Snowdays Returns to Banff
‘SnowDays’ Festival Returns to Banff National Park: A Grand Celebration of Winter Welcomes Visitors to Canada’s Protected Playground.
From January 12 to February 10, 2013, Banff National Park’s second-annual SnowDays festival will welcome visitors to celebrate winter with a fun-filled month of new activities, adventures and animation.
Kicking off with the ‘Mountain Adventure Weekend’, SnowDays will open with a flurry of activity in the town of Banff, including the new ‘Slide & Ride’ slope in the heart of downtown where experts from the park’s three ski hills, Mount Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise, will be on hand to equip adventurers for some introductory skiing and snowboarding. The ski resorts will also be celebrating the FIS World Snow Day on January 19 and 20 by offering free lift tickets to children aged twelve and under. Banff Avenue will play host to a huge forty-foot ice climbing wall where visitors can try their hand at scaling the huge frozen mass with complimentary gear and instruction throughout the month.
Everyone’s favourite festival, ‘Ice Magic’, featuring an international ice carving competition at Lake Louise and endless activities for the little chippers in your life, will take place over the two weekends of January 18 and 25. Also new this year is the ‘Race Amazing Banff’ competition which will see teams of two vie for mountain supremacy and prizes as they participate in the likes of human curling and ice canoeing on January 26.
The month of activities will be rounded off with Banff’s ‘Take It To The Street’ ball hockey tournament which will see teams battle it out in round-robin play on the iconic main street of Banff Avenue. Amidst it all, visitors will be able to round out the festivities by enjoying an endless array of ongoing winter activities, including dog-sledding, geocaching, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, outdoor performances and après-ski revelry.
“SnowDays is a wonderful reflection of the vibrancy that exists in Banff National Park in winter,” said Julie Canning, President & CEO of Banff Lake Louise Tourism. “Our community partners do an amazing job of bringing to life the best of what the park has to offer at this beautiful time of year, welcoming visitors to join us in the excitement of the celebration.”
The SnowDays festival was developed in partnership with Parks Canada, the Town of Banff, Banff Heritage Tourism & Banff Lake Louise Tourism to share with visitors the majesty of this UNESCO World Heritage Site in winter.
For additional information about SnowDays and a detailed schedule of events throughout the month-long festivities, please visit www.banfflakelouise.com/snowdays.
