A new event called Barbegazi will bring screaming snowmobiles and their carbon emissions to the ByWard Market during the 2026 edition of Winterlude, but it’s a spectacle that’s not ruffling the president of the Lowertown Community Association.
“It’s all about balance,” association
president Sylvie Bigras
said of the freestyle snowmobile event slated for Feb. 6-8. ”We are excited about the attention and recognition that’s starting to be paid again to the historic ByWard Market. This is Bytown in its original form; it’s one of the oldest parts of Canada. We want people to come here.”
Bigras believes the event offers a good preview of how York Street will work as a pedestrian plaza, a feature that’s part of the
ByWard Market revitalization plan
and expected to be created by 2027, the year the Market celebrates its 200th anniversary.
“We’ve been very strong advocates in pushing for York Street to actually become a plaza. It’s about making it a people place,” she said, listing the greenery, lighting, walkability and
occasional major events
as key elements of the revitalization. “We see nothing wrong with that.”
Barbegazi is the first Ottawa show produced by Tribu Expérientiel, a rapidly expanding Montreal company dedicated to bringing extreme sports to unexpected urban locations.
The business idea started 15 years ago in a Montreal backyard, where Tribu’s president and founder, Micah Desforges, decided to throw a snowboarding party in the fall. “It wasn’t a company, it was just a bunch of friends getting together,” Desforges recalled. “We created a snowboard competition in our backyard in a residential neighborhood.”
Instead of being deterred by a lack of snow and slope, they gathered the white stuff from a nearby arena and built a jump.
“And, all of a sudden, we had snowboarders in our backyard jumping on our snowboard feature with Zamboni snow. One hundred people showed up, and everybody had a great time,” Desforges said. “Then a friend dared me to do it bigger next year, and that was how the company started.”
Their scope has since expanded to other countries (including the United States and Australia, with Latin America events in the works, too) and three types of events: Apik features skiing and snowboarding; Jackalope showcases skateboarding and bouldering (in warmer climates); and Barbegazi spotlights gravity-defying snowmobile acrobatics.
The word Barbegazi, by the way, is derived from “barbe glacée” (or “frozen beard”) and refers to a mythical, gnome-like creature said to inhabit the Swiss Alps.
Another part of the company’s mandate is to bring an unexpected slice of mountain culture to urban settings, thanks in part to a ramp setup that can be built within a city block.
“The play here is to inject energy into the Ottawa brand, and bring something new and fresh that’s unexpected,” Desforges said. “We’re bringing something you might expect in the middle of the woods, or down a dirt road, or in the back country, and we’re displaying it right downtown. I think it screams ‘This is Canada.’”
Although Desforges gets a thrill from hearing the sound of revving snowmobiles and seeing the athletes fly through the air, he realizes it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
“Obviously some people might be annoyed by the noise, and they’re not going to come, but others will be surprised,” he said. “They’re going to see something they probably never saw before.”
Barbegazi in Ottawa is expected to feature four athletes, including three slated to compete in the 2026 XGames in Aspen, Colo., in January: Chris Cooseman, Daniel Shaffer and Daniel Bodin.
The show includes a 25-minute performance followed by a meet-and-greet for photos and autographs with the contestants and the chance to see their machines up close.
Desforge says extreme-sport events often draw a younger generation looking for inspiration.
“There’s this full empowering message of pushing yourself and believing in yourself,” he noted. “You don’t need to be doing those crazy stunts, you just need to believe in yourself.”
The first Barbegazi in Ontario took place on Dec. 31, 2023 — New Year’s Eve — in Mississauga.
“It was a validation that they can welcome adrenaline-type events to the city, and the community is going to respond positively to it,” Desforges said.
“It’s probably going to be a similar thing in Ottawa in that people don’t really know what to expect, and they aren’t sure if they’re going to like it, and it’s probably going to be noisy, but it will surprise them. It’s pretty epic.”
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