Welcome to Cvent's MICE Guide to Medicine Hat, a city guide for MICE professionals. Home to the largest convention and conference facility in southeastern Alberta, as well as one-of-a-kind attractions, a charming historic downtown and year-round outdoor recreation, Medicine Hat is ideally located between major Alberta and Saskatchewan cities, easily accommodating inter-provincial events. Situated on the scenic South Saskatchewan River Valley, Medicine Hat boasts natural beauty and wide-open spaces paired with mid-sized city value when it comes to hosting meetings and group events. The city is well positioned at the junction of the Trans Canada Highway and #3, within easy access to a variety of unique venues, prepared tour options and spousal activities.
Meeting delegates arriving to Medicine Hat by air can fly into Medicine Hat Regional Airport. Conveniently located just five miles from downtown Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Regional Airport provides daily scheduled nonstop flights to and from Calgary, and from there connections to major Canadian, American and international destinations. From the airport, delegates can hop onto public bus service via Medicine Hat Transit, which provides daily service throughout downtown Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Regional Airport and the surrounding area.
Once in Medicine Hat, many groups opt to hold events at the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, which offers 85,000 square feet of meeting and event space. As the largest convention and conference facility in southeastern Alberta, the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede has hosted an annual stampede (rodeo) since 1887 and today accommodates a number of agricultural events, as well as conferences, conventions and meetings. Groups can gather in a variety of event spaces, which include the 14,000-square-foot Auditorium; 33,000-square-foot Fieldhouse; 23,000-square-foot Pavilion; 1,200-square-foot Fireside Room with beautiful cherry paneling, a fireplace and private wet bar; and Carriage House and Park, which features the 800-square-foot Carriage House, six-acre park with quaint, turn-of-the-century Main Street and outdoor event space.
Aside from the variety of event spaces at Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, Medicine Hat is home to a number of unique venues that not only showcase the area's rich heritage, but also accommodate group gatherings. The centerpiece of a 150-acre Canadian National Heritage Site, Medalta is a state of the art contemporary ceramic artists' studio facility and industrial museum that focuses on the area's abundant supply of clay and resulting works of art. Groups can tour Medalta's vast pottery collection and working pottery studio museum, as well as hold events within the site's 6,000 square feet of event space, housed in a fantastic example of historic, century-old industrial architecture graced with modern touches. Situated on traditional Blackfoot territory along downtown Medicine Hat's First Street South, the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Center tells stories of the region's collective culture through music, dance, theatre and art programming. Groups can attend a production at the centre, tour its permanent and visiting exhibitions at the art gallery and hold an event in such spaces as its main lobby, rooftop terrace and theatres.
When it comes to group tours and activities, Medicine Hat does not disappoint. Groups can create custom tours and programs at Police Point Park Interpretive Centre, which sits within the 241-acre Police Point Park, bordered on three sides by the South Saskatchewan River. Groups can arrange for wilderness programs and ski and snowboard lessons at the nearby Hidden Valley Ski Hill, as well as bowl a frame at Medicine Hat's Panorama Lanes, which specializes in corporate events and private parties.