Winter promenade celebrates the cold weather in Edmonton

The first Edmonton Winter Promenade, celebrating the cold weather. Sunday Dec. 19, 2021 (CTV News Edmonton)

EDMONTON -

Musicians, carolers and street performers gathered to entertain Edmontonians at the Victoria Promenade Sunday.

The first Edmonton Winter Promenade encouraged people to come out and enjoy the winter weather and the view of the river valley from the promenade.

“We’ve decided that Edmonton needs to celebrate and embrace winter and we wanted to do what they do in Europe, which is bring in old-fashioned caroling and promenading,” said Monique MacDonald, the organizer of the event.

“As the temperatures drop we stay inside and as we know from the last two years with COVID, it gets very depressing to get stuck inside.”

MacDonald said the promenade is underutilized and hopes to see entertainment on it in all seasons in the future.

“The people that live here, they know the beautiful treasure that we have, but it’s time for the whole city to enjoy it,” said MacDonald.

“If you dress up appropriately for the weather, you’re very comfortable. Think of yourself as a child… it was never too cold to play in the snow.”

This was the first year for the free event, but organizers want it to become an annual tradition. The promenade was put on by the Silver Skate Festival Society.