This weekend is Winterfest weekend! I know, I know, it’s not right in Orillia but it is a wonderful weekend of winter fun for the whole family, and kudos to Severn, ODAS Park, and all the volunteers who stepped up to help run this and carry on a proud area tradition of fun in the snow.
I mean, we have all this snow, we might as well have fun in it, right? Severn Winterfest runs this Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a dance in the evening, and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There are pancake breakfasts on Sat. and Sun., fat bike demos, a demo derby, Speaking of Wildlife will be bringing some wonderful animals for you to meet, igloos, an ice bar, farmers’ market Saturday, inflatables, indigenous storytelling, horse and wagon rides, roller skating, a magician, vintage snowmobile show, mini snowmobile rides, fire pits, a snow slide, Base Borden winter survival experience, the Fire Guy on Friday night…let’s just say it’s going to be a really fun weekend.
Admission is only $5 per person for the weekend. Dance on Saturday is $20, and starts at 8 p.m., it’s 19 plus. Also, they are showing The Lion King Friday at 8:15 p.m. INSIDE, included in the $5 admission.
One of the major highlights? The Polar Bear Dip! This year, proceeds are going to Orillia Youth Centre and the Marchmont Community Baseball Diamond. So, pledge your moola and come watch those brave souls who are dipping!
For lots more information, go to the website or check out their Facebook page.
January is continuing apace with many more arts and culture events in our area. It’s quite amazing how our culture community just keeps rolling out high- quality performances, exhibits, art shows and so on, all year round.
The anchor of our arts district, Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH), is a case in point. All year round, wonderful exhibits of art and history, fascinating workshops, great speakers.
This Saturday, from 4 to 6 p.m., the opening of She Shoots, She Scores, an exhibit about the 100-plus year history of women’s hockey…with special guests Brianne Jenner, Olympic medalist and member of Team Canada; Nathalie Rivard, former member of the Canadian women’s national hockey team and a three-time world champion and Liz Knox, former CWHL goaltender for the Markham Thunder.
In conjunction with this special opening, the monthly story circle Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at OMAH will feature the theme women’s hockey and have two guest storytellers, Ronda Hales and Stephanie Boyd, local women who have been part of the game both locally and nationally and have great stories to tell.
Continuing with OMAH events, workshops there include a Wine and Paint Night with Tanya Cunnington Jan. 31 and the Feb. Lunch ‘n’ Learn, Watercolours with Hilary Slater on Feb. 5. Also, a teatasting this Sunday at 1 p.m., with Geek+Tea. For more details on these and lots of other OMAH programs, check out the website.
Speaking of workshops, local artist Gayle Schofield is going to be holding a series of workshops on the application of paper in art-think papier mache, torn paper, coiled paper-and the first one is Jan. 30 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Tiffin’s Creative Centre. Cost is $45 per person, and you can call or email Gayle at 705-327-1036 or [email protected] to register.
The Orillia Opera House (OOH) has lots of great events coming up and into February. This Saturday at 7:30 p.m. catch Daniel East as he does a tribute to Ed Sheeran. Feb. 1, the always popular Mudmen in Concert returns. Feb. 2 the Orillia Concert Association presents Bridge and Wolak, an accordian and a clarinet…what could possibly go wrong?
And Feb. 13-23, Mariposa Arts Theatre presents The Art of Dining, a comedy about owning a gourmet restaurant. For information and tickets for these and other events, click here.
One other special event at the OOH to mark on your calendars: the Artrepreneur Expo! Come out and see what creative graduates of Artrepreneur Simcoe-Orillia have learned over 13 weeks of courses in how to make a business out of art. The Artrepreneur Expo is Thurs. Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Orillia Opera House.
Speaking of support, come out and support our own Stephen Leacock Museum by joining the book club there, which meets every six weeks including this Friday at 6:30 p.m. Come out and see what it’s all about, email [email protected] to get on the list and find out about the first book.
Would you rather tell a story than read one? Also at the Leacock Museum, come out to Becoming Storytellers with Michael Jones, on Feb. 8. This is a storytelling workshop, from 1 to 4 p.m., cost $25 which includes refreshments. Michael is a gifted musician, storyteller and facilitator, so this will be a great afternoon. Email Jen above to register.
Lots of wonderful music coming up this weekend. At the Brownstone Café, Thursday, Group Therapy, Saturday, Road Waves. At the Hog ‘n’ Penny, Saturday, Papa John Witterick. At Fionn’s, Friday, Joe Garrisi. At the Simcoe Yardhouse Live at the Casino, Saturday, Lyric Dubee. At Casino Rama, Friday, Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Tour and Saturday, Marianas Trench with our boys Bleeker opening!
Have an awesome week and weekend and don’t forget to email me your arts news by Tuesdays at noon to [email protected].
