Barbegazi kicks off the outdoor winter action for Montréal’s 375th
There’s no ignoring the word action in this year’s fifth edition of the wild and woolly Barbegazi Winter Action Sports Festival, which this year has the high honour of launching Hivernales, the first major participatory event of Montréal’s 375th Anniversary celebrations. If snowskating, woodcutting, Christmas tree tossing or a large-scale obstacle course, among other things, tickle your wintry fancy, then Barbegazi’s got the family-friendly goods. And the snowball on the cake? It’s all free.
The annual Barbegazi Winter Action Sports Festival – named for mythical, gnome-like, Alpine creatures with frozen beards and a compulsion for avalanche surfing – takes place this year at Îlot Clark in the downtown Quartier des Spectacles. Over two weekends, January 6-8 and 13-15, the outdoor space will be transformed into an expansive playground for both young and old alike.
As mentioned, the festival kicks off the Hivernales portion of the city’s year-long birthday party. The all-encompassing Hivernales runs from January 6 to March 11 in Old Montréal, the Quartier des Spectacles and Parc Jean-Drapeau. It’s a blanket term covering numerous events: from the Classique Montréalaise pond hockey tournament to the Montréal en Lumière arts and culture festival; from the Fêtes des Neiges outdoor winter fun fest to the Igloofest dance party, and much, much more. But back to our Barbegazi buddy…
New to Barbegazi (which means “frozen beard”) this year is the nearly 50-metre long, high-tech obstacle course and competition. It will see festivalgoers “clinging to a vine like Tarzan, crawling under igloos, crossing a snow-capped replica of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, dodging giant snowballs, forging a path in a coniferous forest and climbing a snowy wall” in the pursuit of frozen glory. And actual cash prizes. The Top 10 finishers of the course will share a grand prize of $5,000.
A photo posted by BARBEGAZI (@barbegazifest) on Feb 16, 2014 at 8:37am PST
Fest attendees will also be able to participate in snowskate (like skateboarding, but on snow, and coaches are available onsite), lumberjack, arm wrestling and Christmas Tree throwing competitions. The more you participate in different activities, the more points you can accumulate courtesy of RFID bracelets that will be given to competitors at the registration booth. These points can then be redeemed for cool stuff at the fest’s General Store. For competition info and the programming schedule, please go here.
Boîte a fromages foodtruck is here too! #barbegazifest #barbegazi #mtl
A photo posted by BARBEGAZI (@barbegazifest) on Feb 16, 2014 at 12:06pm PST
Speaking of cool, should the temperature drift to the nippy side of the scale, you can take a warm break in one of the Heat Zones. Perhaps dance to Igloofest DJs on heated platforms, or grab a drink at one of the bars, all in the comfort of a heated igloo. Several of Montréal’s famous food trucks will also be on hand, as will a beard-trimming barber and, if the rumours are true, a real-life, in-the-flesh, snow-surfing Barbegazi – a once-in-a-lifetime selfie opportunity.
Up next:Montréal’s famous food trucks
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