In a winter city like Edmonton, you can let the ice get you down — or, quite literally, take you down — or you can embrace it.
Luckily, there are a few slick events taking place this month to encourage some icy optimism.
The best way to take in Chiseled, the ice carving event running Jan. 15 to 17, is with repeat visits. The showcase will include 10 pairs of carvers to create massive sculptures (up to three metres high by three metres wide).
“It’s quite fascinating to see what they’re doing,” says Jill Roszell, producer with Activate Arts Alberta, which runs the event. “If you come on multiple days, you’ll see the progress. The carvings will stay up in the Ice District until the weather takes them.”
While Chiseled was an international competition in the past, this year organizers opted to keep carvers Canadian and feature the event as an exhibition. “It gives the artists a little more room to breathe and deal with the weather,” Roszell says. “They can build things to withstand a bit more melt if there’s warmer weather.”
The artists — many of whom come from a culinary background where they learned basic ice carving skills — were invited, with some paired up to collaborate, based on experience. “We curate the teams,” Roszell says. “We have two younger, up-and-coming carvers that we’ve put with some of our most senior artists this year.”
Several of those artists will be heading to Milan right after Chiseled where they’ll contribute their talents to the cultural Olympiad as part of the Winter Games.
“It’s a really interesting art form,” Roszell says. “There aren’t too many places that do ice sculptures on this scale.”
See Chiseled for free, from Jan. 15 – 17 at the Ice District Plaza. The sculptures will remain on display until they melt.
Alongside Chiseled, Activate Arts Alberta is also responsible for the 35-metre ice slide at Fort Saskatchewan’s Legacy Park. The slide has been getting longer and longer each year, and though it isn’t official, this year’s may have set a record for the longest ride of its kind in Canada.
“We’ve been working on different designs for the last few years with the City of Fort Saskatchewan,” Roszell says. “This has been growing every year. And, of course, it’s in Legacy Park and it’s adjacent to the toboggan hill and there are skating rinks. It’s just a beautiful little spot.”
The ice slide, located at 10005 102 St. in Fort Saskatchewan, is free and open weather-permitting.
After a five-year hiatus, the Ice Castles are back. Last month, during frigid temperatures, crews set to work (fittingly) in the ICE District to build the intricate structures, which opened to the public just after Christmas. The castles include ice slides, tunnels and stunning towers that would make Elsa envious.
And they aren’t just for the Frozen demographic. The ice bar — featuring an array of adult beverages — makes the Ice Castle a great spot for an afternoon cocktail.
The Ice Castles are open at the Ice District Plaza on Dec. 27, and run, weather-permitting, until late February or early March.
