Ottawa Winterlude Festival 2026: Ice Sculptures and More

Experience the Ottawa Winterlude 2026

The Ottawa Winterlude 2026! A Canada travel tip for winter. This is how I imagine winter to be. Frosty temperatures, lots of snow, frozen rivers and a bright blue sky where the sun's rays make the snow sparkle. We're lucky enough to be the Ottawa  Winterlude To experience the festival under optimal – albeit icy – ​​conditions. With temperatures that felt like -33° Celsius at night, both the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River were frozen over. Snow and ice transform Canada's capital into a real winter wonderland. Perfect weather conditions to experience the Ottawa Winter Festival with Canadians. The Ottawa Tourism Authority invited us as travel bloggers to experience the Ottawa Winterlude for ourselves.

3 Ottawa Winterlude Videos

 

 

Ice sculptures at the Ottawa Winterlude in previous years

 

Admittedly, when we hear how low the temperatures are in Ottawa, our hearts sink into our pants. And we're wondering how we're going to survive the cold days in Ottawa. But wrapped up in several layers of clothing and wearing warm hats, scarves and gloves, we can hardly move. Thus the wind only finds a few areas to attack. The fact that you look like a Michelin Man wobbling through the city doesn't bother anyone. Because everyone who ventures out into the open looks the same. After my research year in British Columbia, during which I also spent several months in Canada during winter, this is the second time I have experienced winter in this country. This time, however, we are in the east of the country. Different conditions prevail there.

 

 

 

What competitions are there at the Ottawa Winterlude Festival?

When we visited Winterlude a few years ago, we watched the kilt skate. Hundreds of skaters in Scottish kilts glide down the Rideau Canal from 5th Avenue to the National Arts Center.

 

Ottawa Winterlude Locations

 

Ottawa Winterlude Locations and Events

Winterlude 2026 will take place from January 30 to February 16, 2026.

• Sparks Street Events
• Snowflake Kingdom Events
• Byward Market Events
• Rideau Canal Skateway Events
• Events elsewhere in Ottawa and Gatineau

 

Celebrate winter in Canada at the Ottawa Winterlude Festival

The only thing we have to get used to is that as soon as we enter warm rooms, we first have to peel off most of our layers of clothing before we feel comfortable again in the heated buildings. We do that often. When the icy winds cut our cheeks too much, we look for a café or a shelter. There we can warm up our cold faces before continuing our exploration of the Ottawa Winterlude. We're not the only ones in the cafés. Hot chocolate, cappucino and hot apple cider flow in abundance these days. Best served with BeaverTails, a pastry quintessentially Ottawa and Ottawa Winterlude. Tongues of dough fried in fat, shaped like a beaver tail, are refined with sweet ingredients: cream, sliced ​​bananas, Oreo crumbs or Nutella. These are available in stalls on the Rideau Canal or originally on Byward Market.

 

 

Ice Skating on the Rideau Canal at the Ottawa Winterlude 2026

Here's how Canadians do it: they roam the city with their kids and visit the venues where activities and events take place at the Ottawa Winterlude. They enjoy the winter weather and snow. We see children rolling in snowdrifts and their parents laughing as they watch their offspring play. Ice and snow? It's just part of winter here.

Lesley Carter from Bucket List Publications attended the Winterlude Festival with her family every year while living in Canada. She said: "Rather than fret about winter, let's find ways to celebrate it. Visiting festivals like Winterlude and Winter Carnival is the highlight of my year.”

Families come to the city to enjoy the Winterlude. There's the frozen Rideau Canal, which every year turns into a 7.8 kilometer long skating rink since the winter of 1970-71. You can reach the city center on skates from Dows Lake to Confederation Park below Chateau Laurier. In winter, Rideau Canal turns into a gateway to downtown Ottawa. Everybody uses it. And not just for fun: while cars are laboriously driving over snowy and slippery roads along the canal, skaters glide elegantly into the city on the frozen channel. It's an unhindered and quick way to get around in Ottawa in winter.

 

 

We recognize those who do this more often by the backpacks they carry on their backs. This is where they store the shoes they put on when they reach their destination in the city. There are huts on the canal at regular intervals where you can rent ice skates or put on your own. In addition to the shelter, there is always a kiosk that sells hot drinks and BeaverTails.

How long the Rideau Canal Skateway will be open depends on weather conditions. The skateway is usually open from January to March. This means that this time coincides with the Ottawa Winterlude. However, in recent years the opening times have been shorter than usual in some years.

Reasons for the Rideau Canal Skateway's opening hours to vary

How long the Rideau Canal Skateway will be open depends on several factors, including:

• The water temperature: The channel must be frozen at least 30 centimeters thick for the skateway to open. During mild winters, the water temperature may drop below this value, which may result in a delay or even cancellation of the season.
• The snow conditions: The canal must be free of snow to be safe to navigate. During snowy winters there may be delays in opening the skateway.

The length of time the Rideau Canal Skateway is open varies from year to year. You can find an overview of the history of the Rideau Canal Skateway here. It is advisable to check current opening times before visiting the skateway. For us, this meant checking the conditions at the Rideau Canal Skateway daily during our visit to Winterlude in Ottawa. This way you can also find out when the canal is open to ice skaters.

 

 

 

How to Care for the Ice Rink on the Rideau Canal?

We learn from a representative of the National Capital Commission, how seriously ice skating is taken during the Ottawa Winterlude. The commission is responsible for the skating rink. Maintenance squads are working on the Rideau Canal night after night. They make sure that the morning ice is perfect for the commuters, who skate into the city. For this, they clear fresh snow from the ice, which would otherwise act as an insulating layer. At the edge of the Rideau Canal they drill holes in the ice. Through these, fresh water swells up from below and freezes overnight.

This means that early risers who venture onto the ice will find optimal conditions for their journey into the city. Not every winter is the same, and the temperatures are not always as low as when we visited. It sometimes happens that the canal cannot be opened to ice skaters at the beginning of the winter season. On average, the skating rink on the river is open for 51 days. The longest time you could skate on the Rideau Canal was in the winter of 1971-72: an astonishing 90 days. In 2023, however, the Rideau Canal remained closed to ice skaters. It was too warm for that.

 

 

Ice carving competitions at the Ottawa Winter Festival

The highlights of the Ottawa Winterlude are the ice carving competitions. These vary from year to year. When we visit the Winterlude, there are various events where the ice artists have to complete their works of different sizes within a certain time. The participants come from all over the world: when we visit the Ottawa Winter Festival, there are French, Japanese, Iraqis, Latvians, Malaysians, Mexicans, Peruvians, Filipinos, Poles, Russians and Americans as well as Canadians. One participant even comes from Mauritius.

During our visit there are different competitions: we can follow the first of them. The ice carvers have two hours to carve a figure out of a block of ice. When we are there for the first time in the morning, they are in the process of drawing their figures on the ice. An hour later, the rough sculptures are already finished. But they are at their most beautiful in the evening and the next day, when they shine in the dark, polished and illuminated by colors at night. We discover real works of art: I like the kudu with its curved horns the best, the snowman with the big snowflake in his stomach and the ballerina in the block of ice.

 

 

The Snowflake Kingdom in Jacques-Cartier Park

The largest snow playground in Jacques-Cartier Park is being created during the Ottawa Winterlude 2026 on the Quebec side in the city of Gatineau. Here's how it works: Snow sculptures are created, ice slides lure you to winter fun, and the audience gathers in front of the stage to watch the shows of the commentators on stage.

The Snowflake Kingdom

We take the bus to Snowflake Kingdom on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. The main topic of conversation on our bus is – as would be expected – the weather and the cold. A father traveling with his two children tells us how he visited Snowflake Kingdom for the first time years ago. “I have never frozen as much in my life as I did back then,” he laughs. His neighbor agrees with him: “Yes, today winter clothing is much better", and he grins with his cheeks frozen red. They definitely don't seem to be lacking in fun.

 

 

We are at the Snowflake Kingdom in the morning, but there are already numerous families on site when we get there. It's all about active participation and having fun. Ice slides have been built into several snow hills, which children and their parents slide down with loud hoots. Without a base to sit on, mind you. Here you just sit on the ice and start sliding. There is the Glacier Slide for individuals, the Iceberg Slide for individuals or groups, the Chinook, where you slide down the mountain in large tubes, and the Kiddie Slide for the little ones.

 

 

The snow sculptures were still being created when we visited. Four three-dimensional sculptures are planned, two of which were completed when we visited, as well as two wall facades that show the themes of the park during our stay: The Year of Sports in Canada and the bicentenary of Sir John A. Macdonald's birthday. However, the topics vary from year to year.

 

 

The Ottawa Winterlude: a true Winter Wonderland

The Ottawa Winterlude 2026 is definitely one thing: great fun for young and old. Here you can really enjoy winter in all its facets: there is enough snow and ice. As soon as the sun shines, Canadians get outdoors and have fun in the snow and ice. The Winterlude is therefore a declaration of love from Canadians to their winter, which we can understand very well after our visit. Winterlude is the Ottawa Winter Festival par excellence. If you've had enough of the winter cold and snow, you can warm up in the city's museums, for example National Gallery of Art.

Weather forecast for your visit to Ottawa Winterlude

 

What else you can do in Ottawa

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Ottawa Winterlude Questions and Answers

How cold is Ottawa in winter?

Temperatures in Ottawa average -4°C during the day and -13°C at night. However, with the wind chill factor, it can feel significantly colder. During our visit to Winterlude in Ottawa, we experienced temperatures as low as -33°C.

Where to warm up at Winterlude in Ottawa?

With temperatures plummeting to -33° C like we experienced at the Winterlude in Ottawa, you need somewhere to warm up on the go. These places don't have to be boring. On the contrary, they play a large part in ensuring that we remember Winterlude as a great experience. Here are our tips:

• Take a break for apple cider, hot chocolate, coffee or tea, and Beaver Tails at the restaurants or cafés near the Winterlude venues (see below for a list of all suitable restaurants).
• Plan a tea time in Zoe's Lounge at Chateau Laurier.
• Go on a food tour of Ottawa with stops in restaurants, shops and cafés in Ottawa. Along the way, you can warm up while getting to know Ottawa's local specialties.
• Visit one of Ottawa's museums. We were in the National Gallery of Art and in the Canadian Museum of History. Visits are also possible in the Parliament or at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
• Take advantage of the heat tents at Jacques Cartier Snowflake Kingdom for a hot drink.
• Go on a shopping spree at the Rideau Center.

Where is Winterlude 2026 taking place in Ottawa?

There are three locations where most events take place.

• You can ice skate on the Rideau Canal. There are also cultural and live music shows there.
• The city hosts ice carving competitions as well as illuminated interactive structures.
• Also on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River is the Snowflake Kingdom at Jacques-Cartier Park in Gatineau. This is a kind of winter playground for the whole family. Both places can be easily reached with the Sno-Coach.

When is Winterlude Ottawa 2026?

January 30 to February 16, 2026

What restaurants are close to Winterlude Ottawa?

• Zoe's Lounge at Chateau Laurier for an elegant tea time
• Wilfried's at Château Laurier, 1 Rideau St, Ottawa, ON K1N 8S7
• 1 Elgin Restaurant, 1 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5W1
• Grill 41, 100 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5K8
• Little Victories Coffee Roasters, 44 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K1P 1C7
• D'Arcy McGee's, 44 Sparks St., Ottawa, ON K1P 5A8
• The Shore Club, 11 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1N 9H4
• Daly's Restaurant, The Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1N 5X2
• Bento Sushi at the Rideau Center (1st Floor), 50 Rideau St, Ottawa, ON K1N 9J7
• Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant, 700 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON K1N 1K4
• Milestones, 700 Sussex Dr Unit 201, Ottawa, ON K1N 1K4

Have you visited Ottawa Winterlude yet?

What did you like best about it? For example, do you have any tips for visitors that you haven't yet discovered in our article? What else should you know if you want to visit Winterlude in Ottawa? Be sure to share your tips with us in the comments to this article.

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Travel Arrangements:

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

Event date of the Ottawa Winterlude 2026:

The current status of the Rideau Canal Skateway You can also find out more at this link.

The Event program for 2026 for the Ottawa Winter Festival can be found under this link.

Flight:

Compare and book flights here* (Advertisement). Ottawa also has its own airport. From there you can continue your journey by rental car or public transport.

Car Rentals:

Cheap Car Hire - Book Fast and Easy! * (Advertisement)

Hotel for the Ottawa Winterlude 2026:

Here we have you, for example We selected hotels that were most convenient for Winterlude with short routes to the venues, which you definitely need in Ottawa's winter cold. This also saves you long journeys in the icy cold.

 

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With this article we are also participating in the blog parade by Mrs. Schweizer, who is looking for the most beautiful winter contributions from bloggers. Just like in the blog parade My best winter report.

Tips for slow travel you can find here.

Source Ottawa Winterlude 2026: Research at the Ottawa Winter Festival. We would definitely like to thank Tourism Ottawa, Ontario Tourism and the Canadian Tourism Commission for supporting this trip. However, our opinions remain our own.

Text Ottawa Winterlude 2026: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photo Ottawa Winterlude 2026: © Copyright by Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Video Ottawa Winterlude 2026: © Copyright by Petar Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline