For every winter in recent memory, Edmonton’s Rainbow Valley Campground sleeps under a thick blanket of white snow. This year the campground, located just off Whitemud Drive next to Snow Valley Ski Hill, is the site of a stunning light festival.
Set on roughly 2.5 acres of campground, the inaugural Winter Wonder Forest is an enchanting visual feast of 250,000 twinkling lights, animated light displays, fairy tale characters, ice and snow sculptures, decorated cabins and a 100-foot tunnel large enough for cars to drive through.
At this time of year, most festivals are planned for warm, indoor fun. However, in this pandemic-cautious world, the forested winterscape is completely outdoors and designed so visitors are able to travel through the site in the privacy of their vehicle.
For months, festival elves have been busy crafting this vast, fantastical confection straight from the imagination of a child. The result is a spellbinding treat.
“It’s so beautiful for kids. The setting in the forest is truly magical,” said St. Albert ice sculptor Barry Collier. He teamed up with icemen Kelly Davis and Steve Buzak to sculpt 12 ice and snow figures.
Several include an ice queen, a flapping owl, spiders camped on a web, a family of rabbits, Olaf the snowman, three minions, SpongeBob SquarePants and Ice Age’s Sid, the sloth sitting on Diego, the sabre-tooth tiger.
Collier and his team also fashioned an ice sculpture that salutes the military, a gesture that adds substance to the bubbly froth. The military salute is a giant maple leaf, with an F/A-18 twin-engine carrier flying straight up. Rounding out the sculpture is an armoured vehicle.
Charitable cause
At first glance, this packaged festival looks as if it’s simply light-hearted fun. However, underneath the effervescence is a serious side.
Winter Wonder Forest is a fundraiser for the True Start Foundation, an affordable housing initiative. As an added bonus, it provides future homeowners with the financial literacy needed to manage daily money matters.
The literacy program allows prospective homeowners to learn to manage finances, pay a monthly mortgage, clean up their records and raise their credit score. During the pandemic, the foundation also provides monetary relief for rent, utilities, groceries and school supplies.
Foundation founder Steve Sande, a veteran of the building industry, saw a need for affordable housing back in 2004 when the price of homes skyrocketed through the roof.
Last year, he decided to take the leap in a commitment to assist people that were serious about changing their lives. In fact, a portion of True Start features a spiritual bent to the foundation.
“I think it’s important to discover the spiritual side of life, and in doing so, find your purpose. We try to help people find their purpose instead of just making $50 an hour. If we can empower people to find other lanes, and become involved in service, we can create a better society,” Sande explained.
Sande’s primary focus is not only building affordable housing, but making sure the homeowners understand what is at stake.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces. In nine out of 10 cases, people are one slip-up away from bankruptcy.”
True Start had just received its charitable status in the spring when festivals were shut down due to the pandemic.
“All the things we planned for the summer were put aside and we had to get creative and look at the future,” said festival manager Angela Thibault.
After tossing around a few ideas, a car-viewing light festival would not only provide safety and a glow to the holiday season. It would also highlight True Start in a big way.
In addition to displays mentioned above, the illuminated festival will showcase large wood carvings, a North Pole mailbox, Santa’s House, candy cabins, a toy shop and the Grinch. Santa Claus will be present every day along with numerous scurrying elves.
“It’s about a 25 to 35-minute loop. We ask people to drive slowly so they can enjoy it. They can take pictures and there is a scavenger hunt for kids. You can find it on our website," Thibault said.
As a special surprise, real live reindeer will be flying down from the North Pole every Saturday, chuckled Thibault.
“They only come Saturday because they are busy training for the big fly-over.”
The Winter Wonder Forest runs until Jan. 3, 2021. Tickets are $30 per vehicle and are available at winterwonderforest.ca.
