FROSTival-- Snow, Ice and Fun

     Each January/February, the City of Fredericton hosts the winter festival called FROSTival. There is so much going on (150 events) during the 3 weekends of the festival. There is something for everyone, even if you don't want to brave the winter cold.

     Of course, we joined into many activities. We were unable to do all of them but we went to many. This is what we did during FROSTival:

1. Night Market which was indoors at the Picaroon's RoundHouse. I was very disappointed with this market. There were only three vendors along with the normal pub. Maybe the next one will be better.

View of the St. John River and the walking bridge 
from the Picaroon's Roundhouse

2.  Dine Around Freddy: There were 26 restaurants participating in the Dine Around Freddy Deal. We were only able to go to one: Caribbean Flavas. We had an excellent meal with spicy chicken dishes. Our host: Papa Flavas was very friendly and spent time with us discussing our travels as well as his time in Ontario. The decor of the restaurant is a reflection of the Caribbean but also their local community involvement. They had one display case full of community memorabilia, many of which were recognition of the restaurant's support in Fredericton. Lovely stories, lovely meal, lovely evening. 

The decor was very colourful and welcoming

I had a mild (which was hot enough for me) chicken dish.

Al had jerk chicken with a spice level called "Sweat".
Very aptly named. During the dinner, I noticed that Al had beads
of sweat on his forehead and cheeks. Hot for sure, but he loved it!

3) Ice Sculptures: We walked around the downtown streets and found all of the ice sculptures. These were carved by Chef Richard Chiasson of Ice Creation Glace as well as his son Mathieu to create a showcase of 11 ice sculptures downtown.

Chiasson has been creating ice sculptures since 1980 and has created ice sculptures around North America and has a training facility for chefs to learn the art of ice carving as part of the cooking trade. 

1. Boyce's Farmers Market
We looked everywhere for this ice sculpture but we were unable to find it.

2. Sweat Club Inc

3. Cheese Piece Patisserie & Cafe

4.  The Doughnut Bar

5. The Radical Edge

6. Botinicals Gift Shop

7. Le's Gift Shop

8. Savage's Bicycle Centre

9. Sequoia Fredericton

10. NB College of Art and Design

11. Tim Hortons

4) Pub Choir: This choir meets every second Wednesday evening but during FROSTival they held it on a Friday. There were over a hundred people in attendance and we learned Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah ion 3-part harmony. There were some beautiful voices.  At the end of the night the song was filmed and posted on the Pub Choir Facebook page.

     Some members of the River Valley Chorus sang just after the intermission. That is the Barbershop chorus that Al belongs to. They were well received and sang several songs to loud applause and cheers. It is interesting the neither group (pub choir and River Valley Chorus) had heard of each other.

This is a stock photo but it nicely shows the leaders of the pub 
choir in the background.

Over a hundred people showed up for the Frostival Edition of the Pub Choir.

Ready to sing!

Teaching us the song

River Valley Chorus -- the Barbershop Chorus that Al sings with -- sang
several songs during the intermission.

With friends.

5) Stars & Snowshoes

     It had been decades since we last snowshoed in the Ontario. It was a snowy evening and it had been snowing all day. The trails had a layer of fresh snow. Appropriately 20 people started out on an hours or so hike in the fresh snow through the woodlot of the University of New Brunswick. It was a fine evening and the trail meandered up and down small slopes, around trees and finally all participants made it back to the parking lot. Of course, we were holding up the rear of the procession taking our time with the staff. It felt longer than expected and the body really heats up in all the winter gear. It was a lovely but challenging walk. The peaceful atmosphere through the evening stillness was delightful.

It has been over 30 years since we last snowshoed but we are ready to go.
The temperature although below zero, was pleasant.
The snow was lightly falling after a day of heavy snow fall.

Here we are ready to start on our snow shoe
hike through the University of New Brunswick
woodlot in the dark. We are totally over dressed.

Snow is lightly falling. Bev is walking at a "glacial" pace.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Al finally reaching the parking lot at the end
of our 1 & half hour hike.

Upon arriving at the starting point and walking toward the group

we heard someone call out, "Welcome Verweys". I thought,

"Who knows us here?" A young man came up and said, "Hi, I am

Brian Conoley, from Newmarket." What a small world! Brian grew up

in Newmarket three doors away from us. Our

children grew up playing with Brian and his two siblings who just happen

to now also live in Fredericton.

6. Meet the Animals: Al accidentally came across this event while looking for something else. A wide variety of animals on display for people to view and get close to.

7. Banff Mountain Film Festival: We went to this unique film festival. The Banff Mountain Film Festival features the world's best mountain sport, culture and environmental films, letting you experience the thrill and challenges of the mountain environments that inspire us all. 

   
    The Banff Mountain Film Festival is the most prestigious mountain festival in the world. After the festival, held every fall in Banff, Alberta, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour starts to travel the globe with stops in about 450 communities and 40 countries including Fredericton, NB. It is a favourite event during FROSTival and is sold out each year. It is a two-evening event with different films each night. We went to the first evening. The films were unique and well done even though some of the locations were dangerous.

     The six films we saw were all different and the backdrops of the films were just fabulous. The courage and athletic skills of all the participants were outstanding although personally, I would not want to attempt any of the sports. I was happy just watch the action. To see the trailer of the 2019/2020 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour click here.  Be aware that there are many sponsors being shown in the trailer. This is the one I really wanted to see on the big screen but did not. Good Morning was a fantastic film of skiing. 

8. The 39 Steps:  A play put on by the Theatre UNB (University of New Brunswick). The play was well done. Certain actors slipped into various different characters throughout the play through the change in costume and/or accents. A well animated cast and a joy to watch.

     The Director of this play described it as: "The 39 Steps is a stage adaptation of a Hitchcock film by the same name. While it keeps the basic narrative structure, the stage version turns the classic spy story on its head by having it play out as a series of Monty Python-esque sketches. Played in a broad, vaudevillian style, The 39 Steps is a wacky romp that just washes over you.  While it might be all fun and games for the audience, this show is an absolute marathon for everyone on stage. The dialogue is lightning-quick, the tech is fast and  furious, and props and costumes abound. This show is full of stuff. The only thing we find ourselves in short supply of is actors. In fact, this wild cross-country epic is only played with a cast of four; one plays the hero, one plays the various love interests, and two clowns play... everything else. All in all, you're looking at 50+ characters. Outside of the witty British humour, the best part of watching this show is the sheer athleticism required to pull it off!" Oh, how true that was. They all did a wonderful job.

Here shows the main character and one of the clown character
performers

9. Murder on The Orient Express: The old story of Hercule Poirot as the detective who solves the murder on the famous Orient Express as it travelled from Paris to Istanbul through the snowy terrain mountains. The show was very entertaining and well done by all the actors. The accents used by the participants are always difficult to maintain. I am always amazed how they change the sets to match the location in the play.

10. The Re-opening of the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge: In September, the Bridge was closed for renovations and finally opened on February 1st. They had a big celebration with a free BBQ and hot chocolate along with a demonstration of ice carving.

Even dogs enjoyed the winter walk at the re-opening celebrations.

This ice sculpture is being cut.

Ice and snow on the St. John River

Many people walked over the bridge during the winter day.
New solid floor boards and hand rails are seen here.

     All in all, we participated and enjoyed each event we went to during the FROSTival in Fredericton. I was really impressed with the number of events occurring during this annual event. Everyone, young or old, were included in the well rounded festival.