Winnipeggers of all ages can hit the bricks at upcoming Lego fest

A group of Winnipeg Lego enthusiasts are “building” up to the first-ever showcase of their custom creations, slated for next weekend at Grant Park Shopping Centre.

The Manitoba Lego Users Group, MBLUG, is hosting River City Brickfest on June 15, and hope to see fans of all ages of the popular building toy come out and join the fun.

The free event promises tables of custom Lego creations, as well as contests, opportunities for kids to dig in and build on-site, and more.

It’ll also feature MBLUG member Scott Templeton’s pièce de résistance: a scale model of the old Winnipeg Arena.

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Templeton told 680 CJOB’s The Start that his tribute to Winnipeg Jets 1.0 gave him an unexpected taste of (local) viral fame when he completed it a few years ago.

“I just really wanted to build a big arena. I always wanted to do that as a kid, I’m a big Jets fan and I like history, so all my interests just came together,” Templeton said.

“It’s been sitting in the basement for a while, I’ve been slowly adding more minifigures to it, and it’ll be on display again next weekend.”

0:48 Winnipeg Arena Lego replica

The project, which Templeton estimates took between 40 and 50 hours of building time, is portable. But like any Lego creation, it helps to be careful when moving it.

“It actually breaks in half. I take all the figures out, take the roof off, and then it splits in half,” he said.

“I use a bit of bubble wrap and shrink wrap and some boxes and we just hope I don’t hit any big potholes that day.”

Templeton said Brickfest is the first original show MBLUG has put on, after years of participating in events like comic cons.

“Basically we’re just a group of adults that are dedicated to the hobby of Lego,” he said.

“We get together in person probably once every three months. We have some online meetings … and basically we just combine our hobbies to do a lot of interesting things.”

3:40 LEGO stop-motion video on economic development in Winnipeg