Curating an experience: discussing Sled Island 2026 with Maud Salvi
By Laura Beldor, May 21 2026—
From June 17-21, 2026, Sled Island will take place around downtown Calgary. The five-day festival currently has a line-up of over 150 musical, comedy and art events held throughout the city. Sled Islands focuses on celebrating and uplifting underground and alternative artists in Canada and across the globe. Maud Salvi, the Executive and Artistic Director of Sled Island, spoke with the Gauntlet about the festival’s strategic and creative direction for this year.
When individuals are told to imagine a festival in Calgary, what usually comes to mind are the Calgary Stampede and country songs. Few might think about riotgirl, horrorcore or dream pop music. But those attending Sled Island can expect to see performances and art from genres that are often outside of the mainstream. Salvi describes how the festival spotlights genres and artists that don’t often receive notoriety in Western Canada.
“I think what’s interesting about a festival like this taking place in Calgary is that some people would consider that it’s kind of un-Calgary, in the sense of it’s very focused on the underground and the alternatives and subcultures,” said Salvi. “So to me it is interesting to hold such a festival to show a different side of the city.”
Sled Island also differs from many other festivals because of its unique guest-curator system, where headliners are involved in choosing other artists for the festival’s lineup. This year, the guest curators are the experimental hip-hop group, clipping. Salvi discusses why the Sled Island team believe that it is important to include guest performers in shaping the festival in this way.
“I think it’s a great way basically to get someone else’s perspective,” said Salvi. “We’ve found that working with guest curators is really interesting because whenever they send us their wish list, a big portion of it is artists that we don’t know or we’ve never heard of, and very often we discover some new favourites.”
The support from local businesses and organizations is integral for the festival to function. Sled Island prioritizes partnering with groups that share its values and have a vested interest in Calgary’s art and music scene. This includes Service Credit Union, the Calgary Downtown Association, The Globe and Mail and various local stores and restaurants throughout the city that provide discounts to pass holders during the event.
Along with prioritizing diverse genres, Sled Island promotes accessibility, inclusion and sustainability through the locations and pricing of events. Unlike most festivals, where performances take place in one space, the Sled Island events take place in various spaces in downtown Calgary such as The Palace Theatre, The Palomino and Commonwealth Bar and Stage. The proximity between the venues makes it easier for individuals to get from one gig to another. Sled Island also provides temporary bike racks at most of its venues to encourage attendees to use bikes and e-scooters to travel the short distance between events, promoting eco-friendly practices. Affordability is also another significant factor for the Sled Island team, and Salvi talks about how they provide accessibility through ticket pricing.
“We always make a point of having some free programming so that people who don’t have the means can still participate,” Said Salvi. “Even for our ticketed event, I would argue that the festival is still pretty affordable when you compare it to the cost of large concerts nowadays.”
The physical accessibility of the festival’s venues is one factor that the Sled Island team understands needs improvement. Though the venues are a short distance from each other, many of the spaces available for Sled Island performances and events are older buildings in downtown Calgary, often lacking elevators, ramps or other accommodations.
“We use existing establishment facilities that were built at different times in the past, where building codes were different. Unfortunately, not all of them are accessible to people with limited mobility or people who use wheelchairs,” said Salvi. “That’s really something that we wish we could do more about. But we try to find creative ways of how we can work meaningfully with the disability community.”
Altogether, Sled Island is a unique experience when compared to more traditional festivals held in the city. Though there are still challenges that come with creating such an event, the festival promotes an alternative view of what entertainment and art can look like in Calgary.
More information about Sled Islands current lineup as well as ticket and pass prices can be found here.