Excitement is growing for Ice Follies, back bigger than ever for its 10th Anniversary Celebration starting Friday on Lake Nipissing.
Organizers promise a "jam-packed schedule of events and activities" taking place throughout February, from live performances and artist talks to family-friendly activities and tours.
See" 10th anniversary of Lake Nipissing Ice Follies
"There are lots of winter festivals but this is a contemporary arts festival taking place on a frozen lake. It makes it unique," Ice Follies organizing team member Sharon Switzer told BayToday."
"We have more projects than ever before, and more ways for the community to come out and get involved and experience the artwork."
The group decided to celebrate its history and so is going all out for this festival.
"We got a number of new funders on board and we were able to do a larger project than we have in the past," says Switzer. "It allowed us to do a public call for artwork. People are super excited. There is even artwork going on downtown along Main St. One of our projects is 'storefronts' and looking back historically, so we've got a lot of excitement going from businesses."
This free festival kicks off Friday at 6 p.m. at Shabogesic Beach with welcoming remarks, followed by "a magical, not to be missed opening performance entitled ALL MY R(el)ATIONS" by the renowned Indigenous performance group Aanmitaagzi at 7. Free refreshments will be available to help warm festival-goers.
The 10th edition of the Ice Follies Biennial will include 11 unique projects created specifically for this one-of-a-kind northern festival. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience artworks by both local and nationally acclaimed artists, and learn more about their techniques and inspiration.
All of the artists will be present on opening night.
On February 20th, the festival will feature a special Family Day lineup of free events, including a kid-friendly Ice Follies Tour at 11 a.m., and VOX on Ice at 1:30 – a free-to-participate community choir amidst the artworks, facilitated by VOX Choir, performing 'Cold as Ice' by Foreigner with punctuations of 'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice.
In addition, the festival is also offering tours of the artworks and installations.
Tours will take place on Wednesday, February 15th at 6, Saturday, February 18th at 6, Sunday, February 19th at 11, Monday, February 20th at 11 (free Family Day Kid-Friendly Ice Follies Tour), and Wednesday, February 22nd at noon.
Regular tours are $10 per person and registration can be done here or through the festival website, ice follies.ca.
Visitors can also hear from the artists themselves during the festival's free Artist Talk series.
On Saturday, February 11th from 1 – 5 p,m, at the Spotlight Lounge in the Capitol Centre, festival artists Quinn Hopkins, Imogen Clendinning, and Public Visualization Studio will each be speaking.
On Thursday, February 16th, Cease Wyss will be giving an Artist Talk presented by Nipissing University at 11 a,m, via Zoom. (link available on icefollies.ca)
On February 18th at 7 p.m., gather on the ice amidst the Ice Follies artworks to join a free live-stream listening party of Geronimo Inutiq’s performance – Uvattini Uqaalajunga – I Am Calling Home. The live performance, weaving discussions of home from our own community, will be broadcasting from NAISA North Media Arts Centre in South River.
Check out the full schedule at icefollies.ca.
