Organizers hope to double attendance
Brian Janz admits it was a learning experience when he decided to revive Fort Qu’Appelle’s winter festival last year after the event spent nearly three decades on hiatus.
“There weren’t too many veterans around to give us advice on what to do,” said Janz, a first-term town councillor and festival chair, on Saturday.
But the plan did work with 1,500 festival $5 admission buttons selling faster than expected. To accommodate residents who still wanted to attend, about 500 Fort Qu’Appelle pins were sold. This year, Janz has 5,000 for sale for the festival from Feb. 21-23 at The Fort.
The festival coincides with fireworks celebrating the town’s 150th anniversary.
At the centre of the festival is a four-metre-high by 13-metre wide ice castle made with 1,400 blocks carved from Echo Lake. Chris Hahn was in charge of building the ice castle. About 20 volunteers showed up to help carve the ice and put the castle together on a workday, notes Janz.
Hahn and Janz laugh when they recall how last year they cut out blocks of ice with a large circular saw for the castle but the cuts weren’t deep enough. They had to go back and do it over again.
Janz said, “This year was like ‘now we know what we’re doing.’ ”
Besides constructing the ice castle, organizers try to recreate events, such as bannock making and cooking, that were a part of the festival when it was held in the 1960s.
Other events include skidoo and motorcycle racing on the lake, a cabaret featuring live music, ice fishing, a hockey tournament, an ice maze and a torch lighting ceremony to launch the festival.
The festival site also has a bar made from ice where alcohol will be served. Overall, about 50 volunteers help out with the festival.
Janz said his motivation for re-launching the festival was to revive a community tradition but also a way to get people back to Fort Qu’Appelle for a weekend, including former residents.
“We were happy last year to get 2,000 people. It would be great to have 5,000 people (this year). If we get it, great. If 1,000 people come out and have a great time, that’s great,” he said.
“But I think every year it’s going to get better because you get more people interested.”