Attendance numbers over the 10 days of KDays hit the 783,000 mark for 2026. Fairgoers leave the north gate on Friday, July 24, 2026. Photo by Shaughn Butts /Postmedia

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Edmonton’s largest festival has concluded. This year’s event brought in more than 750,000 attendees and generated at least $25 million in economic impact.

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Arlindo Gomes, vice-president of business development and venues management for Explore Edmonton, talked about how officials believe KDays kept such great attendance, despite the disruptive weather throughout the 10 days.

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“I think because we have the Expo Centre and it’s such a large facility, many of the folks were able to just move indoors and shelter in place until the storm passed,” Gomes said. ”

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Gomes said this year’s unpredictable weather will be used as the basis to improve their safety protocols.

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“I think the experience with the weather occurrences we have this year is certainly going to help inform how we plan for next year as well.”

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Even with the storms, big outside events like the headlining concerts did very well. Seven shows were sold out. The only cancelled sold-out act was Pennywise, due to the weather. Parts of the festival like the concerts might be one of many reasons why attendance continues to increase. Gomes believes that the reimagining of KDays has been a success so far.

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“We’re up from around 740,000 to 783,000 (attendees). So it’s a good healthy number.”

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As far as food and business goes, KDays continued to showcase local businesses. Six hundred local organizations took part in the festival this year, and vendors at the fair increased by 21 per cent.

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Finally, the KDays staple mini-donuts even got a number. That is, number consumed. 703,687 mini-donuts were eaten at this year’s rendition of KDays. Gomes said he and the rest of the KDays team had their fair share.

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“I think they were part of the fuel that keeps us going for 10 days.”

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