By Tom McLean
Welcome to the Andes – Ottawa style.
La Nina promises cold weather and ample snow for Winterlude 1999, but the international component of the festival will feature a virtually snow-free country.
Chile runs half the length of the South American Pacific coast, from Peru to the lower tip of the continent. It has a thin profile thanks to the Andes Mountains, which hug almost the entire length of the country’s right flank, but you might have to climb the peaks to catch a snowflake on your tongue.
That hasn’t stopped Winterlude organizers from making Chile the centerpiece of this year’s festival with the Gateway to Chile exhibit.
Laurie Peters of the National Capital Commission says it might seem strange that Winterlude organizers chose a South American country until you consider that the ice- and snow-carving competitons are the centre of the international component.
“Most snow carvers come from a culinary background – chefs with formal training – and they come from all parts of the world, including and especially Chile.”
Peters says the more traditional Winterlude fun, such as a winter playground called Snowflake Kingdom and ice-carving and snow-sculpting competitions, will be featured along with an ambitious, snow-sculpted re-creation of the Andes. The exhibit will highlight all aspects of Chilean culture, including Chilean cuisine.
Within the small-scale Andes Mountains, artists will recreate Chilean culture with full- and half-scale sculptures of everything from the Easter Island statues to famous poets and rodeo stills.
Peters says she hopes the cultural symbols of a warm-weather country carved in ice and snow will be a unique experience for people.
“There’s a hot/cold relationship there that I hope will appeal to people, and it fits in line with the hot/cold relationship past Winterludes have sometimes had with the weather,” says Peters.
When things turned warm during the last weekend of the 1998 festival, visitors to Confederation Park had little to do but look at melted ice sculptures.
Johanne D’Aoust, logistics co-ordinator for Winterlude 1999, says organizers have carefully considered each site to deal with the possibility of a thaw.
“In Jacques Cartier Park, for example, we have a lot of snow slides for the kids, and this year we’ve purchased rubber tubes the kids can slide on if things go slushy,” says D’Aoust. “We have a separate plan for almost all our activities.”
On the other hand, she says she’s optimistic because of cold-weather forecasts.
“Right now, we’re in top shape, and it would have to go pretty bad for quite a while to create a serious problem,” says D’Aoust. “A few days of warm weather is not a big deal.”
“One thing we couldn’t predict last year was the high demand for generators because of the ice storm, which we need for snow-makers,” says Peters. “As a result, we couldn’t build as many snow sculptures as we would have liked.”
Peters says the general public will have better access to live performances this year, which will help if the temperature suddenly turns warm. In past years, Winterlude opened on a Friday with fireworks, followed by a ticketed event Saturday featuring live performances on and off the ice.
“This year, what we’ve decided to do is bring it back to the grassroots general public by making the opening Friday the big blockbuster show,” says Peters.
Winterlude attracts about 650,000 patrons each year. More than a third of those come from outside the Capital area.
Last year, the festival generated over $40 million. It runs Feb. 5-7, 12-14 and 19-21.