Edmonton is a city that embraces the cold weather! Nearly every weekend since we have been here there has been an outdoor winter festival to check out. And these festivals have been magical! Filled with fairy lights, ice sculptures, snow sculptures, ice slides and maple syrup taffy.

The Deep Freeze festival was a lively festival that celebrated Ukrainian, Francophone and Indigenous cultures. Highlights of this festival that we stumbled across were two ice slides for the kids, maple taffy and a Scandinavian Viking encampment.

The people and volunteers are the heart of these festivals and put so much energy and effort in to making the festivals great. The group Odin’s Ravens put on a re-enactment street performance of Viking battles which was so entertaining to watch.

This festival brought us our first taste of maple syrup taffy. The maple syrup taffy has been a favourite of the kids (of course, it’s frozen sugar, why wouldn’t it?). The taffy making is an experience that you are involved in which makes it so much fun. The maple is heated up and poured directly on to snow in front of you and you are given a stick to twirl it on to as the snow cools it down. And it is sweet, frozen DELICIOUSNESS!

Thanks for checking in! Elyse