Carnival Comes to Quebec City
The 42nd Quebec Winter Carnival--the world’s third largest carnival after Rio de Janeiro’s and New Orleans’ Mardi Gras--opens Friday in Quebec City, 150 miles northeast of Montreal.
The 17-day festival, with its snow sculptures, ice canoeing competition, Queen’s Ball and host of other pre-Lenten celebrations, will take place at two major sites: Place Desjardins (at Plains of Abraham park) and Place du Palais Loto-Quebec, site of the 75-foot-high Ice Palace (pictured above) that is carnival’s centerpiece.
Several new events are scheduled this year including a triathlon, featuring cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing and kick-sledding, and the first provincial dog-sledding championships. The carnival queen will be crowned Friday; the Snow Sculpture Competition opens Saturday.
Most carnival activities take place between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. For carnival information, call (800) 621-5501; for general tourist information, call (800) 363-7777.
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