Sylvan Lake Winterfest is happening this weekend from February 18-21st. Most events will be taking place on Saturday.

“The main activities are happening on Saturday the 19th and it's centered around the Kinnabik Discovery Village which is going to be featuring sledge hockey, snow bikes, snowshoes, curling, bean bag toss, tug of war, ping pong, badminton, and  disc golf,” said Special Events Coordinator for Recreation, Culture and Tourism for the Town of Sylvan Lake, Nathan Young.

All weekend long, you can take part in the The Big Jig Fishing Derby, Lake Skating Rinks, Winter Village Lights and the Pass-the-Poutine Contest which was a favourite event last year.  

“It was successful and so the restaurants enjoyed being a part of it and we did receive lots of votes.  So it looked like the public was excited about it as well, so we thought we would bring that back in and keep that as one of our mainstay activities in this event,” said Young.

The fishing derby will be going on all weekend long and Young says it’s a fairly competitive event but there are opportunities for newer anglers to cast a line with the Learn to Fish event at the West side of the Sylvan Lake Pier from 11 AM to 4PM on Saturday. Usually, he says there are around 400 participants.

“It is a competitive fishing tournament and so there is a registration that goes along with that. This weekend is Alberta Fishing Weekend where you do not need to have a fishing license to participate. So that's where the draw comes in at having the fishing tournament. There's no additional licensing that's required for a participant, other than registering for the event,” explained Young.

To register for the Big Jig Fishing Derby and to check out other events happening in Sylvan Lake this weekend click here.