Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Alberta

closedas of 2026-10-031971World · Ukrainian tracesCanada

Photo: Kevlar67 · Public domain · source

An open-air museum of the prairies' first Ukrainian settlers.

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Society was founded in 1971 to commemorate the settlement of east-central Alberta by Ukrainians; in 1975 the site was taken over by the Province of Alberta. The open-air museum stands 50 km east of Edmonton, on Highway 16 near Elk Island National Park, and tells the story of the Ukrainian settlers of 1892–1930. According to the museum's website, more than 40 buildings were moved here and restored; according to The Canadian Encyclopedia, more than 30: a town, a rural community, farmsteads. Costumed staff recreate the daily life of real people who lived on the farms and in the towns of Alberta before 1930. On 18 April 2025 a grass fire destroyed the visitor centre and about 27 thousand items from the collection — textiles, furniture, research archives; the historic buildings survived. The village reopened on 16 May 2026, and the new visitor centre is planned to be rebuilt in 2028.