LAC LA BICHE - While those who attend this weekend’s Lac La Biche Ice Festival will be able to take in a concert at the Bold Centre, view a trapper’s display, watch a pond hockey tournament, and participate in children’s activities, they will not get to enjoy the signature ice races the long-running community event is renowned for.
According to Ken Staples, coordinator for the Lac La Biche Ice Festival, organizers made the decision to cancel the ice races due to recent warm temperatures creating up to two inches of water on the icy surface of Lac La Biche Lake. The water makes it unsuitable to race vehicles.
“The weather has been so mild that the banks we made around the track have not frozen and they won’t contain the cars,” Staples told Lakeland TODAY. “There’s no safe way that we can conduct a race.”
When Lakeland TODAY spoke with Staples on the evening of Feb. 27, he confirmed that all the car ice racing events for March 1 and 2 had been cancelled, along with the on-ice aircraft fly-in. The fly-in, which has been part of the festival since 2010, brings aircraft to Lac La Biche from various parts of western Canada, and beyond.
Although the racing events won’t be taking place, Staples did say the mega trucks are coming and drivers will try to do something for the people who show up, even if it’s merely playing around on the ice.
While there had been some discussion of cancelling this year’s festival entirely, the Lac La Biche Ice Festival Society decided to go ahead with some of the events.
Members of Lac La Biche Trappers Local 1120 will be at the festival site showing people displays of humane animal traps and historic equipment and teaching them about the rich trapping heritage of the Lac La Biche region. However, as Staples pointed out, the Trappers will be setting up their tents on access mats, so they are up off the water.
According to Staples, the Lac La Biche Back Country Riders snowmobiling club is still planning its activities for March 1 and 2, which includes the club’s Snow ‘n Shine Vintage Sled Display.
The Lac La Biche Kinsmen Rob McCormick Memorial On the Pond Hockey Tournament is also scheduled to go ahead on Saturday.
There is also a kids’ carnival taking place inside McArthur Place from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday.
The festival will kick off with a concert on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Bold Centre featuring Canadian country music artists Jess Moskaluke and Aaron Pritchett.
Not being able to host the ice races will have a significant impact in terms of the number of people attending, as well as a loss of revenue for hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that benefit from the crowds who come to Lac La Biche each year for the weekend of thrilling racing.
“The impact on the community is quite large,” said Staples.
Some of these competitors had planned to travel considerable distances to come to Lac La Biche and get behind the wheel of their cars.
“I had racers travelling from Winnipeg that I was able to get hold of in time that they turned around on the highway and went back home, because they were leaving today,” he said.
While it has certainly been disheartening for the Lac La Biche Ice Festival Society to not host the races, organizers had no other choice but to take the course of action that they did.
“It’s very disappointing to say the least, but the conditions were impossible to run a race on,” he said. “You’re always competing against nature . . . sometimes it just doesn’t cooperate.”
