Warm weather doesn’t put freeze on festival attendance

Posted: 5:12 PM CST Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017

After almost two weeks of unseasonably warm conditions that melted ice sculptures and cancelled river ice events, Western Canada's largest winter festival came to an end with the return of cold weather.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2017 (2615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After almost two weeks of unseasonably warm conditions that melted ice sculptures and cancelled river ice events, Western Canada’s largest winter festival came to an end with the return of cold weather.

Dominique LeClerc, the festival’s marking and communications director, said while final attendance numbers won’t be tallied until Monday, it appears to have been another successful event.

“Overall it was very very good,” LeClerc said on Sunday.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Costumed interpreters re-enact a Red River Skirmish at Fort Gibraltar during the last day of the Festival du Voyageur. Using flintlock muskets and black powder, the actors demonstrated how a battle might have been fought between the members of La Compagnie de La Vérendrye and The Forces of Lord Selkirk in the 18th and early 19th century. — MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Costumed interpreters re-enact a Red River Skirmish at Fort Gibraltar during the last day of the Festival du Voyageur. Using flintlock muskets and black powder, the actors demonstrated how a battle might have been fought between the members of La Compagnie de La Vérendrye and The Forces of Lord Selkirk in the 18th and early 19th century.

“Attendance was higher on the first weekend, but that’s because it was warm. But (Sunday) is the perfect weather for us and there is still a lot to do.”

LeClerc said two new features at the festival — wood carving with chainsaws and attendees being able to walk around the festival site with alcoholic beverages instead of having to stay in a tent — will likely be back next year.

And LeClerc said the festival will doing more repair work to the grounds this spring because of the above freezing February temperatures.

“We have to repair the grounds every year, but this year there will be a little bit more done because the land was mushy on the first weekend. But we do it every year so we know what we have to do.”