Uko Akpanuko
Daily Herald
The Prince Albert Winter Festival which kicked off on Feb. 7, came to a close on Sunday.
Temperatures bounced around from as low as -30 C to above zero during the two-week long event, but organizers said they were happy with how things turned out. “Overall, it was very well attended,” Prince Albert Winter Festival president Bev Erickson said. “We are very happy. Even with the 40 below weather, it was great to have people come out. Thank goodness we had indoor events during that time.” Only one event was postponed due to weather. The Family Day Sliding Party had to be moved to a new date of Mar. 9 because of the cold temperatures.
While attendance was strong, Erickson said it would have been nice to see a few more participants. “We were a little disappointed in the turnout of the number of the competitors for our King and Queen Trapper events, but apparently that happened because there were a couple of other events that happened at the same time,” she said. “Unfortunately there is only so much winter time. I keep telling everybody, ‘bring your friends.’” The outdoor events went on without any hitch although the warmer weather gave the organizers some level of concern. “Everybody enjoyed the chilli cook off,” Erickson said. “We are looking at a few things that may be tweaked in a little bit more next year. We have had a lot of great response to that.
“Our Family Cultural Days, it was well attended with the children. They all had a really good time, and then we had our first family afternoon dance. We had Sylvia and Dean play for that, and the Seniors really enjoyed that. They’ve actually asked if we can have it for more than one day.”
Erickson added that they were grateful to everyone who helped make the Winter Festival a success. “Super thank you to the support from the community, the businesses and other community members of Prince Albert and Areas for coming out supporting us for 61 years,” she said.
-With files from Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
