Public Space

For the next three weeks the city of Ottawa will be buzzing with the revelry surrounding the annual Winterlude festival. Winterlude is a three-week celebration put on by the National Capital Commission (NCC) in Ottawa and Gatineau, simply celebrating winter. Centred around the world’s largest (take that, Winnipeg) skating rink, the Rideau Canal, the festival includes skating, ice and snow sculptures, live music, and many other winter-related activities. In 2007, the event drew an estimated 1.6 million visitors to the various Winterlude sights, setting a new attendance record.

As a recent citizen of Ottawa, I have come to love Winterlude. It is truly a celebration of winter in Canada, which is something a lot of people would rather avoid. The greatest part of this event is the openness and inclusiveness. Activities are free and open to everybody. They span multiple sights and multiple provinces. The ice sculptures at Confederation Park are connected by the 7.8km skateway that is the frozen canal to the various events at Dow’s Lake, with this stretch opening up a large part of downtown Ottawa. Funded and run by the NCC, the event is not branded with a corporate slogan (although some of the activities are).

What this represents, to me at least, is a city embracing its culture and extending a culture of inclusiveness to its citizens. Events are free and family friendly, and run day-long on the weekends. The Canal is open for skating for most of the winter, and becomes a way for people to get outside and get some exercise when it would be too cold to do much else otherwise, and even becomes a mode of transit for many people going to work or school. It revels in the creativity of ice sculptors from around the world, and celebrates different parts of the country. (This year there is a giant lobster to commemorate New Brunswick’s 225th anniversary as a province independent of Nova Scotia.) Last year a very cold Joel Plaskett performed, and this year features Jim Cuddy among others. All free and outdoors.

What it really boils down to for me is a city’s use of its public space. Communal areas in a city should be open and free for all citizens, and when a city orchestrates an event like Winterlude, it is embraces this spirit. On a trip to Europe last summer I was impressed by the use of public space. Strolling along the Seine you are surrounded by public art, musical ensembles, and people playing bocce. A city that embraces this non-commercial, non-regulated use of its space for the betterment of its citizens is a city that I want to live in and be a part of.

Toronto and Ottawa (and I’m sure many other Canadian cities) do an excellent job with the maintenance of outdoor rinks by the dedicated staff. These rinks provide fantastic ways for children to get active and develop a love of sports and the outdoors. As a houseleague hockey coach in Ottawa, I have two players on my team this year who have never played organized hockey before, but both are doing exceptionally well because of the skills and the love of the game they developed playing outdoors. And there’s nothing quite like fresh skates on hard ice with the wind at your back and a friend to pass the puck to.

So, here’s to Winterlude; and public space; and outdoor ice; and people having fun in the city in which they live.

Russel MacDonald