Sunday, November 15, 2026
Edmonton’s Ukrainian Centre (11018 97 Street)
Doors: 6 p.m.
Packingtown Video Ballad begins at 7 p.m., followed by a brief discussion of “People Power.”
Entrance is free/donations accepted
Ground Zero Productions and the Alberta Labour History Institute are sponsoring a video ballad performance of Packingtown, a show that received an overwhelming response when it played in Calgary this past August. The story is really about the working class in North Edmonton, taking us to the area where huge meat-packing plants were built in the early 1900s right to the infamous Gainers’ strike in 1986. It is a video ballad that presents a people’s history of an incredibly vibrant community built by the packing plant workers, but which is now hardly recognizable with the disappearance of the plants. The story is told through original songs and video interviews with people who lived and worked there from the early 1900’s to the 1980’s. A 60-minute live music and video performance weaves music and lyrics written by 2022 Juno winning songwriter Maria Dunn, with video, historical photographs and video interviews collected and edited by videographer Don Bouzek of Ground Zero Productions (GZP) and historian curator Catherine C. Cole, with the support of northeast resident and past City Councillor Janice Melnychuk. The live performance features Maria Dunn accompanied by Shannon Johnson and Jeremiah McDade of the Juno award-winning Celtic world fusion band, the McDades. Rather than charging an entry fee, donations will be accepted at the door, with the understanding that any shortfall will be covered by Ground Zero and the Alberta Labour History Institute.