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Central Alberta communities celebrate Family Day weekend

Central Alberta communities celebrate Family Day weekend
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Christian Denis works on an ice sculpture during the Town of Blackfalds’ Winterfest Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sean McIntosh/Advocate staff)

Central Alberta communities celebrate Family Day weekend

Central Albertans in several communities were able to take in Family Day events this weekend.

The Town of Blackfalds hosted its Winterfest at the Eagle Builders Centre Monday afternoon. The event featured free family skating, ice sculptors and a Blackfalds Fire Department barbecue.

“We condensed it a little bit this year,” said Sean Barnes, manager of projects, events and the Eagle Builders Centre.

“With the COVID restrictions we have, we didn’t have enough time to put contracts and other things together for it. But we’re glad to have the ice sculptors and the public skating, because people want to come see the new facility — we’re excited to show it off.”

The Eagle Builders Centre, which features a new ice surface with 1,400 seats also houses a municipal library. Winterfest attendees were impressed with the new facility, said Barnes.

“People come in and they can’t believe how beautiful this facility is,” said Barnes.

“We get people from coming out of town for tournaments and Junior A games and they say it’s amazing what the facility looks like and how friendly the environment is.”

The town has been hosting Winterfest events since 2007, but last year the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At all of our other Winter events, we’ve had ice sculptors. We wanted to keep that tradition. That’s the one thing we wanted to bring back,” he said.

“We’re pretty happy with Winterfest. People keep coming back to this event because it’s been a tradition for the past 15 years.”

The Town of Penhold also hosted a Winterfest celebration of its own on Friday with skating, food and hot chocolate at the town’s Multiplex.

In Sylvan Lake, there was a three-day Winterfest and the Big Jig Ice Fishing Derby, which featured a $3,000 grand prize.



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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