Workers erect the Winterlude Festival arch in Confederation Park at Elgin Street.
Winterlude is catching Olympic fever this year, as Ottawa’s winter festival – inspired by the 2010 Games taking place in Vancouver at the same time – will feature a snow-and-ice sports theme and a special night devoted to cheering a local speedskater in her quest for gold.
But there will also be a sombre aspect to Winterlude, which begins Feb. 5, as skaters along the canal will be encouraged to make donations to a relief fund for victims of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.
The National Capital Commission announced the official lineup of Winterlude activities at a press conference in Confederation Park on Jan. 19.
This year marks the 32nd edition of Winterlude, as well as the 40th season of skating on the Rideau Canal, certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest skating rink.
The festival will kick off on Feb. 5 with a 20-minute musical fireworks display in the evening, as well as performances by musical and dance groups at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
As Winterlude will overlap with the Olympics, the NCC says many of the activities will be featuring a theme of “winter sports.”
A special event is to be hosted on Feb. 21 at Dow’s Lake, where it’s hoped participants can cheer on Ottawa speedskater Kristina Groves in the finals of the 5,000-metre race.
The NCC also announced that in an effort to help those affected by the earthquake in Haiti, cash boxes would be set up along the skateway for the public to make donations.
“We will devote the first weekend of Winterlude to helping those in Haiti,” says Marie Lemay, chief executive officer of the NCC. “We should let our capital help their capital.”
The skateway was officially opened on Jan. 14, with the NCC declaring a 4.3-km section between the Bank Street and Mackenzie King bridges safe for skaters.
Other activities include the International Ice-Sculpting Competition at Confederation Park, the Taste of Winterlude festival at various restaurants around Ottawa and Hull, and family-oriented activities at Jacques-Cartier Park in Gatineau.
The International Ice-Sculpting Competition, now in its 23rd year and which hosts ice sculptors from around the world, will feature the theme of “Myths and Legends.” A total of 45 ice carvers will work on more than 1,700 blocks of ice weighing about 150 kg each.
New this year, the NCC is inviting young local artists to create graffiti works of art at Dow’s Lake, in an “urban art exhibition” that will remain for the rest of the skating season.
Another recent addition to the festival is the Taste of Winterlude. Started in 2005, restaurants offer food and wine-tasting events and special multi-course menus for the public.
The Ottawa company Groovy Grapes collaborates with restaurants to set up wine tasting events, and is in charge of choosing which restaurants participate each year.
Larissa Beznaczuk-Smyrnew, event coordinator for DiVino Wine Studio on Preston Street, says that the restaurant/wine bar has been preparing for its Feb. 3 wine tasting event since some Winterlude activities were announced in December.
“We’ve been ordering a lot of different products, and we’re getting a chef from Niagara to come and do a demonstration,” she says.
Mike Ackison, the sous-chef at ARC Lounge & Restaurant on Slater Street, says that its planned five-course meal on Feb. 18 will showcase produce from local growers, as well as ice wines from across Canada.
“I think they’re a nice surprise to celebrate the cold climate of winter,” he says. “We usually get a positive response, and some years have kept the menu going past the end of Winterlude.”
The NCC announced in December that it would not be including the Snowbowl Concert in this year’s line-up of activities, citing concerns that heating the stage on the canal was too much of an energy expenditure. The NCC is aiming to have a “carbon neutral” Winterlude by 2012.