Photos: Gavin John

Upcoming Printing Pop-ups

Saturday, July 5
Renfrew Stampede Day

811 Radford Rd. N.E.
9 - 11:30 a.m.

Saturday, July 5
Neighbour Day Party (rescheduled from June)

4th St. & Meredith Rd. N.E.
3 - 5 p.m.

Saturday, July 12
Sunalta Stampede Breakfast

13th Ave. between 16th & 17th St. S.W.
9 - 11:30 a.m.

July 26 & 27
Calgary Folk Music Festival
Prince's Island Park

About The Sprawl's Pop-Up Press

Experience the analog joy of letterpress and print a little piece of Calgary history by hand! The Sprawl’s pop-up press is a vintage printing press on wheels—a 1967 Kelsey Excelsior platen press mounted into a cargo e-trike and hauled around the city by Sprawl editor Jeremy Klaszus.

It's a family-friendly curiosity and an ongoing experiment in community engagement. Learn about Calgary's past and experience firsthand how journalism—and everything else, including books—used to be printed.

The Sprawl has been experimenting with letterpress printing since 2023, when Meta blocked news from Facebook and Instagram in Canada. This inspired us to get a (rather small!) cast iron press. Since then, we've taken our press to festivals, libraries and schools around the city, sharing the joy of letterpress printing with Calgarians.

We rolled out the cargo e-trike version in May 2025, fulfilling a long-held dream of putting the press on wheels.

If you have an idea for where The Sprawl's pop-up press should go next, drop us a note at hello@sprawlcalgary.com. See you on the road!