Fredericton ‘Frostival’ helps downtown businesses beat the winter blues

Fredericton’s sixth annual Frostival is underway, with more than 100 events set to take place over the coming weeks.  It’s a festival business owners say brings people into the downtown core, providing an economic boost.

Fredericton Tourism assistant manager Stacey Russell said Frostival motivates people when they normally want to remain inside.

“It gives people a great opportunity to be able to come out and enjoy winter,” Russell said.

There’s a mix of indoor and outdoor events, with some ticketed events and others completely free.   Russell said there are activities for people of all ages, including several new craft beer events.

READ MORE: Unique ice sculptures charm Fredericton residents during Frostival

There will be a skating party on Saturday in Officers’ Square to kick off the weekend, with hundreds of people expected to show up for the free event.  It coincides with the annual ice sculpture showcase.

“There’s lots of people out, and around downtown going to restaurants, enjoying attractions and just really getting in and soaking up Frostival. And it looks like Mother Nature’s going to cooperate with us this weekend,” Russell said.

The festival also helps keep people in the city with events that go from morning until night.

“So what we’ve done with Frostival is given it quite a bit of critical mass so you can look at the schedule and plan out your morning, afternoon, ‘Dine Around Freddy’ supper and then have a Frostival evening. So there’s no reason not to spend an evening in Fredericton,” Russell said.

‘Dine around Freddy’ provides people the opportunity to enjoy a multi-course meal at local restaurants for a reasonable price, with 11 restaurants taking part.

While most people who attend the events are local and don’t book hotel rooms, Crowne Plaza Fredericton general manager Dan Myers noted that restaurants are booking up.

“Frostival generates a lot of business throughout Fredericton. As a hotel, it is a local activity so we don’t generate a lot of room rates from it, but it does create a lot of people coming to the downtown core, especially in partnership with Dine Around Freddy.  Generally our restaurant does very well, very busy, during Dine Around which is all part of Frostival,” Myers said.

Myers thinks the awareness of the festival has grown, saying people have been calling to ask hotel staff when events are happening.

“Like any festival it takes a number of years consecutively for people to be aware of it. Prime example is Harvest.  Everybody knows what Harvest is, it’s run 27 years, coming up to 28 years… I guarantee you the first year, second year, third year was much smaller. All festivals, the importance of them is the continuity and the timing,” Myers said.

That’s something King Street Ale House restaurant owner Doug Williams agrees with, saying while it provides a “decent boost in business” now, he can see it growing to be something similar to the city’s other festivals.

“The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, when it started was a very small event and it was years before it became a big event. Now it’s this enormous event and I sort of feel that Frostival can be a similar thing, that over time it has to build up and it’s not a short-term fix for a slow time of year. I think it’s more of a-long term project,” Williams said.

The festival runs until February 4.