Mild temperatures melted the ice castle, a lack of snow put the kibosh on a planned massive snowball fight and Mount Mississaga slid into oblivion, but this year’s Orillia Winter Carnival was still a blizzard of fun.
“It’s great,” said Mark Earl, president of the 2018 committee, talking about the two-day event. “We’ve got a beautiful day… it’s sunny out and not too cold, which is great. There are lots of people around. We have lots of different events happening, there’s face painting, the polar dip and an ice slide. We have the military here with their winter survival gear and lots of other lovely events happening.”
Dozens of people milled about Saturday in the boating dock parking lot as kids enjoyed activities and food.
“It’s always cool for the kids,” said Jesse Barton, of Orillia, whose kids were enjoying the slide that had been salvaged from the melting castle. “It’s probably slow here because of the winter games.”
However, Earl wasn’t sure if the weekend-long Ontario Winter Games had any impact on attendance at the carnival.
“The weather was a bigger factor this year,” he said. “We still have lots of people down here, probably not as many as we’d normally have, but it’s hard to judge.”
Even though some of the fan favourites, such as snowball fights and ice castle, were missing, the lake was frozen enough for people to skate or walk on it.
The helicopter rides that went on all day long proved popular.
“It was great,” said Olivia Tsai, speaking of the five- to eight-minute ride with her partner. “It was our first helicopter ride. And even the pilot was saying the weather was great with good visibility.”
Those going up 2,000 feet were taken out toward Pumpkin Bay and were able to get a bird’s eye view of Orillia and peer as far out as Collingwood, said the Toronto resident.
Later during the afternoon, people gathered around the government dock to watch as seven participants jumped into freezing cold water for the polar bear dip, raising funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters Orillia.
“I really like the polar bear dip,” said Samiya Clarke, 9. “It’s fun and I like how people go into the lake when it’s freezing water.
“I like the smell of the beaver tails,” added the Orillia resident, referencing the sweet snack, one among many food items on the event’s menu.
Aside from the helicopter ride, the military showcase and fat bike trials, the dance held Friday night and Saturday’s pancake breakfast at the legion were successful elements the committee may consider bringing back next year, said Earl.
