Come on everybody, I say now, let’s play a game. I betcha I can make a rhyme out of anybody’s name. K-Days!

K-Days, K-Days bo B-Days Bonana fanna fo F-Days
Fee fy mo M-Days K-Days!

Well actually it doesn’t really work there, because it’s a truncated word, but it was still a fun exercise in naming.

And speaking of naming, let’s talk about K-Days dear readers. K-Days is an annual event spanning back as far as 1879 and with a fairly cool history to boot. It has also been called Capital Ex (from 2006-2012), Klondike Days (1962-2005) and The Exhibition (1869-1963) throughout various stages of it’s history. Though I do distinctly remember my parents and grandparents refer to it as the Ex well after the name changed to Klondike Days during the 90’s.

K-Days originally started as a fair for agriculture, and slowly added in a parade, then a community driven parade, even being moved to Northlands during WWI from it’s original location at Fort Edmonton. At a certain point the event turned into a carnival as well, and when it was re-skinned as Klondike Days, people would dress up in period based Klondike Gold Rush costumes. By the early 2000’s people had lost most of their interest in the Klondike theme, and thus the name was changed to Capital Ex. Though Edmontonians weren’t especially interested in the name change, and we saw attendance dip consistently until the rebrand to K-Days.

K-Days is quite an event – it features rides, food vendors, games, live music on two separate stages, street performers, merchandise inside the Northlands building, exhibitions which are usually themed around pop culture or environmental issues. All in all, there is something there for everyone.

But what I think is the most profound component of this festival is the cheap gate admission ($17 for an adult). It lets you in to see some great musical acts. For instance, you already missed X Ambassadors, Matthew Good, Moist, The Trews, Coleman Hell, and Tim Hicks. But you should know that Tom Cochrane is playing tonight, Monster Truck is playing tomorrow night, and then Simple Plan and Finger Eleven close out the weekend.

All in all, if you haven’t been yet, it should be a fantastic opportunity to soak in some local culture and especially if you’ve already taken the time to check out Taste of Edmonton and all of the food and ambience associated with that downtown festival.

With that said, I’m out of theories for now friends, I hope you have an excellent weekend and I’ll catch you on Sunday with something stimulating.

Tim!