SLIDING INTO WINTERLUDE FUN
Unusually warm temperatures result in ‘clear, sheer ice’ on Rideau Canal
Children go for a slide at the opening of Snowflake Kingdom at Jacques Cartier Park on Sunday during the kickoff weekend of the 35th edition of Winterlude. The festival continues until Feb. 18.
Despite the unusually warm weather leading up to its launch on Friday, Winterlude kicked into full gear over the weekend.
The opening of Snowflake Kingdom in Jacques Cartier Park was delayed by 24 hours due to weather conditions, but on Sunday the park was filled with hundreds of people, many pulling children in sleds behind them, trudging through the snow between the park’s attractions.
Samuel de Champlain made an appearance at the Snowflake Stage, while a group of men from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community performed in a drum circle at the Anishinabe Village.
Guy Laflamme, senior vicepresident, capital experience of the National Capital Commission, said the aboriginal village was introduced this year to recognize the role of the Algonquin people in Canada’s history.
“This is about featuring the 400th anniversary of the passage of Champlain, and the role played by the Algonquin people in welcoming him and assisting him in his journey,” he said.
The NCC strives to promote Canadian history and identity in a fun outdoor environment, Laflamme said.
The Canadian Forces hosted an obstacle course for children and put on three displays in the park: a field ambulance with military paramedics, a James Bay freighter canoe and a Canadian Rangers teepee. Four explorers who said they had just disembarked their ship, La Françoise, wandered around the park singing, playing wooden spoons and telling festival-goers that the year was 1603.
Both children and adults enjoyed tubing down the giant Chinook Slide, a popular new attraction with a long lineup of more than 50 people at times.
The Rideau Canal was populated with skaters of all ages Saturday and Sunday. Laflamme said the warm conditions that resulted in a natural flooding on the Rideau Canal on Wednesday and Thursday of last week resulted in a “pleasant surprise” with regard to skating conditions.
“In a sense, we benefited from a free additional layer of ice,” he said, adding that the “flooding” created a layer of “clear, sheer ice.”
Laflamme said the Northwest Territories exhibit at the Ottawa Convention Centre and the Garden of Lanterns, donated from the city of Jinju, South Korea, were also popular attractions over the weekend.
Winterlude runs until Feb. 18.