LAC LA BICHE – For over four decades, the Lac La Biche Winter Festival of Speed, which was recently renamed the Lac La Biche Ice Festival, has provided residents and visitors a weekend of thrilling car, truck, and snowmobile races on ice tracks on Lac La Biche lake.
It’s also an opportunity to watch snow sculptors at work, view cultural displays, and enjoy a variety of other fun activities.
With the long-running community event set to go this weekend, organizers are looking forward to another successful year.
“We’ve got more events going on this year than we’ve ever had in the past. We’ve got good ice conditions . . . good snow,” says Ken Staples, a festival coordinator who has been involved with the event since its inception in 1984.
The festival runs from Feb. 28 to March 2 and kicks off with a concert on Friday featuring Canadian country music stars Aaron Pritchett and Jess Moskaluke, and Elk Point’s Olivia Rose.
The weekend will include the Western Canadian Ice Racing Championships, charity races, MEGA truck races, an ice aircraft fly-in, and a trapper’s display.
There will also be kids’ activities, a multicultural food fair, an 18-foot First Nations teepee, a trade show, along with the Snow ‘n Shine vintage sled display.
“There’s something on the lake for almost everybody,” Staples said. “The drivers look forward to it because they know we run a really first-class event."
The Lac La Biche Kinsmen Rob McCormick Memorial On the Pond Hockey Tournament will also be returning to the festival after taking a hiatus for a few years.
Bringing back the pond hockey tournament will be a good complement to the weekend.
“It’s really popular . . . the kids like it,” he said.
The sculpting component of the weekend is a popular draw, with people coming to watch artists work on their creations, and there will be an opportunity for kids to learn the art of ice and snow sculpting.
“Kids get a small block of ice and some safe tools, and they do their own little sculptures,” he said.
