Music, Circus, Comedy, High Fashion, and More: Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Presents a Sizzling Winter Season of Performances and Events

Kicking off this week, Banff Centre will host a performance this winter to warm you up after a day in the cold outdoors, no matter your interest, including names like Tanya Tagaq, Aysanabee, The Barra MacNeils, People Watching, and more.

BANFF, AB, NOVEMBER 19, 2025 – As many flock to Banff, Alberta as the temperatures drop to hit the slopes, there’s another cool reason to head to Banff National Park this season. Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity begins a busy winter of must-see performances on campus that are the perfect après-ski activity for locals, Albertans, and visitors alike.

On the heels of a record-breaking 50th anniversary Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, which exceeded box office and attendance records from November 1-9, 2025, the campus is ready to welcome some of the most celebrated artists in music, circus, comedy, visual art, and fashion to the stage, from JUNO Award and Polaris Prize-winning throat singer Tanya Tagaq, to Montréal’s performance collective People Watching with “one of the most memorable contemporary circus shows of recent years” (La Presse), to a panel talk with celebrated artist Sharon Lockhart to mark her current exhibition at Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery.

Kicking off this week with two-time JUNO Award-winning Oji-Cree artist Aysanabee and the seasonal maritime tradition of The Barra MacNeils and extending into early 2026, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity has a cultural experience to intrigue, inspire, and enjoy this winter season.

Event highlights include:

Tanya Tagaq - Split Tooth: Saputjiji
Work in Progress Showing & Open Rehearsal with Post Show Q&A – Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Experience a work-in-progress showing and open rehearsal of a new performance from “one of the avant-garde’s most dynamic performers” (Rolling Stone), Tanya Tagaq. SplitTooth: Saputjiji is a new performance drawing on the elemental, poetic, and personal currents that course through Tanya Tagaq’s acclaimed book Split Tooth. At its center is Tagaq herself, an artist whose vocal power collapses boundaries. Her performance summons genetic memory and future possibilities, weaving them into an ecstatic sonic field, directed by Kaneza Schaal.

• Venue: Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $25 - $35

PLAY DEAD by People Watching – Saturday, January 24, 2026

A surreal mix of circus, dance, and physical theatre, Play Dead explores the beauty, absurdity, and humour in everyday life. This inventive debut invites audiences to find wonder in the mundane and joy in the chaos.

• Venue: Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $25 - $45

Indigenous Fashion Runway – Friday, December 5, 2025

Experience Banff Centre’s first-ever runway show, hosted by Jah’kota, a multi-award-winning Afro-Indigenous artist, and the stunning designs of Banff Centre participants in this fashion residency.

• Venue: CLVB ’33 at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: FREE

Aysanabee – Thursday, November 20, 2025

Banff Centre welcomes Aysanabee for the western Canadian leg of his first-ever headlining tour, featuring an opening act by JUNO Award nominee Cikwes, member of the Bigstone Cree Nation based in Edmonton, Alberta, and another recent Banff Centre Music alumnus.

• Venue: Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $20 - $40

The Barra MacNeils – An East Coast Christmas – Friday, November 21, 2025

This year’s tour marks 25 years of this beloved holiday tradition from The Barra MacNeils, whose east coast charm and spirit have become Christmastime traditions for audiences across Canada. Very limited tickets remain!

• Venue: Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $45

The Debaters Live On Tour: 20th Anniversary Holiday Special – Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Marking 20 years on CBC Radio, The Debaters hit the road this season for a live, unrecorded holiday show with host Steve Patterson and his debating comic “elves.” Very limited tickets remain!

• Venue: Jenny Belzberg Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $40 - $65
• VIP Meet & Greet: $50

SHARON LOCKHART Exhibition Celebration – Wednesday, December 3, 2025
SHARON LOCKHART Conversation with Sharon Lockhart and Kitty Scott – Thursday, December 4, 2025

Over the course of four summers spent on Newfoundland’s Fogo Island, at Canada’s easternmost reaches, Sharon Lockhart developed a new film and a series of photographs, both building upon core themes that have defined her career: an exploration of place and how people engage with landscapes, a durational approach to attention and focus through extended static takes, and a deep, long-term commitment to those who appear before her lens. Celebrate the SHARON LOCKHART exhibition, on until January 7, 2026, with the artist present at these two events at Banff Centre’s Walter Phillips Gallery.

• Venue: Walter Phillips Gallery and Max Bell Auditorium at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: FREE

Third Coast Percussion - Time Pieces: The New Classical – Friday, January 16, 2026

On their 20th anniversary, Chicago’s GRAMMY Award-winning quartet Third Coast Percussion presents Time Pieces: The New Classical, a program that celebrates two decades of genre-defying, award-winning music. Highlighting rhythm, history, and innovation, the concert reflects on percussion’s profound influence on classical music today, including works by artists like Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Clarice Assad, and Jlin.

• Venue: Margaret Greenham Theatre at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $75

Ensemble Paramirabo: It Was Inside You All Along – Friday, January 23, 2026

United by a dedication to new music, the Ensemble Paramirabo’s six members perform with a single voice that explores repetition, openness, and transformation. In It was Inside You All Along, the ensemble invites audiences for an evening of bold and contemporary music of mostly minimalist works.

• Venue: Rolston Recital Hall at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
• Price: $30
   

In addition to these events, Banff Centre continues to present beloved events that directly lead out of its arts training programs in December 2025, including the Literary Cabaret series, featuring writers of young adult fiction and children’s books, and Banff Artists in Residence Open Studios, inviting the public to view the work done through Banff Centre’s latest visual arts residency. In January 2026, audiences are welcome to join two Open Studios events and three concerts performed by the participants of the Banff Musicians in Residence program. Then, in February, participants in Toga da wôhnagabi (Stories for the Future): Music Creation Residency will perform two concerts celebrating Indigenous stories, language, and connection to land.

For the full lineup of upcoming events at Banff Centre, see banffcentre.ca/events.

See Banff Centre’s Media Room here.

For photos, information, or interview requests, please contact: 

Carly Maga Director, Communications  
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity  
tel: +1.403.763.6210  
cell: +1.403.431.3423  
carly_maga@banffcentre.ca
 

About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity: Founded in 1933, Banff Centre is a post-secondary institution built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and leadership development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become a global organization leading in arts, culture, and creative decision-making across dozens of disciplines, from the fine arts to Indigenous Wise Practices. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to move everyone who attends our campus - artists, leaders, thinkers, and audiences - to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to build an innovative, inspiring future through education, performances, convenings, and public outreach. banffcentre.ca