Havelock Fire an Ice Festival
by Kevin Andrade (Senior Event Correspondent)
~ A Moment in Time ~
Havelock in Winter
Havelock Ontario… It’s a commonly-held belief that once winter arrives, Canadians crawl under the covers from about December to March. However, Canadians also possess a tremendous resilience which has given birth to so many winter-related activities that draw us into the great outdoors. One such example can be found in the village of Havelock along Highway 7 about an hour east of Peterborough.
This year my wife Joanne and I discovered the Havelock Fire & Ice Festival which runs in mid-February. It is one of the newer festivals, begun in 2019 by Dave Sharpe and Amanda O’Rourke. Except for a hiatus during COVID, it has steadily grown and gathered enthusiastic support from the community to make it a family-friendly event with something for almost everyone.
The festivities began on the Friday evening with an appearance by Brigette Lacquette who is the first First Nations hockey player to be named to Canada’s National Women’s Team. Lacquette first joined the National Women’s U18 Team in 2008 and went on to win silver and gold at the 2009 and 2010 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships.
The community centre and grounds housed the many attractions packed into the event including a petting farm, alpaca trail, coloured iced blocks, indoor and outdoor skating and ice sculptures for visitors to vote on.
The excitement culminated in the Fire Arts performance by Trellis Arts and Entertainment featuring founder ice princess Bella Snow. Fire jugglers and a fire eater wooed and wowed the crowd.
As the sun set we took a walk along the pathway which was lit by lanterns sculpted from ice. The day’s events culminated in a spectacular fireworks display.
The volunteers we met spoke in a way that indicated a strong belief in sharing and developing Dave and Amanda’s vision in making the Havelock Fire and Ice Festival a destination stop for putting a little warmth in winter.
Exploring Ontario
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It’s time to experience and enjoy the Havelock Fire and Ice Festival!
For more Exploring Ontario, “Moments in Time”, go to https://ontariovisited.ca/videos-and-stories/
