Quebec Winter Carnival

Ice fort, Quebec city Carnival, 1896.

A picture of the Ice Palace during the carnival.

Le Bonhomme Carnaval

The Quebec Winter Carnaval Festival is a festival held in Quebec City. The festival's events include a winter amusement park, with attractions such as skiing, snow rafting, ice sculptures, snow sled slides and outdoor shows and it is usually held in February.The Carnival starts on February 1st to 17th.

It is a Catholic tradition to feast for a week or two up until Mardi gras ("Fat Tuesday", or Shrove Tuesday) before the 40-day-long fasting observance of Lent begins. Carnival celebrations were a private affair long before the first organized event came to light in 1894 in Quebec city with the erection of the first Ice Castle.

After being held on and off for half a century, the Quebec City Carnival has been held uninterruptedly since 1955. This year, a magical large Ice Palace^{[citation needed]} was built for Bonhomme, the Carnival's guest of honour, for the first time in Jacques Cartier Square. The impressive ice construction even had a dungeon, used to jokingly jail Carnival-goers who refused to honour Bonhomme's effigy. Bonhomme and his Palace are located opposite the Quebec Winter Carnival at Place d'Youville. Crowds gathered to dance and celebrate at the site that had special lighting and entertainment for the occasion. In 1973, Bonhomme Ice Palace was moved opposite Québec's National Assembly, on the foot of the Upper City wall (fortifications), right next to the entrance of the main setting of Carnival on the Plains of Abraham.

Activities and attractions

The most famous attractions of this winter festival are the night and day Carnival's parades led by the Carnival's Master, Le Bonhomme Carnaval through the Upper City, decorated with lights and ice sculpting items.

Although numerous public or private parties, shows and balls are held across the city, some of them set up outside in the bitter cold, and are testimony to the Québécois' fabled joie-de-vivre. The other main events are:

• The mascarade ball of Ball de Bonhomme with up to 400 participants at the Gran ball-room of the Château Frontenac.
• The opening and closing ceremonies taking place at the Ice Palace before thousands of participants, Bonhomme and the mayor of Quebec.
• The various outdoor sport races (snowboarding, canoe on ice, snowshoes, hockey, dog-sledding, etc., some of them part of Word Championship tournaments) in the city and around.
• The free outdoor public banquets (brunch, breakfast, etc.).
• The Canadian, Québécois and International snow sculpture contests on the Plains of Abraham. The main setting of the Carnival is the Plains of Abraham. The Plains are a public city park and stay open for free for leisure, including snowshoeing and cross-country skiing trails, during Carnival time. Part of the Plains around the Citadel is transformed into an outdoor winter amusement park with various family-themed activities, including the display of the three main snow-sculpting contests (Canada's provinces, Quebec's regions, International) and the traditional bikini snow bath event (bain de neige).

The outdoor dance parties are set at the Ice Palace with other events.

Also worth noting:

• Kiosks and other outlets in the city sell the Bonhomme effigy tag for $12 that gets you into most of the Winter Carnival events, although some of them are free.
• Most commercial main streets are decorated and several bars and restaurants throughout the city set up a winter patio made of ice sculpting in front of their establishment.
• Bonhomme short for bonhomme de neige, "snowman") is the official ambassador of the festivities, the castle lord of the Ice Palace. Bonhomme is a large snowman sporting a red cap, black buttons and a ceinture fléchée. Bonhomme was ranked in 3rd place of the world's top ten creepiest mascots by The Magazine.
• Drinking the hot alcoholic beverage Caribou to keep warm.
• The public auction is a fundraising event in aid of the Carnival. This auction features many goods and services donated for silent auction and live auction.

About feasts and restaurants:

• The Business Leaders' Luncheon, organized by the Québec City Chamber of Commerce.
• The Calgary Stampede Flap Jack Breakfast. In 2008, the carnival-goers were served by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
• The 'Restaurant Partners' Campaign is a 179-day promotion during which Québec City restaurants offer customers a special menu for a fixed price throughout the Carnival (including appetizer, soup, or salad, a main course, and a dessert).

About races and tournaments:

• A sleigh race in which drivers and their horses take part in a single- and double-harness race on the Plains of Abraham.
• The Dog Agility Competition on Snow brings together around 60 people and their dogs to compete in an outdoor obstacle course in the Old city narrow streets
• An Ice canoe race on the St. Lawrence river.
• The Québec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (not officially part of the Carnival's program since 1977).
• The Snowboard World cup in Quebec City (not part of the Carnival's official program).

Also not part of the official program of Carnival but worth a visit or a stay, the Quebec city unique Ice Hotel (Quebec) open every year from early January to late March with its bar, night club, exhibition galleries and ceremonial church.

External links

• http://www.carnaval.qc.ca
• Quebec Winter Carnival virtual tour in panoramic photography
• http://www.tournoipee-wee.qc.ca
• http://www.fissnowboard.com
• http://www.icehotel-canada.com