One minute we’re following our friend’s RV. The next minute she and the RV have disappeared. It’s a regular occurrence in the Canadian Badlands. Drive open prairie and suddenly, a river valley that you didn’t see coming, swallows you up. We were on our first road trip to the southeastern Alberta tourism region when we discovered Rosebud, Alberta, 100 kilometres northeast of Calgary.
Rosebud may only have one hundred permanent residents in its lush, little river valley but that hasn’t stopped it from growing. That’s because the Rosebud Theatre is here, a year-round playhouse that is now western Canada’s largest rural theatre.
The Rose Hip gift store in Rosebud, Alberta – photo courtesy of Bob Cromwell
European settlers began homesteading in Rosebud in the late 1800s. By the First World War, the place was flourishing, but by the 1970s, Rosebud was dying. Its population had dropped to just over 30 people. That’s when a Calgary music and art teacher named LaVerne Erickson began the Rosebud Camp of the Arts. The camp was an instant hit with Calgary youth and by 1977, it had morphed into the Rosebud Fine Arts High School. In 1988, the Rosebud School of the Arts was formed. This post-secondary apprenticeship program focuses on theatre and music and creative arts ministry training. Fast forward to present-day and Rosebud is a vibrant visitor destination that attracts over 40,000 travelers annually.
It now has places to stay, including some with theatre packages . Wild Horse Jack’s Bistro & Grill has recently opened in the hamlet’s handsome new Mercantile, a 10,000 square foot space that will showcase Alberta artists and culinary. The Royal Sproule Art Gallery is also new. I fell in love with Royal’s extraordinary pen and ink drawings which I discovered on our last road trip through the region. Rosebud’s historic United Church is now the Akokiniskway Art Gallery and Rosebud Creek Recording Studio. A general store and a gift shop also sell local items of interest and the hamlet’s Centennial Museum has added a self-guided walking tour highlighting First Nations and early settler history. Even a nine-hole golf course has opened. The little hamlet is also a good jump off point for visiting other Badlands attractions close by, including the famous Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller.
Looking out at the prairies from Rosebud, Alberta – photo courtesy of Bob Gromwell
The Rosebud Theatre has already announced its 2012 playbill. Canada’s favourite redhead, Anne of Green Gables, comes to the Rosebud Theatre stage along with plenty more, but in the meantime, The Gifts of the Magi, a classic Christmas musical which opens this week, is on until December 23, 2011.
Soapy and the chefs from The Gifts of the Magi – A Christmas Musical at the Rosebud Theatre