By Kasandra Bracken

Snow globes, ice sculptures, and an ice bar…sound like an arctic paradise? Even if you’re sick of slipping on the white (and sometimes yellow) stuff, you’re still invited to Bloor-Yorkville’s IceFest Festival this weekend—and you don’t even have to get your feet wet!
IceFest ent-ice-s with enough of the cold stuff to carve out a ship—and that’s 25,000 pounds! By donating five bucks to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, you buy yourself a pose by the giant vessel in the Underwater Kingdom of Ice, which also features King Neptune and a “lovely mermaid” (not endorsed by Disney). If your pockets are empty, it’s free to watch the ice carvers pick, chisel, and chainsaw their creations in Saturday’s competition, and feel free to support your favourite in the running for the People’s Choice Award. Prize packages will be awarded to a few lucky voters.
But if ice sculptures give you the chills, spring for some chilled ice wine at the Santé lounge and Ice Bar, as a preview for their upcoming International Wine Festival this May.
The festivities kick off this Thursday with IceNite, a mingler in the top-floor ballroom of Yorkville’s Sutton Place Hotel, with tickets on sale for a cool ten bones. It showcases a “Yorkville Chic” silent auction, with proceeds going to the Yonge-Bay-Bloor Business Association.
If you’d rather make your Yorkville purchases the old-fashioned way, IceFest encourages you to shop, and support the Heart & Stroke Foundation with your generous purchases [retail map PDF]. And with such a good cause, you’d feel guilty not to spend generously. After all, the event is sponsored by Holt Renfrew.
Photo by preciouskhyatt.