Flying Canoë Volant takes place during the cruellest phase of winter — when spring is almost within reach, but the temperatures are still brutal — offering literal and metaphorical light.
Edify chatted with Daniel Cournoyer, the festival’s executive director, last year. Here are some takeaways that you can carry over to this year’s event, running from Jan. 28 – 31 in the Mill Creek Ravine and French Quarter.
Be prepared to interact: This festival isn’t the passive, seated kind. Get ready to walk through the sprawling site to check out lights, food and music. This year, there will be illuminated art, projections and ice sculptures.
Hit the snowy dancefloor: Speaking of music, don’t be afraid to bust a move in your snowsuit. Bands and DJs are playing throughout the festival. “The idea is to lend one’s hand and hold the hand of your Indigenous community member and do a friendship dance. To dance at a jig and reel with your Métis [community member], or just your everyday average Edmontonian,” Cournoyer told Edify.
Don’t choose hunting over church: The Indigenous and French stories behind the Flying Canoe are pretty dark. In one, a hunter is condemned to forever fly the skies after missing Sunday Service, while another features woodcutters suffering that same fate for ignoring the terms of a devilish deal.
