Mr. Speaker, long live the King. I'm not referring to the one across the pond but the one across the bay, Yellowknife Bay. Long live the Snowking and the Annual Snowking Festival.
Tomorrow everyone is welcome to come down to the snow castle for the grand opening and the ceremonial smashing open of the snow door starting at noon and featuring the Yellowknives Dene Drummers. It's free admission tomorrow.
The castle is a place of wonder, joy, and pure fun for kids and kids at heart of all ages. You can take a spin down the ice slides. And I saw there are some extra steep ones this year for the daredevils out there. You can enjoy live music and puppetry and marvel at the carvings made out of snow and ice. The International Snow Carving Symposium is also happening this weekend, so you can watch top level carvers from around the world as they craft giant snow sculptures from start to finish.
This is a special year. It's version XXX of the snow castle, which makes it sound racy, but it means it's the 30th anniversary of this well-loved festival. It's been 30 years since Snowking started making snow forts for his kids outside his houseboat on the bay, and it quickly became a community project. It turns out lots of people love to play in the snow, and so the annual project has attracted a loyal team of carpenters, artists, and performers, and countless volunteers.
It has also lured people like myself away from their office jobs. I was once a full-time castle crew member for eight winters, and it's been one of the greatest experiences of my life and the best work environment I've ever had. All team members get to incorporate their own ideas and creativity, everyone is encouraged to take risks, hopefully not fall off any ladders, but to experiment with new designs, take on new roles and challenge themselves. And if it doesn't work out, then it will all melt away in the spring and it's a blank slate for next year. That kind of environment not only brings out excellence from its workers, but it brings an entire community together.
To find the snow castle, you go down to Old Town and turn right at the Woodyard Brew Pub, and while you're at it stop in and enjoy some of their limited edition Snowking XXX lager created especially for this anniversary year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.
