Winter mascots prepare for annual Winterlude festivities.
A war and a winter wonderland may not seem related at first glance, but this year’s edition of Winterlude is joining the two by commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
The connection may not be obvious, but the War of 1812 and Ottawa have a strong link, says Guy Laflamme, the National Capital Commission’s Winterlude organizer.
“Ottawa, and a good chunk of southeastern Ontario, has a giant artefact of the War of 1812 running right through it,” says Peter Macleod, a pre-Confederation historian at the Canadian War Museum. “Every time you cross a bridge over the Rideau Canal or go skating, paddle in a canoe, you are connecting with a tangible result of the War of 1812.”
Wars aren’t only fought in the summer, he adds.
“The most celebrated winter event perhaps is the march of the 104th Foot, a New Brunswick regiment, from Fredericton, N.B., to Kingston during the winter of 1813,” Macleod says.
Winterlude always celebrates themes chosen by the Canadian Heritage department, such as the 400th anniversary of Quebec City in 2008 and the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, says Denise LeBlanc, an NCC media relations officer for Winterlude.
Ottawa’s annual winter festival, which runs from Feb. 3-20 this year, is putting a historical twist on some of its traditional winter activities to mark the war’s bicentennial. Organizers are also introducing new events designed to bring the history of Canada’s participation in the war to life, Laflamme says.
Parks Canada is turning Maison Charron in Gatineau’s Jacques-Cartier Park into a replica of soldiers’ barracks from the War of 1812, complete with historical interpreters dressed in period costume, he says.
Other war-related events include Stand on Guard for Canada!, which gives visitors the chance to dress as soldiers did in 1812 and participate in military drills from the period. Another event, the Tour de Forts, presents music and storytelling from historic forts around an 1812-era campsite.
The Canadian War Museum is also planning guided snowshoe tours along the Ottawa River to commemorate the 104th Regiment of Foot’s 1813 march, Macleod says.
With an overall annual theme of learning about Canada and its winters, war commemorations aren’t the only Winterlude attractions this year, Laflamme says. The festival is built on four categories of activities – arts and culture, outdoor sports and recreation, science and technology, and cuisine with Taste of Winterlude.
Last year, Taste of Winterlude began to focus less on fancy meals and more on “experiences,” LeBlanc says.
Instead of simply eating a meal at a restaurant, participants can go on a guided tour of the Byward market with an expert in gourmet food, Laflamme says.
The festival is also expanding geographically this year.
“What’s really new is we’re sort of branching out more so that Winterlude reverberates through the whole capital,” LeBlanc says.
Winterlude will team up with more than 50 public- and private-sector partners this year, compared to about 20 per year in the past. The expansion means there will be more activities outside of the official sites at Jacques-Cartier Park, Confederation Park in downtown Ottawa and the Rideau Canal Skateway, Laflamme says.
The National Gallery of Canada will also bolster Winterlude’s arts calendar with plans to screen the Canadian premiere of The Clock, a 24-hour video made up of slices of thousands of other videos on Feb. 10. The gallery bought the video, which the gallery describes as an exploration of time and film, with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in May. Three more screenings are scheduled for Winterlude on Feb. 17, 18 and 19.