Warm up at the Deep Freeze Festival

Most media calls for special events are pretty generic and staid. But at the ninth annual Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival media event last Wednesday, Edmonton MĂ©tis actor Sheldon Elter wove a story that kept his audience completely spellbound.

Elter told a powerful traditional aboriginal tale of a little boy whose parents had died. An uncle took him in, but gave the boy little food and made him sleep far from the fire. The uncle treated his dogs better than the boy and in time even the boy’s clothes became tattered.

One day the uncle decided to get rid of his nephew and took him hunting. The boy thought this was perfect because then he could learn to hunt and feed himself. They went deep into the forest and snared a rabbit.

The boy was happy they had snared supper and wanted to go home. However, the uncle decided to go deeper into the forest, and there they killed a grouse. The boy retrieved it and was delighted at the bounty for their next meal.

However, the uncle wanted to go still farther in the forest until they reached a small cave with an opening so small only the boy could squeeze through. The uncle told the boy to go into the cave and flush out all the animals.

Not wanting to disobey his uncle, the boy went into the damp cave. As the boy walked deeper in the dark cave, he could feel the rocks under his feet. Just as he turned to look back at the light, he saw his uncle push a large boulder in front of the opening.

“And I’ll leave you with that cliffhanger. If you want to hear the rest of the story, you’ll have to come back to the festival,” chuckled Elter upon hearing a collective groan from his audience.

In a testament to Elter’s storytelling mastery, each and every one of us, even the most jaded media personalities, were sucked into this mesmerizing yarn and felt frustrated at being left suspended in mid-air.

But this surprising tale also defined exactly what the Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival is – a tickle trunk packed with wonderful treasures that create magic in our lives.

Elter is one of an estimated 300 to 400 artists who put their skills to use deftly weaving worlds of enchantment through storytelling, dance, music, song, crafts and visual arts on Saturday, Jan. 9 and Sunday, Jan. 10.

This outdoor winter festival, centred on Alberta Avenue Park, is on 118th Avenue from 90th Street to 94th Street.

While Vikings dominated in the past two years, this year’s theme is Fairies, Elves & Ogres…Oh My! Magical fairies, elves and ogres, traditionally known to live in forests, caverns and near water, come out of hiding to show their colours.

International snow sculptors Wilfred Stijger and Edith van de Wetering have created three massive circular snow bas-reliefs peopled with these mischievous folk. And down by the ice bar, an ice sculpture of Shrek and Donkey pour beer and Irish Bailey’s.

All along 118th Avenue these, mythical magical folk will be visible. However, the most spectacular appearances will occur Saturday night between 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. courtesy of 21st century technology, said Allison Argy-Burgess, festival producer.

Through the use of projection mapping, Edmonton Digital Arts College instructor Owen Brierley and David Banks, along with 18 college students, have created these fantastical creatures. They will take over the façade of the Nina Haggerty Centre popping out of windows, jumping out of doors and sliding down balconies.

“In Europe they do this all the time in front of palaces. They have giant dragons at the palace in Madrid and the square in Milan also has this mapping technology,” said Argy-Burgess.

Also on Saturday there is another new event, the Winterus Maximus Chariot Races. Picture a cross between Roman war chariots, racing chuckwagons and dog sled runs. This event is composed of teams where cyclists on two fat bicycles pull a kicksled and a kicksled pilot. May the best chariot win!

As a winter festival, there are plenty of outdoor activities. They range from ice hockey tournaments, deep freeze races and an ice carving competition to gliding down a 60-foot ice slide and watching the Saturday night street parade followed by a 15-minute show of exploding fireworks.

Stiltwalkers, roving artists and a snowshoe workshop heighten the fun. The Society for Creative Anachronism’s knights, warriors and maidens has returned to set up camp at opposite ends of the festival site from the Vikings of Odin’s Ravens.

“As the festival becomes more successful, more people are opening up to what we do,” Argy-Burgess said. “And we have warm options as well. You’re not forced to stand out in the cold.”

She rattles off three galleries along the strip – the Bleeding Heart Gallery, the Carrot CafĂ© and the Nina Haggerty also organizing children’s crafts. Down the street Bedouin Beats Dance Studio presents hip hop, bellydance and Bollywood style dances.

The big tent dubbed the New Moon Arts Pavilion is a packed showcase of talent that varies from Vohon Ukrainian Dance to Wajjo African Drummers.

And The Hearth, located in Alberta Avenue Community Centre, doubles as an entertainment venue and hot food court specializing in homemade Ukrainian and French cuisine.

This year, the three-man Punch Drunk Cabaret plans to melt the freeze at the Saturday night dance in the community centre.

“We like their energy and their pace. You can tell by listening to their music they keep people energized. If you’ve been at the festival all day, you need someone to build excitement and get everybody energized.”

The festival started in 2007 when community members decided to host a one-day event celebrating Malanka, the Ukrainian Orthodox New Year. Nearly 800 people attended, a minor miracle considering “we couldn’t get the media to come out,” said artistic director Christy Morin.

“In the second year, people decided that with the amount of work they were doing, they may as well make it a two-day event,” added Argy-Burgess.

Attendance increased as did government, corporate and individual sponsorship.

“You can feel the festival gaining a critical mass. Even if you can’t see it, it’s going incredibly. If you make it to nine or 10 years, you’re over the hump. It’s not going to disappear. People are waiting for it to happen.”

Oh, and anyone curious to hear the ending of Elter’s tale can visit him today and tomorrow at the Pipon Village for more aboriginal anecdotes accompanied by bannock and jam.

For a complete schedule visit deepfreezefest.ca.