The Gimli Ice Festival will celebrate 14 years of outdoor fun and games that are sure to please both locals and visitors.
This year’s festival, Celebrating the Arts, runs from Friday, March 7, to Sunday, March 9.
GIF co-chairs Susan and Peter Holfeuer said the festival showcases local culture, heritage, Indigenous traditions, artists and artisans while providing family-fun events around town. It relies on community organizations and hundreds of volunteers to make it shine.
“This annual festival is only possible by means of the collaborative partnership from multiple local community organizations that facilitate the various events though the support of their dedicated volunteers,” they said in a statement on the festival’s website. “These organizations and all the volunteers can take great pride for having grown the Gimli Ice Festival to become recognized by Travel Manitoba as the 2023 Event of the Year.”
The festival is incorporating some dog-pulling power into its wide range of events. A Harness Dog Winter Sport Demo is scheduled for March 8 in Gimli Harbour from 12-1:30 p.m.
The festival’s much-loved standards include a family-oriented frozen T-shirt contest, Viking culture, a frozen fish toss, motorcycle and sports car racing on Lake Winnipeg and a hockey skills competition.
For the kids, the festival’s mascot, Cooley, has commandeered part of the Gimli Recreation Centre, where kids can enjoy his indoor playground and win some prizes.
Some of the organizations participating in the festival include the Gimli Art Club, which will be offering kids’ face-painting on March 8 and 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the creation of a community mural, and the New Iceland Heritage Museum, which will be hosting a photo exhibit to celebrate 150 years of New Iceland (1875-2025).
On Saturday, March 8 Gimli Harbour will light up with a fireworks display, starting at 6:30 p.m. And Indigenous musician Jerry Sereda will take the stage in the Lakeview Resort at 7 p.m.
For more information on events, dates and times, visit the Gimli Ice Festival at www.gimliicefestival.com. Passes are $5.
