LAC LA BICHE - While there is already enough ice on Lac La Biche Lake for the upcoming Lac La Biche Ice Festival, organizers are hoping that it will become thicker by the time the popular annual event rolls around at the end of February.
The Lac La Biche Ice Festival, which was formerly called the Winter Festival of Speed, is set to take place from Feb. 28 – March 2. Last year, the organizing committee responsible for planning and hosting the popular community event decided to change the name to include not only the ice races, but also the other winter and ice-related activities that have been added in recent years.
So, the name of the main organizing body became the Lac La Biche Ice Festival Society.
Ken Staples, who has been helping organize the event since 1984, said the main weather concern organizers have leading up to the event is if the weather will be cold enough to ensure ice on the lake is thick enough.
Speaking on Jan. 23, Staples said that recently, a resident who is involved with the festival went out to check the thickness of the ice and discovering that it was 18 inches.
“It’s making ice, but it obviously has to make more.”
Last year, the weekend of high-octane car, sled, and ATV races got underway with 30 inches of ice. Normally, organizers have had 36 inches - or sometimes even 42 inches - of ice to work with.
“These warmer winters obviously have an impact,” he said.
Preparations for the upcoming Ice Festival, according to Staples, are going very well. Because organizers are doing more this year, there is more to get ready.
For the first time ever, race cars, sleds, and ATVs will be sharing the ice on Lac La Biche Lake with mega trucks. Because this event is new to the winter festival, there has been quite a bit of work involved with preparing for these massive vehicles to hit the ice, including getting the proper insurance in place.
A track also must be built for the mega truck races. One of the mega trucks will be coming to Lac La Biche over the Feb. 15 weekend to do a test run on the lake ahead of the big weekend.
“Based on that, we will then decide the track for them,” he said.
Due to a lack of snow last year, snowmobile drag races, which have been a popular attraction at the event for decades, were cancelled for the 2024 Winter Festival of Speed. Those races, Staples said, are returning in March.
The Saskatchewan-based organization that ran the snowmobile drag racing event for many years disbanded last year, and the Lac La Biche Ice Festival Society is looking at a couple of smaller clubs to pitch in and organize the races.
After taking a hiatus for several years, the outdoor pond hockey tournament will also be returning to the event.
The organizing committee for the winter festival is comprised of a team of people who do the planning and are responsible for responsible for individual components of the long-running event.
“They’re all doing extremely well with it,” said Staples.
