Poutine has arrived in Edmonton!
Best poutine: The Cheese Factory makes cheese onsite and sells Poutine - squeaky cheese experience guaranteed. They keep short hours, so check times before making the trek.
More info at this blog: eating is the hard part.
If that is closed or if you are close to U of Alberta grounds, visit La Poutine. They source their cheese from Cheese Factory and all they serve is Poutine, so they know what they are doing here.
There are quite a few more places that serve Poutine in Edmonton, but be careful of some of the delis which claim to sell poutine but their versions use shredded mozzarella! Makes no sense - poutine is always cheese curds, never shredded cheese.
Fringe Festival
Edmonton has the largest fringe festival in North America. Usually runs for 10 days in the middle- to end of August.
Some street performances, and lots of ticketed stage shows of up and coming artists. Shows are usually high-quality, and most seem to deal with somewhat mature or young-adult themes. Good, but can be a bit heavy.
There are also a bunch of food trucks at the festival - but the food quality in general was quite poor while also being expensive. So come here for the street fun, performances, and theater, not for the food.