Many Edmontonians were enjoying Silver Skate Festival at Hawrelak Park on Monday, as the winter festival wraps up on Family Day.
It will also be the last festival in this part of the river valley for some time, as the park is closing for three years so that extensive rehabilitation work can be done.
Silver Skate is one of many Edmonton festivals and events that have had to look for a new home. It will be relocating just across the river to Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park.
“We’re so excited to showcase another jewel of the river valley,” said Silver Skate executive producer Erin DiLoreto, “a beautiful park that doesn’t really get a lot of event love.
“So we get to test the waters and see what that looks like. It’s an opportunity to step out of the comfort of Hawrelak and try things different.”
After 17 years at Hawrelak, DiLoreto will miss the original location but is looking forward to the much-needed changes.
“I hope that the work that needs to get done to Hawrelak Park gets done in a thoughtful and smart manner.”
“Our stance has always been that there is work that needs to be done to Hawrelak,” she said. “There’s some necessary infrastructure work that needs to be done… There’s no Wi-Fi here. I can’t even bring a banking machine in.”
DiLoreto hasn’t seen the final designs for the park but says her top priorities would be safety, the ring road, transportation plan, signage, power, internet, upgrades to the amphitheatre and 1954 kitchen facilities.
“Moving into the 21st Century and doing some great things that need to be done,” DiLoreto said.
“I love Hawrelak Park. I believe that Hawrelak Park is probably the jewel of the river valley,” she added. “I just hope they don’t change it too much.”
Other festivals that usually call Hawrelak home are finding other venues, DiLoreto said, like the Exhibition Lands, Borden Park and Remax Field.
Hawrelak will officially close on March 13.
“I didn’t hear about it until we got here today,” said Linda Lee, who was enjoying the park with her family. They enjoy it in all seasons, she said.
“I love how open it is, how big it is. It’s nice in the summers (too). We just come here and relax.”
Stefan Lee was sad to hear of the three-year closure.
“It’s a pretty big park. There’s a lot of festivals that go on, like Heritage Days. We enjoy it, we come every year… It has a big rink surface. It’s fun for the kids. It’ll definitely be missed. This year we’ve come a few times for the skating.”
“We’ll make do,” Linda added. “I guess we don’t have a choice.”
Alexie Jara sees both sides of the coin.
“I think that’s really sad but I think it’s a beautiful start to go somewhere else, try new things, maybe bring more people in,” she said.
“I think it’ll be very nice to relocate, but it’ll be really sad to see another legacy close down for a while.”