Calgary's Pop Up Series combines local restaurants and art to make dining experience unique – CBC.ca

COVID-19 protocols have all but halted the event industry, but it hasn’t stopped businesses from getting creative during these times.

A new Calgary initiative called Pop Up Series, says it’s bringing patrons a unique dining experience as well shining a spotlight on local artists, musicians and a variety of restaurants.

• WATCH | Take a look inside the latest rendition in the video above

But if you wait too long to check it out, you’re going to need an updated address since the restaurant “pops up” at a new location every couple of weeks.

The first pop up was hosted at Royale on 17th Avenue S.W., a restaurant that had been shut down indefinitely. Now, it’s at Commonwealth Bar & Stage, which is located on 10th Avenue S.W. in the Calgary Design District.

“There are a lot of these beautiful buildings with great architecture, so if we can showcase what these are about, maybe future tenants see the aspirations that can come from this and make it their own,” said Justin Huculak, owner and operator of Pop Up Series.

However, the spaces rented out may look unrecognizable. Once Pop Up gets into a space, it’s decorated with art installations by Calgary artists, Huculak says.

“We came up with a concept and basically instead of just having theaters where you would go and see cool set pieces and decors and items, we were like, ‘Why don’t we bring them to a restaurant setting,'” he said.

Art therapy

At their Pop Up 2.0, each room is designed differently and showcases local talent, which serves as “art therapy” for patrons, Huculak says.

“We’re all trying to cope with a lot of stress, anxiety right now and we want people to escape into imagination and make them feel like they can express themselves and really be alive in here again.”

Jessica Bedford, one of the artists at the pop up, says that before the pandemic hit, she was doing structural art with event companies. 

Once all the events got cancelled, Bedford says, she took a break and didn’t get back into art until she got the call from Pop Up Series.

“It’s re-inspiring to get back into building things or building decor or more personalized art now because events and festivals aren’t happening,” she said.

“Hopefully, we see people come out and and take a look at the local artists and the local food — and for people from the entertainment industry to just kind of get their feet wet again and back into working, which is all we could really hope for.” 

Because of all of the different attributes, Huculak, who has been producing live music concerts for the past 14 years, says it provides jobs for those in the event industry. 

“The whole idea of this pop up was to get our event industry going again — all of our suppliers, all of the people who worked so hard for so many years, who basically had their world changed.”

“We were the first ones to be shut down, and it’s looking like the last ones to get back up. So we want to make sure that anything we can do can give people basically a sense of hope, again, in the entertainment arts industry.”

New week, new menu

It isn’t just artists who get their opportunity to shine, but a variety of Calgary restaurants and food trucks are also a part of the pop-up experience.

Rather than always having the same menu, Huculak says, a new restaurant or food truck is featured each week.

“We wanted to showcase as many local restaurants as we can and rotate them every week with new food ideas, new food menus,” said Huculak.

“I mean, our economy right now needs some help and we want to figure out how to do it best as possible to support local.”

He says it also provides restaurants a reason to try out some new ideas, which Fabio Ferrer, owner of Tropical on 17th, says they’ve taken full advantage of.

“I think people are enjoying our food and it definitely like took us out of our comfort zone as well. And it gave us it gave us the chance to come up with amazing new stuff that we’re probably going to use in a restaurant later on,” he said.

He says when the pandemic hit in March, his restaurant like many others suffered. However, he says being included in the Pop Up Series is helping get the word out about his business

“It was an opportunity to kind of show everything we have to offer in a different environment, and show Calgary that even though we’re in a pandemic, and then there are so many rules and regulations, there are some pretty cool stuff that we can still do,” said Ferrer.

Huculak says he has felt the community come together when creating the Pop Up Series, and he hopes that inspires others to get creative and think of safe ways for events to happen.

“Everyone’s always looked out for each other. So I felt as a group with all of us working, it’s a responsibility to try and do what we can to get people back into their passion,” he said.

“It’s about trying to think of new ways to work around this pandemic in a safe manner, whatever we can do.”

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