The 100th anniversary of the first powered flight in Canada will be one of the highlights as the curtain goes down on the 31st annual Winterlude.
From 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, visitors will enjoy the sights and sounds of more than 20 vintage aircraft, as they fly the length of the Rideau Canal Skateway and over other Winterlude sites.
There will be on-site live commentary at Snowflake Kingdom in Jacques Cartier Park.
The Canada Aviation Museum kicks off a full year of Centennial of Flight celebrations Sunday with Silver Dart Day, which features a variety of workshops such as make-and-take crafts for different ages, as well as demonstrations and guided tours.
Other than the flight celebration, the American Express Snowbowl will be the venue for a variety of performers.
On Friday, Quebec singer-songwriter Ariane Moffatt performs a mixture of electro-folk, jazz, pop and roots music at 7 p.m., while Toronto R&B performer Jully Black takes the stage on Saturday at 7 p.m.
On Friday and Saturday, visitors can enjoy Ukuik, a sound and light show at the American Express Snowbowl at 7 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the public ice-carving challenge takes place at the Crystal Garden at Confederation Park starting at 11:30 a.m. At Dows Lake, visitors are invited to join members of Scouts Canada in a variety of family games, such as soccer on the snow, mini golf, sled races and rock-paper-scissors.
On Sunday, hundreds of runners will race distances from 2.5 to 42.2 kilometres at the Canadian War Museum for the Winterman Marathon, while the public bids farewell to the Ice Hogs at the Amphitheatre.
This year’s Winterlude was plagued with warm weather earlier in the festivities, but enjoyed large attendance numbers both previous weekends. The festival attracts 650,000 people annually.
