Well, Winterlude officially started this weekend and what a fabulous weekend it was!  We hope you enjoyed some outdoor time skating on the Rideau Canal, savouring a delicious beavertail, viewing the beautiful ice sculptures, or taking the family to Snowflake Kingdom.

If you are not from the Ottawa area, Winterlude is an annual three week festival celebrating winter.  Ottawa’s Rideau Canal is home to Canada’s largest outdoor skating rink.  This past weekend, Ottawa held a fundraiser, “Skate for Haiti”.  The next two weeks promise to be full of fun events and activities.

The Rideau Canal Skateway runs from the Dow’s Lake Pavillion to the Rideau Canal locks downtown – a full 7.8km!  During Winterlude, you can catch skating demonstrations, workshops, The Bedzzz annual bed race, and even participate in the Winterlude Triathlon.  Sleighs and skates are available to rent at various places along the route.

Winterlude acticities even extend across the bridge into Gatineau with Snowflake Kingdom, where children can enjoy musical shows, tubing hills, snow sculptures, and ice slides.

The International Ice Carving competition takes place annually during Winterlude at Confederation Park, in the heart of downtown Ottawa.  This is definitely a display you don’t want to miss.

If you are new to the Ottawa area, or consider a move to Ottawa in order to enjoy Ottawa’s culture, such as Winterlude, grab a copy of our popular Relocation Guide, available from our Ottawa real estate website.

If you would like information about the various neighborhoods in Ottawa, including which ones are closest to the Winterlude activities, contact our team and we can help you decide on an area as well as an Ottawa home.

Enjoy Winterlude!