30th Annual Snowking Winter Festival Opens in Yellowknife

At 12:00 o’clock sharp on Saturday, March 1st, Snowking and his team once again opened the front gate at Yellowknife’s 30th annual Winter Festival!

After two months of construction, the Ice Castle was completed, and as is tradition, all members of the public were invited to come down to the castle site on the Great Slave Lake. After sharing some words of welcome, Snowking passed his saw on to a member of his crew and newly appointed King, Martin One-Boot, who was then given the honour of making the first cut into the door to allow the public inside.

Once inside, guests were treated to the fruits of the construction team’s labour, with murals and carved images lining the walls, miniature ice sculptures, and several collections of images depicting the history of Northern living.

A children’s area was set aside for younger guests to play, which included several finely carved slides of ice. The main structure within the castle walls held a stage that will host several special performances throughout the rest of the month. Musical performances, comedy shows, and general celebrations will all be held at the Castle. A full schedule of events can be found on the Snowking website.

The opening ceremony was serenated by a performance by the Yellowknives Dene Drummers.

Just outside the castle walls, guests could also observe the progress of the participants of the 9th Annual Snowcarving Symposium. Multiple teams of international guests were each given a large cube of snow to carve into a sculpture of their choosing, all while following this year’s theme of medieval folklore!