Warm welcome to Canada’s ‘coolest bar’

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This article was published 23/01/2019 (2807 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fancy skating up to a wet bar? The Forks and Festival du Voyageur hope so.

The organizations are partners this winter in the creation of a warming hut on the frozen Assiniboine River that combines an artistic space and one that serves drinks in tumblers that are drilled out of ice.

“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Festi-Bar, the coolest bar in all of Canada,” festival executive director Darrel Nadeau declared to a small crowd that included groups of Festival du Voyageur organizers in their trademark fur hats and blanket coats, plus a sprinkling of 20-somethings bundled up in winter gear.

Some of the first customers was a group of skaters who glided up to the bar.

It’s part of a larger space that is likely the biggest warming hut built for The Forks.

Pavilion Sub-Zero will have a seating capacity of 500, and the bar will stay open beyond the duration of Winnipeg’s winter festival (Feb. 15-24), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The festival is hosting several sites beyond the gates of the event’s home turf at St. Boniface’s Fort Gibraltar to mark its half-century.

“This is bigger than last year, and it’s all winter long… until the river trail thaws,” Nadeau said.

In 2018, the festival hosted a small wet bar on the ice at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.

The 2019 space was still being carved out of the ice Wednesday, with workers putting the finishing touches in place as a stiff north wind swept the stairs leading down to the historic port on the Assiniboine.

Bright lights beat back the darkness. Orange-coloured screens mounted above snow walls lent a whimsical touch to Pavilion Sub-Zero and its ice bar.

A fire-eater added a toasty touch to the event, swallowing flames to the throbbing rhythm of a DJ mix.

Fires leapt from a pair of metal barrels cut in half and positioned on stands.

The creation of a team led by Sputnik Architecture designer Peter Hargraves, the space will showcase an ice concert Friday evening in co-operation with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

The concert by Terje Isungset of Norway will feature instruments the musician tuned Wednesday from blocks carved out of Red River ice.

Beyond the puns about icy twists on wet bars, the venue is the product of hard work and creative concepts to celebrate winter, the designer said.

“I think of it as creating intellectual space for all of that… for people to enjoy activities in our winter environment,” Hargraves said.

That snowstorm that blew across the river as the pavilion opened Wednesday was a perfect touch, he said.

“It’s great to have you all here in a snow squall. Let’s celebrate and enjoy the cold.”

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca