It was a
banner year for Winterlude
, according to organizers, tourism industry insiders, visitors and locals alike, with a stretch of cold but sunny days creating ideal conditions for the festivities.
The 48th edition of Winterlude came to a close on Family Day Monday after three busy weekends that saw more than half a million visitors at the annual winter showcase, according to Tourism Ottawa estimates.
“The
weather is unpredictable in Ottawa
in the winter, and the last few years have been a bit of a challenge,” said Melanie Brault, director of capital celebrations with Canadian Heritage, the agency that organizes Winterlude.
“But the fact that it was so cold the first two weekends of Winterlude, although you had to really dress up and make sure that you were staying safe, it enabled us to keep the ice carvings alive throughout, which means that everybody can enjoy them, and we’ve actually been adding on even more every weekend.”
The annual ice carving competition is one of the marquee events of Winterlude, and this year moved back to its regular home in the Crystal Garden in Confederation Park after relocating to Sparks Street and other downtown locations in recent years.
“We actually started on the first day of Winterlude (on Jan. 30), it was about -35 C outside, and at 10 a.m. we had 12 teams of ice carvers that started creating their masterpieces,” Brault said.
Competitors were given 18 blocks of ice and 30 hours to create their sculptures, with this year’s theme celebrating Canada’s northern identity.
Visitors flocked to see the intricate designs on display at the Crystal Garden, along with other prime destinations like the Snowflake Kingdom in Gatineau’s Jacques-Cartier Park and the famed Rideau Canal Skateway, which the National Capital Commission announced
would temporarily close
at 10 p.m. Monday night due to the recent warmer temperatures.
“All indications are it was a banner Winterlude,” said Steve Ball, president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association. “All the downtown hotels were full … and generally it’s a weekend event, but several downtown hotels told me they’ve seen quite a bit of pickup during the week as well.”
Ball said the data is still being compiled, but early indicators pointed to a hugely successful event with a considerable economic impact on the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
“All of the stars were aligned this year, and based on weather, based on product, based on Ottawa Tourism’s marketing, based on the ice sculptures going back into Confederation Park, and just making the city so much more animated, the results are going to be terrific,” he said.
Brault said Canadian Heritage joined forces with more than 50 partners this year to diversify the slate of offerings.
The agency partnered with Ottawa Tourism, which hosted the “Lantern Grove” sound and light experience in Confederation Park that included short film screenings.
“It was a nice interlude for people going from the Rideau Canal Skateway to Confederation Park, and we wanted to diversify the offerings of Winterlude,” said Jérôme Miousse, Ottawa Tourism director of public affairs. “With Taste Ottawa, we helped organize Capital City Bites, which featured some great restaurants around Ottawa for people to enjoy good food while walking around the festivities.
“The
there was the Barbegazi
on the second weekend,” Miousse said, referring to the event that transformed the ByWard Market into a high-flying freestyle snowmobile show with stunts, tricks and 40-foot jumps that left the crowds in awe.
Ottawa Tourism partnered with the ByWard Market District Authority to host the event that drew huge crowds to the heritage neighbourhood, which is celebrating its bicentennial in 2027, while this year marks 200 years since the founding of Bytown.
“It’s kind of unnatural to see snowmobiles doing tricks in the middle of an urban setting. So that was special and it’s all part of revitalizing and adding vibrancy to the Market. It’s one of our main tourism districts, so it was great for people to see activities like that in the Market,” Miousse said.
“They’re doing a great job just adding vibrancy and trying to make it an ecosystem where it’s attractive for business to operate there and more attractive for people to go walk there and do activities there and enjoy the animation there.
“When you improve quality of life for residents, it makes your residents the best ambassadors for a destination, because then they speak to their network, their friends, their family, who then get to enjoy the ByWard Market, and the more animation, the more open storefronts, the more activities there are, then they go back home in their cities and they spread that word of mouth.
“We’re very happy now that we’re able to jump in and try to diversify and enhance the experience for a variety of interests, from extreme sports lovers to foodies and everything in between,” Miousse said.
Sylvia McMillan said she made the nearly six-hour trek from the Collingwood area to take in the festivities over the long weekend.
“We’ve never visited Ottawa as a family before, and (Winterlude) is something we’ve always wanted to do, so this was the perfect time over the Family Day weekend,” she said between bites of Beavertails and sips of hot chocolate on Winterlude’s final day.
“I’m so proud of the work that we do and it’s very important for us that Winterlude remains a viable event here in the National Capital Region,” Brault said. “We always take a step back after every year, we look at what we did, what can we do to improve and remain relevant.”
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