Jan. 11, 2012 - Issue #847: The great indoors

Ice on Whyte: Fighting the thaw

Winter fest proceeding despite soaring temperatures

It'll be starting one day late, but the Ice on Whyte Festival will be going ahead as planned and offering its full range of winter activities despite the warmer weather, festival organizers are promising. Sub-zero temperatures are usually not hard to come by in Edmonton during January, but the warm spell has prompted a whirlwind of activity to ensure the full range of offerings are available when the festival opens the doors at its new, larger location on Friday, January 13.

"It has been a definite challenge this year, but we've got such a brilliant team working to make it happen," says Wanda Bornn, Festival Producer. "We've got special tarps over the ice sculptures to stop them melting and on the evenings it has been cold enough we've been making snow to place the ice blocks on to keep them stable."

As well as fighting to keep their ice from becoming puddles, festival organizers have also been working to fill a larger venue than ever before, following Ice on Whyte's move to End of Steel Park for this year's event.

"We had outgrown our previous home," Bornn explains. "It's quite exciting to grow, although it has its new challenges."

As well as putting up fencing, making snow and organizing electricity for the lights and musicians, the team has been piecing together its largest ice slide yet, taking advantage of the extra space the new location affords. Also on offer throughout the 10-day festival will be a sizeable entertainment tent with live music, a children's play area, ice carving for families and the Little Chippers learn-to-carve school program, which was filled within four days of bookings opening.

Another new element to this year's event will be free rides on the restored 1912 Edmonton Streetcar, which will be running between the festival's two sites at End of Steel Park and the the Alberta Legislature Grounds, where international ice carving teams have been chipping away at oversized blocks since the start of the month.

"This year we have some incredible artists visiting from China and all over the world," Bornn enthuses. "Many of the artists we get are on a worldwide tour of ice carving and they are really amazing."

More than 270 000 pounds of crystal clear ice is being used at the two sites to create over a dozen fantastical ice and snow sculptures for visitors to enjoy, including a nine-metre copy of the legislature building itself. The carving contest will see 10 teams from China, Russia, Latvia, Great Britain, Mexico, the Isle of Man, Canada and the US compete to build the most weird and wonderful design from the allocated 15 ice blocks.

"For the first couple of days it looks like chaos," Bornn jokes. "There's cardboard and chips of ice flying everywhere and people whistling, singing and playing music while they work—it's a crazy mess. But just seeing the designs evolve from the sketch they provide us on a piece of paper is excellent."

After their 35 hours are up, the ice carvers' designs are then judged on technical skill, creativity, final appearance, design and composition and a list of other criteria from the National Ice Carving Association. The ice carving competition runs from January 13 to 15, with the rest of the festival continuing until January 22.

"Come outside and play," Bornn adds. "People are always in constant amazement at the ice sculptures and activities ... it's one of the most delightful things to do with the family."
For more on this year's Ice on Whyte Festival, check out iceonwhyte.ca.

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