The Grey Cup Festival opens today, Wednesday, November 11, 2026, in Calgary, starting five days of free and ticketed events before the Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Elks play the 113th Grey Cup on Sunday. The Grey Cup Festival 2026 hub is Stampede Park, and the week is built as much around concerts as football.
The Grey Cup Festival 2026 Music Lineup
The music program runs all week. The Trews headline the festival kickoff party tonight, November 11, and Alan Doyle and The Strumbellas headline the concert bill on Thursday, November 12. Game day at McMahon Stadium carries its own lineup: Sarah McLachlan sings the national anthem, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor play a special pregame performance, James Barker Band handles the SiriusXM Grey Cup Kickoff Show, and Riley Green plays the Bud Light Grey Cup Halftime Show. The full entertainment card is in the CFL’s official Grey Cup announcement, which also confirms the festival runs November 11 to 15 under the Cenovus Energy banner.
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A Twelfth Grey Cup Meeting For Two Old Rivals
The game itself pairs the league’s two most decorated finalists. Montreal (14-4) beat Winnipeg 33-23 in the Eastern Final, and Edmonton (13-5) beat BC 28-16 in the Western Final, setting up the 12th Grey Cup meeting between the Alouettes and the Elks and their first since the 2005 overtime classic. Edmonton is in its first Grey Cup since winning in 2015 and is chasing a 15th championship. Montreal is in its third final in four years and is chasing a ninth. It is Calgary’s sixth time hosting, and the first since 2019.
How To Watch And How To Get There
Kickoff is Sunday, November 15 at 6 p.m. ET at McMahon Stadium, live in Canada on CTV, TSN, Crave and RDS, with CFL+ carrying the game internationally. Organizers are telling festivalgoers there is no public parking at Stampede Park or McMahon Stadium this week and to ride the CTrain Red Line instead, a practical detail worth planning around for anyone heading to the Suncor Street Festival, the main outdoor hub between the Big Four Roadhouse and the BMO Centre.
The Uniforms Are Set For Sunday
Even the look of the game is locked in. Montreal, the designated away team, will wear navy helmets, white jerseys and navy pants and use the University of Calgary Dinos locker room at McMahon. Edmonton, the home team in the Stampeders’ room, will wear gold helmets, green jerseys and gold pants. The two clubs split their regular season meetings this year, and the early Calgary forecast for Sunday calls for a high near 10 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud, mild weather for a mid November championship.
Grey Cup week works because it is a civic festival that happens to end with a football game, and this year’s edition leans into that harder than most: a Canadian music lineup at every stage of the week, two historic franchises in the final, and a host city that treats the week as a reunion. The party is open. The game arrives Sunday.
