Eight St. Thomas University men and women’s hockey games were part of FROSTival Fredericton, a 23-day festival that held over 100 events around the city.
During FROSTival the St. Thomas Tommies men’s team played Dalhousie University, St. Francis Xavier, University of Prince Edward Island, and University de Moncton.
The women’s team also played UdeM, SFX, UPEI, and Mt. Allison University.
“This was the first year STU hockey games were added to the schedule,” said Stacey Russell from Fredericton Tourism.
FROSTival hosted other sporting events such as the New Brunswick HopSpiel. “This was the first year for this event which saw curlers bringing history back to life downtown in Officers’ Square on the rink,” said Russell.
“It was a fun HopSpiel event which also included an outdoor beer garden and was a great success. Plans are currently underway for 2017,” she said.
“The British Army used to curl here and we found some old blueprints for the area that actually showed curling rinks on the square,” said organizer Lloyd Chambers. “That got our minds on doing an event here.”
Officers’ Square also held an Old Fashion Skating theme party that played music from artists such as The Rockin’ Billies while people skated.
“Our annual Old Fashioned Skating Party was a great success attracting hundreds of people to Officers’ Square,” said Russell.
Active Fredericton hosted the Ultimate Frisbee Tournament at the Nashwaaksis Field House.
“This event has been taking place during FROSTival since it started in 2013 and I believe occurring before then as well.” said Russell.
Wostawea Cross Country Ski Club hosted the New Brunswick Cup skate-ski race. Skiers from around the province took part in the race with distances ranging from 0.5 kilometres to 15 kilometres at Killarney Lake Park.
At the Killarney Lake Lodge Winterfesthiver held a Nine Toe Winter Adventure Race. The race was an introduction to orienteering and adventure racing where participants traveled predominately by foot.
In a Fredericton woodlot near Knowledge Park Drive Winterfesthiver organized the Silent Night Snowshoe Hike. Participants were guided throughout the woodlot on snowshoes for four kilometres wearing headlamps.
Crabbe Mountain Ski Lodge hosted the Everest Challenge. Crabbe Mountain claims that 34 runs down Crabbe Mountain equals Mount Everest’s vertical decline. Contestants were given a full day to run the mountain until 34 runs were complete.
Crabbe Mountain also hosted a Speed Week where race clubs from all over Atlantic Canada attended Crabbe for a week to train, race, and compete in speed competitions.
Mactaquac Provincial Park got involved and had a Winter Wellness Day that offered cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and sliding.
Outside in the Phoenix Square at City Hall SnoGa held an outdoor yoga class for 45 minutes.
To end it all, FROSTival held a Fredericton Northside verses Southside tug-of-war battle on Valentine’s Day. Teams of six to eight people from schools, sports clubs, and local service clubs tested their strength and resilience to see which side of the river is the strongest.
“This marked the fourth year of FROSTival and we saw many successful events,” said Russell.
“Awareness has increased significantly,” she said. “We also saw many sell out events, which was great of course. (The) weather played a significant factor for the celebrations.”
