Prince Albert Winter Festival President Bev Erickson is looking forward to two weeks of fun, family activities. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Community fun

Returning Winter Festival promises to spice up the fun

Feb 7, 2025 | 2:00 PM

The 61st Prince Albert Winter Festival officially kicks off Friday night at the Exhibition Centre with the Country North Show.

Festival President Bev Erickson has been working non-stop for weeks to get everything in order, but managed to spare a few minutes on Thursday to discuss with paNOW what the next two weeks are going to look like.

When asked what the festival means to her, she recalled colouring contests she would participate in as a little girl, and then going downtown and seeing them in all the windows.

“I actually ran for a winter Festival Queen, so that was kind of a highlight of my grade 12 year and it was just something that I always looked forward to in Prince Albert’s growing up,” she noted.

The table has been set for a fun night at the Exhibition Centre. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

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Returning this year are the King and Queen Trapper events and the Dog Sled Races, which are both on Feb. 22 and 23 at the outdoor site past the Rose Garden hospice. There’s also a fiddle show on Feb. 9, a jigging contest on Feb. 16, and a family sliding day on Feb. 17 at Little Red River Park.

Omitted this year are both the fish fry and the fireworks. Erickson explained the latter had to be cancelled due to liability issues. However, a new addition to this year’s festival is a chili cook-off on Feb. 12.

“Apparently they used to have that down on the ice many, many years ago and it was always a big hit so we thought let’s give this another try and see what happens,” she said. “So we now have 10 teams, and we have five celebrity judges.”

Another new addition is an Old Tyme Family Dance on Feb. 20 and Erickson noted her own hope to see a lot of people come out and enjoy music by Sylvia and Dean Bernier.

The weather should be ideal for the snow sculptures. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

While some events such as the cabarets charge admission, most of the events can be accessed by way of wearing a winter festival button, which are still available at Lake Country Co-Op C stores, food stores, and liquor stores in Prince Albert.

“People in Prince Albert always complain that there’s nothing to do. Well, we have cabarets for three weekends in a row, we have a country cabaret, a rock show cabaret, and the voices of the North cabaret. So we have a lot of stuff to do and we’ve got amazing entertainment in Prince Albert. The talent in Prince Albert is astonishing.”

With respect to volunteers, Erickson estimated they probably have close to 100 volunteers, but added there’s always room for someone who can sit and sell buttons, or help out at a show.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Blue Sky: @nigelmaxwell.bsky.social