Chilling at the Ice Fest

This year we decided to skip the Bloor-Yorkville Ice Fest. We had gone the two festivals prior but this year we had a bout of laziness. After all, it is a 45 minute train ride to get to Yorkville from our place. As well, the Cumberland strip where we usually go is short and we would have seen all the sculptures in about 30 or so minutes.

  

Our trips downtown usually begin with our tradition of getting Tim Horton’s donuts for the kids at the train station. Since it is not a short ride and one they do not take often, we try to make it fun and memorable.  The first time we went to the Ice Fest, we got to Yorkville before lunch. The theme was Canadiana. We just walked about to check out the various ice sculptures. There was an Inukshuk, a life-sized bear and moose, sleds…so that should be Canadian, right? We had a nice photo taken by Henry Lin with a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. We posed in a sculpture of a full sized sled pulled by six huge Siberian Huskies. The sculptures were done in such amazing detail! The kids were delighted to see all the ice sculptures and ice carving demonstrations. I, meanwhile, was thrilled to sample a martini from an ice luge at Sassafraz, a ritzy downtown resto. Needless to say, we were all feeling quite festive afterwards. We then walked along Bloor to check out some more sculptures and shops. We capped our trip with a nice Pad Thai lunch at Yonge-Bloor to make the most of our trip downtown. Good thing we brought the stroller for DD #2 so she was able to get her nap on the train ride back.

Last year, we were just in and out of Yorkville. After our usual donuts on the train, we arrived at the festival to a carnival theme, Step Right Up. There were clowns, lions, and a fortune teller complete with an ice crystal ball! With another donation to the Heart and Stroke foundation, we posed in an ice carousel. The horse in the carousel was awesome.  There were real clowns making balloon animals for kids and several mimes and buskers. The cotton candy and candied apples truck was there too!  It did feel like a carnival.  We then got some nice hot chocolate which was perfect to keep us warm. Too bad there were no martinis this time. We headed back home after that quick excursion and were able to have some more snow play in the park.

All in all, I would say that both were nice festivals. They usually have other activities in the event but we really just chill and look at the sculptures (and take photos—a favorite activity of mine). Maybe we’ll go again next year or maybe we will find another festival to check out.