Monday, February 5, 2018

Setting The Winterlude Stage

Winterlude preparations started in January for our annual celebration of the best season of all. It started up this past Friday, and goes until the 19th of the month, so I shall start having posts on it in a few days, but for today I wanted to show some of the preparation work. This is the view from the Mackenzie King Bridge looking south into Confederation Park. Work was being done down there, with shelters set up for the bulk of the ice sculptures.


Here we have a view from down below. The trees are Christmas trees, collected and given a second use to line Winterlude areas. 


Confederation Park has a number of military monuments, and these two stand side by side. On the right is the oldest monument in the park, the South African War Memorial. On the left is the newest, the Animals In War Memorial, which commemorates animals that have served in combat. Three plaques (presently beneath snow) are accompanied by a life sized German Shepherd.


This was in another location, down at Lansdowne Park in the Glebe. A number of these were set up in advance at various points in the city, and filled with snow to await the presence of snow carvers. Several of them could be found in the Glebe, and snow sculptures end up being found in other parts of both Ottawa and Gatineau as Winterlude carries on.


This is another one, from two different perspectives, also in the Glebe, with the crate removed, just waiting for the carver to come. The tarp, I presume, was there because this particular day was a mild one, and the carver wanted the top sheltered from the effects of the sun. I'll show you this one in progress at the start of the Winterlude series coming up.

35 comments:

  1. ...I will be looking forward to the cravings!

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  2. I just cannot imagine ice and snow like this.

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  3. Will be fun to see your photos from the event.

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  4. Such excitement must build for winterlude!

    Janis
    GDP

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  5. Bringing in the snow. So interesting
    Janis
    GDP

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  6. I'm looking forward to seeing the artists at work again.

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  7. That’s preparation. Great use of the Christmas trees!

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  8. So much snow! Looking forward to see the carvings!

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  9. @Tom: I've already taken a whole lot of shots!

    @Joe: it's a good way of getting through the winter. This is our fortieth edition of the festival.

    @Stefan: I've enjoyed what I've seen thus far.

    @Francisco: thank you!

    @Janis: a lot of people come out for this event.

    @Jan: I've captured the carvers at work twice this weekend. They were all done by the deadline on the ice, which would have been around five in the afternoon yesterday.

    @Marie: I think it's a good idea, using those trees.

    @Nancy: it's going to be quite a long series, starting on the tenth and probably going for the better part of a month.

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  10. Hello, nice park and monuments. I like the statue of the service dog. It is will nice to see the new carvings.
    Happy Monday, enjoy your day and new week!

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  11. There must be a lot to do to get ready for the big event!

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  12. Lots of fun and creativity are on the way.

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  13. Yes, I remember past Winterlude posts and look forward to what the carvers will produce this year.

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  14. Nice to see the Christmas trees reused!

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  15. Looks like quite the event and neat shots of the preparation ~ love the doggie!

    Happy week ahead to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  16. @Eileen: the dog statue is so life like. I've seen dogs have odd reactions to it.

    @RedPat: it's a lot of work, but the first weekend's gone smoothly.

    @Sharon: I'm going to have a lot of photo downloading to do over the whole event! I've got about a hundred fifty odd shots in my camera that have to be organized, with more to come before the weekend, and there are events I'll have to get to on the second weekend too.

    @Red: having had seen the final ice carvings, I can say they're beautiful.

    @Lois: it's a creative use of them.

    @Carol: it's a big event here every year.

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  17. Literally a very cool event! I love the German Shepherd statue - my favourite breed .

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  18. How nice those Christmas trees are given a second use!
    I'm looking forward to seeing ice carvings!

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  19. The ice and snow carvings are always fun to see! Looking forward to photos of all the festivities!

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  20. I hadn't really thought of all the preparation that goes into an event like this nor how carvers get the ice to do their thing. Fascinating post, William!

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  21. I can't wait to see the sculptures. What a clever idea to reuse the Christmas trees.

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  22. @Christine: emphasis on very cool.

    @Tamago: the ice carvings this year are beautifully done.

    @Jenn: I'll have a lot of them. It'll probably take a month, if not more, to get through the series.

    @Lowell: it's a tremendous amount of work. The ice blocks are pre-fabricated, so they look quite translucent.

    @Fun60: it's an amazing event to take in.

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  23. i love the dog. neat-O!! i just noticed your title from yesterdays post. ha. ha!! love that movie. ur humor makes me laugh!! ( ;

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  24. The ice carvings are always a treat to see. Looking forward to viewing your photos. I like that they are paying tribute to the dogs that served in combat, it's a beautiful memorial.

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  25. That thing in the last couple of pictures looks like styrofoam. Probably what they'd have to use down here!

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  26. @Beth: thanks!

    @Bill: I've enjoyed what I've seen thus far. Now to get all the shots downloaded before I get another mountain of shots in.

    @Revrunner: there's no shortage of things happening here right now.

    @Catalyst: it does, yes. I think being alongside wood for however long that lasted has that effect.

    @Jeanie: oh yes!

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  27. I'm so glad I am not there! But, it is great that you are and then you can post all those wonderful sculptures.

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  28. Good! I look forward to seeing this wonderful festival again.

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  29. I'm looking forward to your photos, too. I just don't think we'll get there.
    Did you read about the carver who died suddenly of a heart attack? I'd love to see photos of the work his son and SIL are doing to finish the carving. hint hint
    Good work, dude.
    (ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

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  30. I do enjoy how much you love winter William ☺ Looking forward to seeing this year's ice sculptures.

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  31. @Mari: I'm already busy photographing this year's edition.

    @Kay: I'll have this year's version starting up in a few days.

    @Jennifer: I did hear about that.

    @Grace: thank you!

    @Klara: it always is.

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