Back to the basics for Fête des neiges de Magog
For 19 years, the picturesque city of Magog in the Eastern Townships has thrown a winter festival on the shores of Lake Memphremagog. Over the past few years it grew to become among the biggest in Quebec. More than 35,000 people would flood into Parc de la Pointe Merry situated at the northern tip of the frozen lake on the first weekend in February to see fireworks erupt, bands play and circus acrobats perform amid the snowdrifts. About 60 to 70 mildly insane people would register in advance for the opportunity to take part in the Polar Bear Swim, stripping down to their bathing suits and jumping into a hole cut into the thick ice of the lake. Many, many more would gather to watch and see if this was the year Oncle Jean would finally have a heart attack, or Tante Jo would turn blue.
As it enters its 19th season, the Fête des neiges de Magog is undergoing some changes. Organizers have been forced to scale down because many of the big-name sponsors have pulled out. This means that the more expensive attractions, like the fireworks and bands and even the Polar Bear Swim, are no more.
The good news is most of the favourites for children and adults alike remain, such as the sled rides, 2.5-kilometre linear skating path, tubing hills, face painting and events like bowling on ice and broom ball. The smaller scale will help pare down the large crowds and return the festival to the more intimate, homey and family-friendly feel of its origins.
“This year, activities will be more concentrated at Pointe Merry and focus on traditional activities like sliding hills, outdoor fires, as well as some music and entertainment,” said Valérie Labelle, a co-or- dinator of the event from the city’s culture and recreation department.
And this year, the city of Magog is stretching the festival over the first three weekends in February, giving out-of-towners ample opportunity to experience the festival and take the time to get to know the pleasant hub of the Memphremagog regional municipality.
We visited on a snowy day in early January, stopping first at the excellent new tourist information centre located just off Highway 10 after you take Exit 115 toward Magog. Located helpfully in the same building that houses a Tim Hortons, A&W and pizza place, the centre, opened last September, is a sanctuary of peace, complete with soothing background music and a waterfall that trickles down a rock face cliff before flowing under a bridge — all indoors. Information for the many small municipalities like North Hatley, Bolton-Sud and Ayer’s Cliff are available through brochures in French and English, and from helpful tourism information staff. They provided a map of Magog to show us the best way to visit the town. In the winter, this means driving a few kilometres from the information centre on rue Principale Ouest into town, and parking at the municipal parking lot in the Parc de la Baie de Magog, just before the Hotel and Spa Étoile sur le Lac. From here, you can put on skates in a heated trailer and skate along the 2.5-kilometre sentier glacé linear skating park that runs along the shore of the lake, and is said to have some of the best ice and views around. It’s lit up at night, and is open every evening until 9:45.
The skating path will take you to 4Parc de la Pointe Merry, which is just shy of the town’s pleasant main street. We didn’t have our skates, so we strolled along the pedestrian trail adjoining the iced path until we got to Magog’s main drag, populated with a mix of boutiques, boulangeries, restaurants, microbrasseries, pubs and bars. The tourism information centre offers an architectural guide to many of the older buildings that line the main street (the western end alone has 50 buildings built between 1821 and 1950). Called Découvrez la rue Principale, the booklet outlines the history and architectural details of several of the buildings.
For the more active, there is a raised walkway and snowshoe paths in the nearby Marais de la rivière aux cerises, and alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at Mount Orford and Orford provincial park, a 15-minute drive to the north.