun music and antics helped to make the festival a success. And yes, that is a person dressed up in a spiderman outfit. Other bands definitely worth checking out include Jane Vain and the Dark Matter\ and The Cryptomaniacs.

It’s great to see Calgary host such a great festival, showing more culture than what it’s probably known for.