Queen Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake is being transformed into a winter icewine wonderland, complete with Muskoka chairs and cozy blankets, live ice-carving demonstrations, and a festive atmosphere for the annual event that begins this weekend.
Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival have teamed up to “reimagine” the street festival, said Katie MacCabe, marketing manager with the winery group.
The NOTL Chamber of Commerce, which has hosted the event in the past, has taken on a supporting role “because it makes a lot of sense for an icewine festival to be working with wine organizations,” said MacCabe.
“This is going to be a reimagined version of the festival you know and love,” she said. “It's just everything that you love about the festival, but elevated.”
VIP tickets are available for both weekends, allowing the experience of enjoying access to an exclusive VIP lodge, a VIP snow globe, snacks, and, of course, icewine.
The IceHaus Cocktail Competition is a new event on Saturday, Jan. 25 and will include a DJ from 8 until 11 p.m. “It's a chance to live in the street in the evening hours with lots of beautiful lighting” similar to the type of event you could experience in Europe, “like a Nordic style ski house,” said MacCabe.
IceHaus is a free admission event but VIP ticket holders can sample each of the cocktails in the competition, vote for their favourite cocktail and enjoy seating and snacks in the VIP area.
Also new this year are heated snow globes, large enough to seat eight guests. Snow globes can be rented and include two bottles of premium icewine and a large, shared cheese platter.
The rest of the NOTL festival is similar to past years, “where you can go and see ice-carving and enjoy culinary pairings” from several local wineries. “If you’re in Icewine mode,” said MacCabe, venture out of NOTL to explore the Cool as Ice Gala, which is happening at the Niagara Parks Power Station. “It's a big fancy lux celebration of ice wine in Niagara."
The Icewine Festival is also offering a passport program that allows people to visit different wineries and enjoy culinary and icewine pairings.
The festival runs Jan. 18 to 19 and Jan. 25 to 26, from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. More information and VIP ticket purchases can be found at niagarawinefestival.com.
Dress warmly, because the temperature is expected to stay cold enough over the next two weeks, which is a bonus, allowing the icewine sculptures to keep their shape.
