Winter bluster doesn't stop successful Chinook Blast opening

Calgarians flocked to the East Village and the Downtown Core on Friday, taking in the start of the third annual Chinook Blast festival.

Whether it was musical performances at the National Music Centre or on the Olympic Plaza stage, art at the Central Library or at Arts Commons, or the Four Winds Indigenous Market at City Hall, there were crowds taking in the activities.

All that, despite the record breaking snow fall that blanketed the city in 33.6 centimetres of snow.

“It does feel a bit like ‘oh my gosh, I’ve seen the best thing of the night, it’s not going to get topped,’ and then I go to the next thing, and then ‘no, that’s the best thing of the night,’” said Calgary Arts Development President and CEO Patti Pon.

LiveWire Calgary caught up with Pon, as she was taking in the Four Winds Indigenous Market. She said that her evening was a trip from the Rock the Nation concerts at the National Music Centre, taking in the market and public art displays between City Hall and Olympic Plaza, before catching a show at Arts Commons from One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo.

“Anybody who says there’s nothing to do in Calgary, tell them to give me a call,” she said.

A place for the arts

Pon said that the initial impetus for Chinook Blast was to build on and celebrate the things that were already going on in late January and early February.

Festivals like the High Performance Rodeo, and Block Heater from the Calgary Folk Music Festival, started well before the launch of Chinook Blast in 2020. Around those pillar events has grown up a series of other festivals and major public art displays.

“I get the great privilege of knowing about this stuff, and other Calgarians get to know about this by having Chinook Blast as a platform to amplify those killer events, and then supplement it with that much more by local creators,” Pon said.

She said that while Calgarians will get to see some of the best that the world offers at festivals like the High Performance Rodeo, the vast majority of art Calgarians will see will have been made by Calgarians, locally in Calgary.

“When [Big Art’s Paul Magnuson] goes to an arts festival in Phoenix… he proudly can say I’m from Calgary, Calgarians saw it here first, and they gave me my chance to get a start. That’s what this is about,” Pon said.

Fire breathing dragon at Olympic Plaza

Back this year is Truth North Absurdities and their fire breathing dragon, Notorious B.A.D.

Ian Rice with TNA said that being back for a second year, made him feel like he was being embraced by the Calgary community.

“We felt kind of like we’ve made it, like we’re starting to become something that people are looking for. And and if we can become a staple in the city, and at events like this, it’s just really validating for what we do, and to be part of the city that we love,” Rice said.

“The Notorious B.A.D. here is not the star of the show, there are a lot of stars here, but it’s nice to be the focal point for sure.”

Rice’s company also brought their light up bear, which was featured during the second week of Chinook Blast last year at Brookfield Place.

All of his creations will be on display at Olympic Plaza for the duration of the festival, instead of moving to different locations like last year.

“I’m glad that Calgary would support something like this and invite this many artists to kind of be in one space. I just think it speaks volumes to what the city is doing,” he said.

Get the full lineup of Chinook Blast events: ‘I’m snow excited’: Chinook Blast’s full festival lineup revealed – LiveWire Calgary

Realization of the City’s Winter City Strategy

Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was also taking in the Chinook Blast opening on Friday.

“I love this because it brings such life to the winter, outdoor events, indoor events, arts, culture, sport, and this time an indigenous market,” he said.

“This is just a great way for Calgarians to really enjoy their city in the winter, and it will grow to become a massive tourist attraction for us as well.”

Calgary city council passed the Winter City Strategy in 2012, which helped to shape the formation of various winter events like Chinook Blast.

Nenshi said that despite the pandemic slowing down the adoption of Chinook Blast, he was excited to see the long term growth of the festival.

“Last year, even in the midst of COVID with a hugely scaled back festival, Chinook Blast attracted 400,000 people downtown. It’s just gonna grow and grow and grow,” he said.