Upcoming Events
Nostalgic Noel: A Victorian Affair
Experience eras past with the Nostalgic Noel: A Victorian Affair at Fort Whoop-Up, where history comes alive 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Create heartwarming memories and enjoy festive delights with activities like apple pie making, maple syrup on snow 'tire sur la neige', tree bough wreath crafting, and dried flower Christmas card making, Blacksmith forging, all day hot chocolate and cider by the fire. For an additional $5, experience the wonder of a horse-drawn carriage ride through a picturesque winter landscape.
all ages | children to attend with caregivers | tickets available at the door | $5 per person (Ages 5 and under free) | Additional $5 horse rides first come first serve
Sleigh Rides ONLY available Friday and Sunday, there will be NO sleigh rides on Saturday.
Fort of Fear: The 1893 Incident. Guided Tour
Embark on a harrowing guided tour immersing you in the chaos and fear of Fort Whoop-Up's most terrifying untold story! Limited tickets available.
18+ only | $30 ticket | 15 tickets per tour | only 3 tours available
Halloween Harvest Fest
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
Join us for a kid-friendly Halloween event, featuring a puppet show, candy bags, Halloween pumpkins to carve and decorate, kids' craft activities, apple cider, and hot chocolate. Enjoy s'mores and hot dogs by the fire, and don't miss the Haunted Hayride with the Headless Horseman for an extra $5 first come first served.
all ages | no registration required | $5 per person | additional $5 per person horse rides
Heritage Day
For Alberta Heritage Day the Fort will have special activities that showcase how people in 1800’s would have lived. Join us for candle making, chinking & dobbing demonstrations, wagon rides, potato sack races, buffalo chip toss, and more.
all ages | children to attend with caregivers | free to attend
A Presentation on Blackfoot Women by Mary Fox, Mia’nistsitsiiksiinaakii.
Join us at Fort Whoop-Up for a presentation on Blackfoot Women by Mary Fox, Mia’nistsitsiiksiinaakii, BA, BEd, MA, PhD.
Mary Fox’s Blackfoot name is translated as Different Snake Woman “Mia’nistsitsiiksiinaakii”. Mary inherited her Blackfoot great grandmother’s name, and her first language is Blackfoot, and born and raised on the Kainai Nation, Alberta. Mary is an Indigenous Educator, Cultural & Language Consultant & Elder Advisor and specializes in Indigenous Educational Leadership. Mary is a faculty member of the Indigenous Studies Department at the University of Lethbridge. Mary is also a member of the Blackfoot Stand Up Headdress Women. Mary is committed and dedicated to supporting Indigenous traditional and cultural components and providing greater sensitivity to the needs and issues involved with Indigenous youth and communities. Mary believes that Indigenous languages are the heartbeat of their respective cultures and healing sources and, key to the revival of Indigenous cultures to ensure that the next generations transmit them to their future children and grandchildren. Mary is also committed and dedicated to Indigenous research relating to decolonizing and indigenizing curricular and teaching practices, health and justice, and truth and reconciliation in context with the history of Indian Residential Schools and building positive relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and communities.
Museum admission applies | Free to members | Free admission for self-identified Indigenous visitors
National Indigenous Peoples Day
Celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day at Fort Whoop-Up. Take a walk through the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Gallery, listen to Napi stories by Blanche Bruised Head, Crafts, immersive video experience, vendors, food trucks, and an Elder Blessing.
all ages | children to attend with caregivers | free to attend
Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Experience
Tipi set up in the compound at Fort Whoop-Up
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
This Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) experience is an extended tour designed to educate visitors in a more in-depth fashion about the culture of the Niitsitapi peoples. The Niitsitapi have been practicing their traditions in what are now the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as areas of Montana, for generations before the arrival of Europeans and the construction of Fort Whoop-Up. With this experiential tour, we hope to provide insight into these Niitsitapi traditions and practices through multiple activities, stories, and interpretations from our Indigenous interpreters.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
12:30–3 pm | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available
Trader Experience
Visitors listen to a fort interpreter
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
Trade in the modern life of 2023 and step back into the 1800s. Life and Labour of a Fort Trader is an extended tour of Fort Whoop-Up from our traders’ perspective. With this experiential tour, you will see what it would have been like to stay and work at the fort in the 1800s.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
9–noon | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available
Métis Experience
A Métis sash on a red background.
Our Michif experience is designed to immerse visitors in how Métis people and culture influenced the fort and southern Alberta. Southern Alberta is part of the traditional homeland of the Métis. Many Métis travelled west on Buffalo Hunts and were instrumental in the fur trade, and as such many made southern Alberta their home. The Métis were very involved in the building of Fort Whoop-Up, and to this day, many Métis continue to live in southern Alberta. This experiential tour will provide a glimpse into Métis culture and life in southern Alberta.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
12:30–3 pm | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available | members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone
Heritage Day
A wagon ride departs from the fort.
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
Come celebrate Heritage Day with wagon rides and activities. Explore the fort’s community garden, and learn more about the new Blackfoot Gallery.
1–4 pm | all ages welcome | children to attend with adults | registration not required | free admission
Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Experience
Tipi set up in the compound at Fort Whoop-Up
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
This Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) experience is an extended tour designed to educate visitors in a more in-depth fashion about the culture of the Niitsitapi peoples. The Niitsitapi have been practicing their traditions in what are now the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as areas of Montana, for generations before the arrival of Europeans and the construction of Fort Whoop-Up. With this experiential tour, we hope to provide insight into these Niitsitapi traditions and practices through multiple activities, stories, and interpretations from our Indigenous interpreters.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
12:30–3 pm | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available
Trader Experience
Visitors listen to a fort interpreter
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
Trade in the modern life of 2023 and step back into the 1800s. Life and Labour of a Fort Trader is an extended tour of Fort Whoop-Up from our traders’ perspective. With this experiential tour, you will see what it would have been like to stay and work at the fort in the 1800s.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
9–noon | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available
Métis Experience
A Métis sash on a red background.
Our Michif experience is designed to immerse visitors in how Métis people and culture influenced the fort and southern Alberta. Southern Alberta is part of the traditional homeland of the Métis. Many Métis travelled west on Buffalo Hunts and were instrumental in the fur trade, and as such many made southern Alberta their home. The Métis were very involved in the building of Fort Whoop-Up, and to this day, many Métis continue to live in southern Alberta. This experiential tour will provide a glimpse into Métis culture and life in southern Alberta.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
12:30–3 pm | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available | members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone
Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Experience
Tipi set up in the compound at Fort Whoop-Up
Image courtesy Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao'pa
This Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) experience is an extended tour designed to educate visitors in a more in-depth fashion about the culture of the Niitsitapi peoples. The Niitsitapi have been practicing their traditions in what are now the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as areas of Montana, for generations before the arrival of Europeans and the construction of Fort Whoop-Up. With this experiential tour, we hope to provide insight into these Niitsitapi traditions and practices through multiple activities, stories, and interpretations from our Indigenous interpreters.
Spots are limited. Please book your ticket in advance. Please include the names of the participants in the pop-up form that asks for the names of those attending the program. Members receive a 10% discount when booking in person or by phone.
12:30–3 pm | adults and seniors | registration required | $40 per ticket | 10 spots available
Indigenous Peoples Day
Powwow dancers at Fort Whoop-Up.
Image courtesy Tourism Lethbridge
Come celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day at Fort Whoop-Up with a variety of activities including the grand opening of the new Blackfoot Gallery, Indingeous crafts, vendors and food trucks.
1–4 pm | all ages welcome | children to attend with caregiver | registration not required | free admission
Fort Whoop-Up Homestyle Charcuterie Picnic
New to the Fort this season, personal charcuterie picnics. A unique combination of cured meats, artisan cheeses, fruits, crackers, olives, pickles, and nuts come together for an unforgettable dining experience in one of Lethbridge’s premier cultural attractions. Combined with a personal tour of Fort Whoop-Up and a wagon ride through the Belly River Valley your picnic experience is sure to create unforgettable memories. Our partner, Homestyle Charcuterie is a small home-based Lethbridge business that strives to create authentic, high quality and mouth-watering culinary fare.
Picnic Box Contains the Following:
Cured meats
Artisanal cheeses
Fruit (fresh & dried)
Crackers
Nuts
Olives & pickles
Condiment
Sweet
Beverage
NOTE: Contents of the picnic box may change depending on availability.
Fort Whoop-Up Homestyle Charcuterie Picnics are available from June 21 – September 3, 2023. Wednesday through Sunday only. Picnics are not available on Monday or Tuesday.
Cost: $25/picnic experience (includes single admission, tour, picnic, beverage, and wagon ride)
Booking is required 24 hours in advance.
Photo courtesy of Homestyle Charcuterie
Fort Whoop-Up BBQ Brisket Picnic
Photo courtesy of Hickory Street
Fort Whoop-Up has teamed up with local BBQ restaurant Hickory Street to provide picnic enthusiasts with a unique culinary experience – a deconstructed Brisket sandwich with flavourful sides. Smoked to perfection your brisket is accompanied by a Brioche, smoky bacon potato salad, dill pickle coleslaw, and Hickory Street’s signature BBQ sauce. Combined with a personal tour of Fort Whoop-Up and a wagon ride through the Belly River Valley your picnic experience is sure to create unforgettable memories. Hickory Street is one of Lethbridge’s newest dining destinations and features an array of southern BBQ-inspired dishes.
Picnic Box Contains the Following:
Brioche
Brisket
BBQ sauce
Potato salad
Coleslaw
Gooey butter cake
Beverage
Fort Whoop-Up BBQ Brisket Picnics are available from June 21 – September 3, 2023. Wednesday through Sunday only. Picnics are not available on Monday or Tuesday.
Cost: $25/picnic experience (includes single admission, tour, picnic, beverage, and wagon ride)
Booking is required 24 hours in advance.
-tzintlán
The world’s first postcolonial theme park is visiting Blackfoot Territory! Enjoy rideable artworks such as Experience the White Cube, Bike-Go-Round, and the mestizXXX virtual coaster! Envision the present-future-past at LandBackLand! Witness in person The Last White Tyler and have your postcolonial fortune told! All these wonders, refreshments, and much more await you at -tzintlán, “Where the Bottom Comes on the Top!”
-tzintlán is a creative take-over of the Fort Whoop-Up replica (aka The Fauxort) which humorously questions how we understand history and place. This temporary collaborative artspace features works by participants in the University of Lethbridge LandMarks course (Spring 2023), as well as thesis works from graduate students in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Using tropes from themed environments such as carnivals, theme parks, and museums, -tzintlán asks: What stories have been buried by history? How do imaginaries shape our relationship to place? And, how do we escape the fort in our minds?
Entrance is free
For more info please visit: https://www.landmarks.studio/landmarks-2023-tzintlan
-tzintlán
The world’s first postcolonial theme park is visiting Blackfoot Territory! Enjoy rideable artworks such as Experience the White Cube, Bike-Go-Round, and the mestizXXX virtual coaster! Envision the present-future-past at LandBackLand! Witness in person The Last White Tyler and have your postcolonial fortune told! All these wonders, refreshments, and much more await you at -tzintlán, “Where the Bottom Comes on the Top!”
-tzintlán is a creative take-over of the Fort Whoop-Up replica (aka The Fauxort) which humorously questions how we understand history and place. This temporary collaborative artspace features works by participants in the University of Lethbridge LandMarks course (Spring 2023), as well as thesis works from graduate students in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Using tropes from themed environments such as carnivals, theme parks, and museums, -tzintlán asks: What stories have been buried by history? How do imaginaries shape our relationship to place? And, how do we escape the fort in our minds?
Entrance is free
For more info please visit: https://www.landmarks.studio/landmarks-2023-tzintlan
-tzintlán
The world’s first postcolonial theme park is visiting Blackfoot Territory! Enjoy rideable artworks such as Experience the White Cube, Bike-Go-Round, and the mestizXXX virtual coaster! Envision the present-future-past at LandBackLand! Witness in person The Last White Tyler and have your postcolonial fortune told! All these wonders, refreshments, and much more await you at -tzintlán, “Where the Bottom Comes on the Top!”
-tzintlán is a creative take-over of the Fort Whoop-Up replica (aka The Fauxort) which humorously questions how we understand history and place. This temporary collaborative artspace features works by participants in the University of Lethbridge LandMarks course (Spring 2023), as well as thesis works from graduate students in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Using tropes from themed environments such as carnivals, theme parks, and museums, -tzintlán asks: What stories have been buried by history? How do imaginaries shape our relationship to place? And, how do we escape the fort in our minds?
Entrance is free
For more info please visit: https://www.landmarks.studio/landmarks-2023-tzintlan
Christmas at the Fort
Join us at Fort Whoop-Up to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides in the beautiful wintery river bottom, create your very own holiday glass jar lantern, decorate a sugar cookie, have a cup of Saskatoon cider and sit by the fire!
Christmas at the Fort
Join us at Fort Whoop-Up to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides in the beautiful wintery river bottom, create your very own holiday glass jar lantern, decorate a sugar cookie, have a cup of Saskatoon cider and sit by the fire!
Christmas at the Fort
Join us at Fort Whoop-Up to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides in the beautiful wintery river bottom, create your very own holiday glass jar lantern, decorate a sugar cookie, have a cup of Saskatoon cider and sit by the fire!
Christmas at the Fort
Join us at Fort Whoop-Up to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides in the beautiful wintery river bottom, create your very own holiday glass jar lantern, decorate a sugar cookie, have a cup of Saskatoon cider and sit by the fire!
Indigenous Makers Market
Support Indigenous small businesses and shop local for authentically made Indigenous crafts and miscellaneous items. We have invited Indigenous crafters and entrepreneurs to promote themselves at a market in the compound of Fort Whoop-Up! Lone Wolf Grill will also be on hand with their Indian Tacos and Bannock Burgers!
Fri NOV 18 | 5–9 pm
Sat NOV 19 | 10 am–5 pm
free admission | registration not required
Indigenous Makers Market
Support Indigenous small businesses and shop local for authentically made Indigenous crafts and miscellaneous items. We have invited Indigenous crafters and entrepreneurs to promote themselves at a market in the compound of Fort Whoop-Up! Lone Wolf Grill will also be on hand with their Indian Tacos and Bannock Burgers!
Fri NOV 18 | 5–9 pm
Sat NOV 19 | 10 am–5 pm
free admission | registration not required
Spooktober
Come visit Fort Whoop-Up for a day of spooky crafts, live blacksmithing, games, candy and fun!
1–5 pm | all ages | registration required | fort admission applies | free to members
Spooktober
Come visit Fort Whoop-Up for a day of spooky crafts, live blacksmithing, games, candy and fun!
1–5 pm | all ages | registration required | fort admission applies | free to members
Heritage Day Celebration
Come celebrate Heritage Day with wagon rides, a petting zoo, explore the fort’s community garden and learn more about traditional food preservation methods.
#HopeAndHealingCanada Project
The #HopeAndHealingCanada project created by Métis artist Tracey-Mae Chambers consists of a series of site specific art installations across Canada. Each is made using crochet, knit and woven red yarns. An installation will be created for Fort Whoop-Up, and be in place JUL 06–OCT 03.