Starting today, Saskatoon will spend more than two weeks celebrating the cooler side of its culture through a variety of PotashCorp Wintershines events.
The festivities run until Feb. 6 and include an ice park, a battle of the bands, Canada’s first-ever official snowball fight competition and more.
The Saskatoon Farmer’s Market is the location of the Wintershines 2011 Ice Park. The park includes a six-metre tall ice slide designed by University of Saskatchewan engineering students, an ice climbing wall complete with belaying equipment and ice picks, an ice rink, ice sculptures and all sorts of lights.
The park opens today at noon and will host the official kickoff party for the festival. Sleigh rides will be offered in the afternoon and there will be a barbecue and entertainment starting at 5:30 p.m. The night will culminate in an ice park light show at 7 p.m.
The ice park will be open to the public most evenings throughout the festival.
On weekdays, the park will play host to school groups as part of the Winter Camp in the City program. In addition to the regular park attractions, kids will take part in dog sledding, making maple taffy and snow carving.
Wednesday will see the Warm the Heart Soup Cook-Off take place at the farmer’s market. Local chefs will team up with media personalities in a competition to make the most delicious soup, with the winner decided by a combination of a panel of judges and votes from the public. Visitors can buy soup for $5 a bowl, with all proceeds going to the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
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Thursday is the first day of the Ice Carving Festival at Market Square, which will bring carvers from across the province to showcase their craft for four days.
Wintershines really takes off on Friday, Jan. 28, starting with Canada’s first-ever Yukigassen competition at the Bessborough Gardens at 1 p.m. Yukigassen is Japanese for “snowball fight.” It’s a new sport from Japan that plays out like paintball, only with balls of snow.
Teams of seven try to eliminate opposing players by hitting them with snowballs. Matches consist of three rounds, each of which can be won by knocking out all of the opposing players or capturing a flag located on the other team’s side of the playing field.
Wintershines will mark the first time an official Yukigassen competition will be held in Canada.
“We’re really excited to be a part of this sport in North America on the ground level,” said Cheri Hamilton of Saskatoon Sports Tourism.
Bringing the sport to a new continent has provided some challenges.
“Our snow is so dry, so we have to find creative ways to make our snowballs stick and not turn to ice,” said Hamilton. She is confident everything will be ready by the time the competition begins.
Jan. 28 is also the first night of the Wintershines Ice Jam, a battle of the bands for local high school musicians that runs Friday and Saturday for the last two weekends of the festival.
The first three nights will feature different sets of bands, with the winner of each night and one wild card choice appearing as the four finalists on Saturday, Feb. 5. Finalists will receive professional recording time at Saskatoon’s Starlab studio and be featured on Shaw Cable.
Each of the four nights of the competition also features a more established headliner, with three Saskatoon bands — Mobadass, We Were Lovers and The Rebellion — and Regina’s Dustin Ritter Band each taking a turn.
Saturday, Jan. 29, features a winter carnival at Ecole Canadienne-Francaise de Saskatoon Pavilion Gustave-Dubois and Harold Tatler Park North. The carnival will have music, face painting, sleigh rides and other family activities as well as a hockey tournament.
On Jan. 30, the farmer’s market will host a local business trade show, with admission by donation to the Saskatoon Overnight Shelter.
Wintershines continues through to Sunday, Feb. 6, with things to do every day. Details on events can be found on the Wintershines website (potashcorpwintershines.ca).
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