The Snow Castle
Every winter in Yellowknife a remarkable event takes place in a castle built of snow – the Snow King festival.
This year marks the 14th time that the snow king has built the castle. An epic in the making, the castle stands regal on a frozen Great Slave Lake and provides a community space for ice hockey, art, music and general good times.
The two week festival is a welcome relief to the winter chill and reminds me that all things are possible.
We were introduced to the Snow King, a wily man with a long bristly grey beard and a twinkle in his eye. He told us a joke about New Zealanders, Australians and sheep and reminded us to keep warm but stay cool.
Snow Sculptures
You enter the castle through a small front door and a tunnel made of snow. Surrounded by fortress walls, the first thing to catch my eye are are the incredible snow sculptures, an igloo and ice stairs up to the turret. It really is like a castle but everything here is made of snow.
Through a red curtain on the side, we enter the main chamber and are greeted by a bright new world – one hundred or so people dressed like arctic explorers grooving away to local folk band The Dawgwoods. It’s warm and light and smiles surround me. The atmosphere is amazing and somewhat out of this world.
The Snow King introduces the main act for the night, home town girl, Leela Gilday. A folk singer from the Dene Nation with the voice of an angel, Leela’s songs reflect her background and have a strong connection with life in the north – and the crowd loved her.
It was the accompanying band that stole the show for me. Guitar extraordinaire Jason Burnstick was incredible and the bass and the drums lifted the music to a whole new dimension.
Jason Burnstick
The relaxed vibe and familiarity amongst the crowd embraced me. People danced and sang, sipped their BYO alcohol from their thermo cups and shared popcorn from a supermarket plastic bag – welcome to the north!
At midnight we ventured out of the castle and started the long walk home. The temperature has dropped significantly and my toes and fingers were completely numb. We flag down a taxi and defrost, feeling content after experiencing a night out in the snow castle – thanks Snow King!
1 Comment
April 8, 2009 at 2:12 am
[...] By jameskilbride Nicole has already described the Snow Castle (see her blog A castle made of snow) and posted a great video of the Snow King. My highlight of the live music there was definitely [...]