St. Albert artist, curling club help with Deep Freeze

‘Jam Jar’ should describe some of the edible delights or possibly a style of music for the entertainment at this weekend’s Deep Freeze Festival along Alberta Avenue in Edmonton. It actually describes the curling rocks on loan from the St. Albert Curling Club that will appropriately be used during the Tyme Curling, just one of a few street sports that will bring the extended community together to celebrate the winter and the new year, according to the Julian calendar.

The festival, now in its third year, is a multicultural extravaganza of food, entertainment, art and sports for the revitalized area. It will feature all manner of family-friendly activities with Ukrainian, Caribbean and old English roots among others. One Edmonton businessman has committed to bringing some of his family’s French-Canadian customs to the public for all to enjoy. Co-ordinator SĂ©bastien BĂ©rubĂ© explained that la tarte au sucre and la tourtière mean a lot according to his heritage.

“It’s bringing a piece of [home] to 118th Avenue. It’s a big family event,” he said, talking about how many of the employees with his company moved from QuĂ©bec and miss the experience of the winter Carnaval. Of course there will be the famed Cabane Ă  Sucre as well, one of the main attractions for any sweet tooth, young or old. After you lick the syrup from your lips, you can tap your spoons to accordion tunes by Jason Kodie and enjoy a performing dance troupe called ZĂ©phyr or catch the competition de sciotte. The entire Sunday program is comprised of these French-Canadian components with the first day being a more culturally diverse affair.

Festival producer Christy Morin said, “It’s going to be a really wonderful French-Canadian focus and we’re delighted to see this grow and have [this component] be a strong piece of our Deep Freeze. Their joie de vivre and way of celebrating is contagious. Why not totally embrace how they celebrate.”

The ice sculptures also go a long way to drawing crowds, both during the daytime carving creation phase and then later the magical night-time light up. One of the people who will be picking up a specialized chainsaw to chip and chisel out a masterpiece is celebrated St. Albert artist Sharon Moore-Foster.

Other highlights include a suckling pig roasted on a spit, horse and wagon rides, street hockey featuring some local sports celebrities, lantern making, the Mummer’s Play, an outdoor tipi, the family craft workshop, the famed slide in Tom Fool’s Ice and Snow Kingdom and the Melt the Deep Freeze Dance on Saturday night featuring the reggae rhythms of Souljah Fyah. The Baileys Ice Bar lets the adults relax with a shot of the best Irish cream whiskey in a glass made of ice.

Morin said that there’s a lot on the program with something for everybody.

“Deep Freeze: a Byzantine Winter Festival really is a time that the community celebrates winter. It’s the celebration of the Julian calendar of the ‘old’ new year so we get to come out and celebrate the new year once again together and also just come out to see the beautiful ice and snow sculptures. Just to see cultures come together and be married and meshed together and just to enjoy winter in our beautiful northern city.”