With just weeks before the start of the fourth annual Chinook Blast, organizers of the festival alongside major event partners unveiled the full lineup of things to do and see throughout February.

The focus this year was on providing a refreshed festival experience with new and expanded offerings for free entertainment on Stephen Avenue and at Olympic Plaza, alongside a larger number of partner events than in years past.

“Chinook Blast is Calgary’s winter festival celebration that brings together partners from the arts, non-profit, neighbourhood tourism, and sports communities to create an inclusive event that showcases the best of Calgary’s winter communities,” said Chinook Blast Executive Board Member and Senior Vice President of Marketing at Tourism Calgary, Jeff Hessel.

“I’m excited to share that this year, we will once again have more than 200 winter experiences ready for Calgarians and visitors and that makes this year’s programming unique is that we’re seeing more and more partners coming on board to showcase their talent this year.”

The growth of the festival has seen Chinook Blast go from 16 partners in its first year of operations during the Covid-19 pandemic, to more than 80 now in 2024.

Hessel said that the festival has become an incubator for the arts community, especially for the mega-popular outdoor light displays that have played a main part in drawing tens of thousands of visitors to Stephen Avenue and Olympic Plaza over previous Chinook Blast weekends.

“We’re seeing artists being able to create new work, premiere at Chinook Blast, but then we’re also seeing it displayed at various other events that are taking place in Calgary,” he said.

“We really did see a reason to be as fresh as possible—I think there’s old favourites that people want to see—but we do need to make sure that things are fresh. We’re starting to see very consistent venues like Olympic Plaza, or the City Hall Atrium for all the markets. But within those within those venues, the types of programming are fresh and new.”

Chinook Blast runs from Feb. 2 to Feb. 19.

Showing Calgary to itself, and the world

Hessel said that a review of the previous 2023 edition of Chinook Blast showed there was a surprising amount of interest internationally in the festival, which was ahead of growth projections for the festival moving from a Calgary-specific winter event into a major tourism draw.

Calgary hotels saw an eight year record during the festival for occupancy, a slight majority of visitors to the Chinook Blast programming website were from outside of Calgary, and pillar partner members saw ticket sales for their events to people from eight provinces and 32 countries.

“The reason we’re talking a lot more about it this year is we actually saw some real great evidence of tourism. We were pleasantly surprised by what we saw, and of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the Globe and Mail tell you that you’re one of the top Canadian winter festivals,” Hessel said.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that the success of the Chinook Blast for Calgarians was to reshape the way people saw the winter season.

“For a very long time, people looked at winter in Calgary as something that was ‘you sit at home and you wait for a Chinook and then you go out and do things.’ Especially for a lot of us that moved here from pretty cold places, we just wanted to embrace the concept of winter,” she said.

“You can come out, you can learn some new sports, you can catch some great performances, you can hang out with your friends, you can take in all the sights and sounds in the city. Winter shouldn’t limit you from doing that. That enthusiasm has built, and it’s been driving the winter economy. It has been driving tourism.”

Chinook Blast’s opening weekend offers something for everyone

Exemplifying the playful attitude of the festival, Mayor Gondek introduced the full lineup of events with a pun filled call to visit venues throughout February.

“I hope you all will immerse yourself in the winterful magic of Chinook Blast,” she joked.

Running the entire festival length

• New installations from B!G Art, HEREBY, ActivateYYC, Petrucci Glass, Ken Hacke Arts, Bedford Creative, Be. Trit, The Communication and Design Lab, and True North Absurdities will be located at Olympic Plaza, Stephen Avenue, and City Hall.
• The City of Calgary Winter City Design Competition winners will be available to view throughout February. Competition winners will be announced on January 22.
• Performers Three Left Feet will be introducing new four-legged creature costumes from Marcia Darling and Dream Dance Circus, with special lighting that should please every photographer looking to take some cool pictures during a cold February.
• Video projections are returning to Stephen Avenue, animating up the night alongside performances from aGoGo and Little Red Ball Company.
• Suitcase sized three-minute puppet shows from CAOS will be held throughout the festival at Olympic Plaza.

Friday, Feb. 2 through Sunday, Feb. 4

• February 2: One Yellow Rabbit and the Calgary Folk Music Festival present performances from the High Performance Rodeo and Block Heater at Olympic Plaza, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. And catch High Performance Rodeo performances at Arts Commons throughout the weekend.
• February 2: YYC Hacks is hosting the second annual winter hackathon, at Bow Valley College, with the theme of using technology to make Calgary a more accessible city for newcomers and visitors.
• February 2: Head to the Central Library for a glow at night painting workshop, to learn about how to paint with glow in the dark paint in this free event. Registration through the Chinook Blast website.
• February 2: Take in Black History Month through reggae at the Ironwood with Saint and the Full 100 Band, Al Third, and Jory Kinjo and the Relays.
• February 2: Enjoy some of the best restaurants that Calgary has to offer, in a bite sized food tour experience, with Taste of the City Chinook Blast themed tastings.
• February 3: Sport Calgary’s Festival of Sport returns to Olympic Plaza from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with free skating alongside lessons and try-it sessions for a variety of sports including para-hockey, hockey, ringette, synchronized skating, and luge.
• February 3: GlobalFest is bringing their summer entertainment to winter for the first time, with Japanese and Caribbean Calypso drumming at Olympic Plaza.
• February 3: Check out the musical themed light projection, the Winter Bard, on the National Music Centre.
• February 3: The Exposure Photography Festival presents the Exposure Fence at Olympic Plaza, presenting the work of the people and places of Treaty 6 and 7.
• February 3: The Four Winds Indigenous Showcase and Market returns to Calgary City Hall with merchandise and performances that can’t be found anywhere else.
• February 4: Join CMLC and Recess Calgary in cooperative cardboard fort building at Pixel Park.
• February 4: Don’t miss the Chinook Slide from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. as former Olympians and Special Olympians Cheryl Bernard and Darby Taylor battle it out in a curling matchup for the ages at Olympic Plaza.

For full lineup details by date, see www.chinookblast.ca/calendar.