Banff’s Snow Show for the Ages
Words by Wildly
Banff has always known how to put on a heck of a snow show. First organized in 1917, the Banff Winter Carnival was created to help bring more visitors to this winter wonderland during the frosty month of February. With a focus on alpine athleticism, it also featured lighthearted leisure events too. Today, Banff carries this tradition of merriment in the mountains during the annual SnowDays Festival. We thought we’d take a look at how they celebrated then, compared to now.
Image: Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, v263_i_a_i_a_na_3872
Image: Shannon Martin, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
Wild west ways
The 1918 Banff Winter Carnival and Bonspiel program encourages its readers to come to Banff in many creative ways, including this slogan: “You need no passport to visit your own playground — Banff.”
And what a playground it was. From skating, snowshoeing, ski racing on Banff Avenue and ski jumping at Mt. Norquay to dogsledding at Lake Minnewanka, curling, diving at the Cave & Basin and tobogganing into downtown, there were enough activities to keep participants in a cold sweat. Other events stuck to the dry side with masquerade balls, beard-growing contests, woodcutting competitions, and a good old-fashioned tug-of-war. Of course, no festival of frivolity was complete without a carnival queen, who donned the cover of each year’s program and was centre stage during the annual parade.
Image: Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, v263_i_a_i_a_na_6053
Image: Shannon Martin, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
Past meets present
Over the decades, the celebration morphed into what is currently known as the SnowDays Festival. And while the lineup of events has certainly changed, there are still similarities. In particular, the showcase of snow sculptures throughout the townsite and the thrilling stunts pulled during skijoring in the heart of Banff. There are new additions too, like Ice Magic in Lake Louise, where you can walk through an outdoor shimmering gallery of ice sculptures by the lake.
Image: Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, v263_i_a_i_a_na_3803
Image: Shannon Martin, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
Evergreen endeavour
We made a trip to the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies to dig into the archives where we perused a scrapbook about the Banff Winter Carnival. We were delighted to find a weathered clipping from the Crag & Canyon regarding the carnival, an excerpt from it states:
“The program of events is such as to attract crowds of winter sports enthusiasts from all parts of the globe, and the success of the venture will provide a new condition in this tourists’ paradise.”
The date had been cut out, but we found the sentiment of bringing people to the mountains to celebrate winter to be an evergreen endeavour.
