Snow or no snow: Kingston's premiere winter festival set for Feb. 2-5

Posted Jan 19, 2012 By Kristen Coughlar

EMC Events - There are those who had their doubts. In fact, there were those who were convinced that a Feb Fest without the Limestone Classic would falter.

THEY WERE WRONG.

After great success last year, this city's premiere winter festival will once again feature the talents of up-and-coming local hockey stars as opposed to NHL celebrities.

"We were delighted with the results (of last year)," said Downtown Kingston! Marketing Manger Michelle Langlois.

"We were understandably a little bit nervous. We were quite confident in the decision and direction, but we don't know until the day of how it's going to be received."

The Kingston community turned out in droves.

"Between the hockey tournament and the new activities in the park, there were a lot of smiles," Langlois said.

So this year, Hockey day in Kingston and the popular snow slide and snow maze are back.

Hockey stars from three leagues in town, the Church Athletic League, Kingston Minor Hockey Association and the Ice Wolves, will entertain audiences from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the afternoon of Feb. 4.

The snow slide and maze will be available throughout the entire festival in Confederation Park.

As with last year, a professional snow sculptor is being brought in to help create this winter wonderland.

"This year...we have Cruikshank Construction as a sponsor. We're bringing in one expert who will teach Cruikshank engineers and staff on how to build it, so that we'll be able to build it ourselves in the future," Langlois said. Last year's creation was made possible through a Celebrate Ontario grant.

In addition to bringing back activities and events that proved popular with the public last year, Langlois noted a couple of new additions to this year's festival, including the Carr Harris Cup. This annual hockey contest between Queen's and RMC will be held at the K-Rock Centre on Thursday, Feb. 2 this year as part of the festival.

There will also be the addition of a Polar Bear Plunge on Sunday, Feb 5, hosted by the OPP and Kingston Police in support of Special Olympics Ontario.

"Once upon a time we had a polar plunge the first night. I could barely watch, it just made me feel cold," Langlois said.

Two other big changes to the festival will see Imagination on Ice move to Sunday afternoon, and the Historic Hockey Series move to Saturday night at 7 p.m.

All in all, it appears as though Kingston is in store for another great year of winter fun in downtown Kingston. Now, all we need is a little snow.

"We'd like some snow...If worse comes to worse we're still having a winter festival, only we get creative. We're scheming ways to get some snow," Langlois said.

This year's Feb Fest runs Feb. 2-5 in downtown Kingston. For a full schedule of events visit www.downtownkingston.ca and click on the Feb Fest link.

kcoughlar@perfprint.ca