Kristy Drake was our lead photographer for 2023's TEDxWomen event, bringing her creavitve eye to capturing the spirit of our event!

We're very pleased to be featuring performance elements from three of the amazing artistic talents of RiverFestYYC. Welcome Nicole Korenda-Tritter, Adora Nwofer, and Morag Northey to our speaker and performer line-up.

RiverFestYYC is a vibrant and inclusive cultural festival that recognizes the Bow and Elbow Rivers as a unifying presence and acknowledges their life-giving gift of water. Through extraordinary arts installations and performances, engaging workshops and creative adventures, the festival invites Calgarians of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate our connections with the Rivers. By promoting collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose, RiverFestYYC aims to build a more cohesive city and foster a sense of connection between diverse communities and traditions.

S.K. Wellington is led by dynamic singer-songwriter Sarah Kemmers, known for crafting compelling melodies and thought-provoking lyrics.

A true aficionado of the creative process, Wellington often finds themselves in a state of “flow” while composing music. This profound state of immersive absorption and deep focus is where Wellington’s songwriting thrives. It is in these moments of flow that the distractions fade away, the overthinking dissolves, time stands still, and S.K’s songs truly come to life.

Kemmers has been writing and performing music for well over a decade with different bands. Her debut solo EP as S.K. Wellington, "Where the Earth Meets the Sea" was released in 2018 and met with positive reviews all the way from her Calgary hometown to the UK. She followed the successful EP with a steady series of singles and is set to finally release her next EP in late 2024. Sitting in the “perfect pocket of folk, pop, indie, and rock”, her music has been described as “Fleetwood Mac meets Deathcab for Cutie”.

S.K.’s songs have made the Regional Top Ten in the CBC Searchlight competition four times, and she was nominated for “folk recording of the year” at the YYC Music Awards in both 2019 and 2020. She’s had the honour of opening for other fantastic singer-songwriters such as Dan Mangan and Donovan Woods.

At TEDxCalgary, S.K. Wellington will not only perform a couple of selections from her repertoire but also share insights around how entering a flow state can transform the ordinary act of writing music into an extraordinary experience of discovery and wonder.

What does flow mean to you?

Flow to me means complete immersion — a loss of the sense of separateness between the myself and the "task". Just one, flowing activity that typically results in feelings of joy, inspiration and creativity.

Frank is a water resources engineer and applied hydrologist with the City of Calgary, focused on water supply, dam and reservoir design and operations, floodplain management, flood forecasting, stormwater, water quality and riparian management.

For the last 16 of his 26 years environmental and water resources career Frank has gotten to "really know the Bow" studying the Bow River and its watershed, tributaries, water quality and habitat. The Bow has taught Frank about flood, drought, climate shift and ultimately about resilience.

What does flow mean to you?

Flow is about energy passing across space and time in streamlined form — flow is connection