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February 13, 2006
Hello from Ottawa - Confederation Park Celebrates
Winterlude - Ice Sculptures, Culinary Demonstrations, Concerts -
Fun for the whole family...
Confederation Park is one of the main centres of Ottawa's
Winterlude Festival, and what was excellent for us was that
we were staying right across the street at the Lord
Elgin Hotel. So all we had to do was literally cross the street
and we were right in the heart of the action.
Winterlude is Ottawa's winter festival, organized by the National
Capital Commission. It brings together exciting events and activities
for the whole family and most of the activities are free of charge.
Naturally, Winterlude is a big draw for tourists: last year the
festival attractived approximately 650,000 visitors.
Confederation Park with Ottawa City Hall in the background
You would think that Ottawa is a city of bureaucrats, who maintain
a stiff upper lip at all times. Far from it, as we had already seen
during our Friday night outing to Fat
Tuesdays in the ByWard Market, Ottawans know how to party and
Winterlude is a 2 week long excuse for everyone to get out and celebrate
winter.
Winterlude is hosted throughout the entire city, so here is a summary
of some of the main Winterlude Locations:
Confederation Park is hosting the Casino du Lac-Leamy
Crystal Garden, an outdoor entertainment venue that includes the
Crystal Lounge, a variety of food vendors and outdoor sculptures.
When we headed out on Saturday morning, we walked right into the
ice carving competition where 7 or 8 ice carvers were working on
frozen blocks of ice, using a variety of electric and hand tools
to give shape to the creatures of their imagination.
Chain saws were being used, electrical grinding tools and hand
chisels slowly but surely created recognizeable objects. Teddy bears,
choo-choo trains and cartoon characters were coming to life right
in front of our very eyes.
Confederation Park also hosts the Fire and Ice Culinary Demonstrations,
and renowned chefs and media personalities compete for the Winterlude Ice Chef titles.
Another Winterlude location just minutes away is the American
Express Snowbowl, a stage located right in front of the
Government Conference Centre. This year's lineup includes Tom Cochrane
and Red Rider, Mes Aïeux, Jully Black, Doba Caracol, Daniel
Lanois and many more.
On our way back from Darcy McGee's
on Saturday evening we walked down to Confederation Park and on
to the American Express Snowbowl and caught a bit of a live concert.
The stage was set against the National Conference Centre and was
beautifully illuminated in orange, pink and purple shades and the
crowd was enjoying the live music.
The Rideau Canal Skateway is another official
Winterlude location. This past weekend I had a chance to experience
the Canal myself, and on a beautiful crisp winter day, it was
an exhiliariting experience to glide almost weightlessly across
the frozen expanse of the 7.8 km long Rideau Canal, indeed the world's
largest natural ice skating surface, according to the Guiness Book
of World Records.
The Rideau Canal Skateway itself hosts a variety of activities:
you can get a taste of Aboriginal culture, traditions and cuisine
at the Pig Island Aboriginal Village. The Canadian
Tire JumpStart Activity Centre at Fifth Avenue allows children
to test their hockey skills and they can also try out the Jumpai
trampoline system. Union Station at Rideau Street
provides a 1920s ambience: the history of the railway yards on the
banks of the Rideau River is recounted on displays and interpretive
panels.
This past Saturday, the 26th Annual
Bed Race on Dow's Lake combined athleticism, ingenous engineering
and fundraising for a great day of charity and hilarity.
Another opportunity for fundraising is coming up on February 19,
2006, when Canadian Tire invities you to participate in the Great
Skate from 11 am to 3 pm on the Rideau Canal Skateway on
Fifth Avenue. Proceeds will go to Canadian Tire JumpStart, a charitable
program created by the Canadian Tire Foundation for Families that
helps kids in financial need participate in organized sports and
recreation.
On the other side of the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec, is Jacques-Cartier
Park, official location of Snowflake Kingdom
and another official Winterlude site. It offers the Ice
Hogs Winter Sports Adventure, individual slides of different
slopes which will provide fun to the whole family.
Northern Place is a snow shelter and presents
the enchanting world of Aboriginal cultures with aboriginal shows
and traditional demonstrations. The Ice Hog Amphitheatre
is home to the Ice Hog's Walkabout, and in case you didn't
know, the Ice Hogs are Winterlude's official mascots. Children can
get a hug from one of their favourite mascots - Mama, Papa, Noumi
and Nouma. The Snowflake Kingdom also presents "Expérience
Maneige", an opportunity for 5 to 8 year old children
to go downhill skiing.
And a restaurant festival preceeds Winterlude. This year Taste
of Winterlude was held from January 20 to February 2, 2006,
where many popular restaurants in Ottawa-Gatineau served up their
specialties in affordable prix-fix menu format. We missed the restaurant
festival, but good food was not lacking during our past 2 days in
Ottawa. Our enjoyable dinners at Fat
Tuesdays and Darcy McGee's
gave us a sample of some of the culinary treats on offer in Ottawa.
Winterlude offers a wide variety of activities, and fortunately
this past weekend we had a chance to participate in just a few.
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope to come back to Ottawa for another festival, maybe even the famous Tulip Festival this
coming May.......
Related Articles:
Hello from Ottawa
- My 2-day packed itinerary for Winterlude
Hello from Ottawa - First
impressions and an overview
Hello from Ottawa - The Lord Elgin
Hotel: a historic landmark in the heart of Ottawa
Hello from Ottawa - Fat Tuesday's
and the Mardi Gras Experience in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - An early
morning walk to Parliament Hill
Hello from Ottawa - Skating
on the Rideau Canal, the World's Largest Skating Rink
Hello from Ottawa - Charity and
hilarity: the 26th Annual Bedzz Races on Dow's Lake
Hello from Ottawa - Confederation
Park and other Winterlude locations
Hello from Ottawa - Darcy McGee's:
a historic Irish pub on Sparks Street
Hello from Ottawa - The Canadian
War Museum and "Weapons of Mass Dissemination - The Propaganda
of War"
Hello from Ottawa - The
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography featuring Sunil Gupta
and the challenges of immigration
An interview with Tourism Ottawa
provides a great overview of this city
An interview about
the ByWard Market, a prime entertainment and shopping area
An interview
with the National Gallery of Canada
An interview
with the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Helpful websites:
Ottawa
Tourism: Ottawa's official tourism information
The ByWard
Market Business Improvement Area
The
National Capital Commission
The National
Museum of Civilization
The National Gallery
of Canada
The Canadian War
Museum
Useful books about Ottawa:
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