This MASSIVE winter festival is happening right now in Edmonton

It’s time to don your plaid and put on your voyageur hat because a winter festival celebrating French Canadian, First Nations, and Métis traditions is happening right now in Edmonton.

Flying Canoë Volant Festival celebrates local history and “everything that is great about a long winter’s night” and is a staple of the winter festival scene in Edmonton. 

 

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Its theme is loosely based on the French Canadian legend of the Flying Canoe, which tells of voyageurs who strike a deal with the devil to make their birch-bark canoe fly so they can see their loved ones, but are instead condemned to fly the skies forever.

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The festival will include art, dancing, music, and lots of winter activities drawing on the different cultures being celebrated. Flying Canoë Volant Festival will see events at various venues across Edmonton’s French Quarter, including the Mill Creek Ravine, La Cité Francophone, and Rutherford School.

Snow tubing and Canoe Races won’t return until 2024.

A full site map and a list of programming are available online.

So get out there and enjoy it this weekend with the warm weather — the cold is set to return later this month, so enjoy the warmth while it lasts!

Flying Canoë Volant Festival

When: February 1 to 4
Where: Venues across Edmonton’s French Quarter
Cost: Free