Get to know northeast Alberta via the #NEAB Online Festival

Your #NEAB Online Festival guide to northeast Alberta 

Here’s a festival recap to get you primed for spring and summer travel to northeast Alberta. Watch these videos to find things like: your favourite new Alberta artist, new outdoor events you’ll want to enter and how to prepare a tasty new dish with locally harvested Alberta ingredients. 

Your virtual introduction to #NEAB  

Explore the region's creative offerings by watching these Facebook/Instagram LIVES, in four categories: 

• Food & Drink 
• Arts & Handmade Goods 
• Travel & Outdoors 
• History

Watch the videos here, and click the links to meet more of northeast Alberta's top destinations, attractions, history and culinary experiences.

Food & drink 

From a look at how berry syrup is made to glamping breakfast boards to sweet cocktail recipes, to touring a honey bee colony, NEAB is rich in agricultural and culinary bounty. 

350 Farms, MD Bonnyville shows you how they build their glamping breakfast board  

Christy Creek Honey, Lac La Biche shows you the steps to prep for a hive tour 

Cold Lake Brewing & Distilling, MD Bonnyville welcomes you to the brewery, where they produce a vast selection of spirits and craft beer 

Lac La Biche Agricultural Society announces the launch of their 50th anniversary Farmers Market season and some exciting things in store there! 

Old School Cheesery, Vermilion is an artisanal cheese-maker with a new restaurant where you can savour the unique cheeses and dishes they create in-house 

Orchard Fresh Syrups, Lac La Biche demos some creative ways to use their syrups, made from their own berries 

Prairie Bakeshop and Bistro, Vermilion introduces their tasty selection of baked treats

Soup Time, Lac La Biche helps make dinner prep easy with cooking tips to create a fast, healthy and tasty soup and sides

Arts & handmade goods 

The depth of artistic talent in northeast Alberta is jaw-dropping, much of it originating from the Indigenous cultures in the region. From studio tours to how-tos and art showcases, find your next Alberta arts and crafts experience here.

Fort McMurray Métis Trading Post barters and trades in natural goods. Here, Lisa invites you to experience a smudge.   

Healing a la Source, Lac La Biche makes stained glass art and teaches art classes, including how to make stained glass.  

Kookum Clara's Custom Cree-ations makes beautiful custom clothes, including ribbon skirts and vinyl shirt designs—watch Kookum Clara as she shows you how it's done!

KT Creations demonstrates how they make their beaded moccasins. 

Sandi’s Métis Designs presents a willow-weaving tutorial, one of her many artistic creations.

TerrBear Lauzon Artworks Creations shows his art and explains how he was inspired to make colouring books for kids, with Canadian animals. 

Métis Crossing
The Indigenous artisans featured here are located throughout Treaty 6 and the Métis Nation of Alberta Region 2, and are among those whose works are carried in the gallery at Métis Crossing. 

With a visit here, you can find more Indigenous art, go on a wildlife safari to see white bison and other species, stay in a trapper's tent, paddle a voyageur canoe or learn archery, and learn more about Métis heritage through their signature tours and offerings.

Travel & outdoors 

Watch a trapper’s tent pop up in under seven minutes, tour a hidden gem for camping in Athabasca, get fishing tips and join race organizers at the start of a wilderness triathlon course. All things you can do, and more in NEAB.

Burnt Rock Adventure Co., Vermilion is the outdoor gear store you need to get ready for biking and paddling season, and their Paddlepalooza events will get you on the water this summer! 

Grand Rapids Wilderness Adventures, Athabasca takes you on a tour of their backcountry lodge on the Athabasca River. 

Kapawhinik Wilderness Triathlon, Athabasca on your marks... for a cross-country biking, running and paddling adventure through Athabasca, see the starting line in this video and learn about the race. 

Kinosoo Ridge Resort, MD Bonnyville offers up year-round adventures at their winter ski area and summer aerial park.  

Elk Island National Park greets you warmly at their visitor centre, the jumping off point for exploring the park.

Plamondon Hall, Lac La Biche region introduces their event space and announces new events for spring and summer! 

Reel Angling Adventures, Athabasca gets you primed for the summer fishing season.

River Meadows RV Park, Athabasca shows you their prime riverfront camping spot in Athabasca.  

Rocky Lane Fairways, Athabasca offers golf for all seasons, with indoor driving lanes to help you prep your golf swing, and an outdoor 9-hole par 3 for summer. 

Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park, Lac La Biche hosts "Music in the Forest" again for summer 2023, featuring live music performances at Alberta's only provincial park set on an island. Watch a performance by the Maddie Strovold Trio for a taste of what you'll hear there!

Tawatinaw Valley Retreat, Athabasca region offers a bed and breakfast experience in a beautiful natural setting, along the Tawatinaw River valley. Get a preview of your stay here! 

Water Spirit Spa, Fishing Lake Métis Settlement introduces some of their holistic treatments and approaches to help you relax, and reconnect to the land. 

History 

With thousands of years of Indigenous culture, and now hundreds of years of immigration and settlement, northeast Alberta’s historic destinations showcase a tapestry of intricately woven connections that continue to shape us today.

Talking Rock Tours will introduce you to the deep geography of northeast Alberta, with an Indigenous perspective.

Lac La Biche Mission is one of western Canada's earliest mission sites and residential schools, where you can experience early Alberta history, and events throughout the spring and summer.  

Travel-ING ON Alberta Edition and History Check App helps you learn history from your phone as you travel across Alberta.  

Vermilion Heritage Museum welcomes you to get hands on and see artifacts from throughout the history of the eastern Alberta prairies.

Ready to take a history road trip through northeast Alberta? Read this ZenSeekers.com story for travel tips and ideas.

For more travel inspiration throughout northeast Alberta, check out the #TakeItToTheLake #NEAB expedition page on our sister site ZenSeekers.com and follow the hashtag #TakeItToTheLake.

And be sure to tag #NEAB #TakeItToTheLake to share what you find in your travels!