Alberta Has A Rainbow-lit Ice Skating Path Through A Park And It's Magical
Winter is on the way, and it will soon be cold enough to grab your skates and get back out onto one of Edmonton's winter rinks. Luckily for Edmontonians, there are several great options for a spot of outdoor skating, but one is definitely more magical than the others. When winter comes around, the Edmonton IceWay at Victoria Park is a whimsical winter wonderland, lit up like a rainbow.
If you’re looking for a winter skating experience that is unlike any other, the Victoria Park Iceway in Edmonton is the place to be. It's definitely worth putting on your Alberta bucket list. To make their iceway one of Canada’s most magical, local officials and designers came together to create the IceWay which uses colourful projections of light to make skaters feel like they are travelling through a real rainbow.
According to MSE, the fairytale wonderland vibe was inspired by one thought, "What would it take to make people fall in love with winter?" Matt Gibbs, landscape architect and mastermind behind the Freezeway concept, explained, "I see a potential for us to really cultivate what it means to be here in the winter."
Also happening soon in Edmonton are those giant magical ice castles, proving that the city makes the most of the cold winter weather. For a city that has previously been known as “Deadmonton” when the winter comes around, this colourful skating path is certainly breathing some colour into the darkness.
While the Victoria Park Iceway looks magically effortless, it actually requires a lot of work to get it up-and-running. In fact, according to Atlas Obscura, it can take anywhere between 60 and 80 trucks full of water to flood the park, which will eventually freeze into the incredible twisting and turning paths.
In previous years, when the winter trail has been up-and-running, the lights have been turned on between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., and shine every single day throughout the winter.
After your skate, you can fill up on the cheap at a new restaurant where everything is less than $15 to round out a perfect cheap date night.
When Narcity reached out to the City of Edmonton for more details about this winter’s iceway, a representative explained that the iceway was weather dependant and so the lighting concept cannot be confirmed until the path is officially set up later this year.
Victoria Park Iceway
Price: Free!
Address: 11004-12004 River Valley Road NW, Edmonton, AB
Why You Need To Go: Wander through this magical iceway and experience skating directly through a rainbow.
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