Newly elected Winter Festival president looks ahead

With the future of the Winter Festival now solidified, the newest president looks to getting the gears in motion. 

Barry Mihilewicz, president of the Prince Albert Winter Festival, was elected to his position Monday night following a meeting to decide the fate of the festival.

Mihilewicz said there is hope to preserve the popular core events but also to look at evolving to offer interests to a wide variety of residents.

“It’s pretty well known that you don’t move forward by looking backwards,” said Mihilewicz. 

“We’re fighting the battle that most people fight these days. The Prince Albert Raiders, the E.A. Rawlinson Centre, everybody has got the same problem, how do we separate people from their couches, and how do we get them out…Basically it’s got to be a high quality entertainment package.”

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He intends to put the cherry on top with a focus on the history and background of the festival, to put it “in a position to not only survive but thrive.”

In meetings to come one new board’s main questions will be whether they stick with the common river bank location, or find somewhere that isn’t so reliant on cool temperatures.

For certain events like dog sledding to run successfully, the river has to be completely frozen. However, it’s a delicate balance of hoping for weather that freezes the river but isn’t so cold that it chases away potential festival-goers.

“It really difficult to protect against the wind blowing down that river.”

He called the riverfront a “hit or miss” location, adding a call on where Winter Festival takes place won’t be made until mid-January.

Mihilewicz may consider the area behind A&W Restaurant on Marquis. The Exhibition grounds and the Art Hauser Centre were suggested as well at the Monday night meeting, although it was agreed that would be based on the Raiders schedule.

Some felt that it might be best to shorten the entire festival itself, but Mihilewicz disagrees.

“I think from a shortening standpoint we’re pretty committed to the Voices of the North happening on the first weekend of the festival,” said Mihilewicz. “We’re going to have to go at least 10 days over the two weekends, there’s really no way to avoid that, but I think we can condense some of the events that aren’t going to conflict with each other.”

One of those events could be the Country North Show, which has run for a majority of the Winter Festival in its 51-year run.

“[It] has been a fixture for a lot of years but maybe it’s time for a change,” said Mihilewicz. “It wasn’t in the initial Winter Festival, there was a variety show, and the County North Show sort of evolved.”

While no decisions have been made yet, the meeting with Mihilewicz and the new crew focused on maintaining Winter Festival’s integrity while considering some big changes to keep with the times.

Mihilewicz will kick off his debut as president on Sunday when the board meets officially for the first time to begin discussions on planning the events.

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow