Winter Light

WINTER LIGHTADVENTURES IN EDMONTON

2009-2011

ON October 9, 2008, Edmonton City Council approved and funded Winter Light, a pilot project proposed by the

Edmonton Arts Council with the broad mission to ‘celebrate Ed-monton’s winter spirit’. The project was approved unanimously as a first step in the City’s larger overall strategy to recast Edmonton as a livable winter city. In funding the Winter Light project, Council directed the Edmonton Arts Council to:

- Develop new winter festivals- Strengthen existing winter events- Promote civic enthusiasm for winter experience

To achieve these goals the Edmonton Arts Council formed the Winter Light project team, charged with artistic, production and market development as described by the proposal. The EAC pro-vided leadership and organizational support to the project, and fostered a deep network of citizen support to guide the project, including a Steering Committee, a Visioning Group, and several cultural Advisory Circles.

In addition to the 3 primary goals, the project mandate incorporat-ed a wide range of directives integral to the City’s strategic plans. These included supporting new community initiatives and cultural diversity, establishing organizational and production capacity for winter events, extending the festival city brand, and marketing positive winter city messages.

RE-IMAGINING WINTER CULTURE

“… the joy, the creativity, and the cultural energy the Winter Light concept has brought to our chilly community… should be an inspiration, and a goad, to us all…” - Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal

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DURING the 3-year pilot project, 2009-2011, the Winter Light team produced and pro-

moted 26 festival events in the capital region, drawing on and in-tegrating the city’s rich resources in art, recreation and heritage. Combined audiences for winter festivals in Edmonton now exceed 140,000.

The Winter Light project team interpreted the City’s mandate by developing a season-long series of new festivals that wholeheart-edly embraced winter as a positive feature of a northern lifestyle.

Imagination and artistry abounded as festival gatherings animated the themes of ‘light, action, and fire’ across the city’s winter land-scape. Audience experience was critical to the core mission, and protocols of ‘artistic excellence’ ‘free access’ and ‘warm welcome’ were embedded in festival designs.

The project contributed to and collaborated with Edmonton’s 3 ex-isting winter festivals, Deep Freeze, Ice on Whyte and Silver Skate. New resources, cultural activity and promotion strengthened their programming capacity and refreshed their civic profile as estab-lished events.

Winter Light’s marketing and communications strategies had a measurable impact in Edmonton, and reached out into regional and national markets. Vigorous advertising, communications and social messages stimulated public interest and media attention for the new project and in the winter city message. New audiences emerged for Winter Light’s nascent events, and the 3 existing fes-tivals gained significant increases in attendance.

EXPERIMENT & SUCCESS

“Each Winter Light event has been surprising and delightful – Edmonton has become a treasure map of winter magic!” - Auralia, via email

“The best thing about Edmonton – Winter Light festival is sheer brilliance!! Keep it burning.” - A.G,. from the comment book

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ATTENDANCE CHARTWinter festival attendance (all events)

2009 70,000

2010 120,000

2011 140,200

THE CITY directive to enliven and ‘festivalize’ Ed-monton’s winter months ignited the

imagination of the project programming team and quickly gener-ated an avalanche of winter cultural activity in Edmonton.

Light was the creative focus - as a medium, as a message. The dark nights of Edmonton’s winter landscape provided the ideal canvas, and the universal desire for light and warmth provided a meaningful core to the cultural activity. The theme of light was ap-proached in traditional and contemporary forms, through design, lanterns, media, and fire, and as a source of story, knowledge and inspiration.

Creative collaboration and integration of multiple programming threads were the artistic hallmark of Winter Light’s direction. Participants from across the cultural spectrum were challenged to embrace winter as an inspiration and venue for their work. In-terconnected programming circles, with well-known artists and non-mainstream contributors working together, pioneered new al-liances and designed unique events that showcased Edmonton’s abundant cultural resources.

As artists explored urban venues and parks across the City, Winter Light created new spaces for cultural experience, and drew atten-tion to the beauty of Edmonton’s remarkable winter landscape.

Arts & Programming Leaders: Pamela Anthony, Tim Folkmann, Memi von Gaza, Dylan Toymaker, Matt Vest, Debbie Houle, Jar-et Sinclair, Matt DeCore, Sherrilyn Jahrig, Talia Morrisey, Andrew Bursey, Rebecca Starr, Betty Grudnizki, Angus Sagan, Ian Jack-son, Bob Rasko, Vibe Tribe, FireFly Theatre, Rapid Fire Theatre, Circus Orange, River Valley Programs, Ritchie Velthuis, PlayDays Canada

CREATING NEW WINTER EXPERIENCE

“…An Aesthetic Of Artistry And Imagination…”

Thank you so much for giving Edmonton a reason to get out of our winter shell and enjoy the beauty of nature and art combined. Another success. Congrats!Proud to Live in Edmonton. This is so cool! - Aidan

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Winter and the extreme cold are the best things about Edmonton. Thanks for celebrating them! - Tim Bowling

Beautiful! Très beau! Merci! - Guillaume Cosiette

WINTER LIGHT went in search of an audience and found

a wonderfully diverse demographic. The existing winter festivals already had active audiences, and it appeared new communi-ties were eager to test the climate. Families, festival-goers, and outdoor enthusiasts brought curiosity and energy to Winter Light events.

New events were free and accessible. The project’s outreach, so-cial media and general marketing carried the message ‘all wel-come’, and events were designed to be attractive to multi-cultures and multi-generations. Diverse programming threads drew audi-ences interested in exploring nature, art, culture, and winter rec-reation.

Critical to developing a strong audience was the quality of experi-ence people found at the festivals. Appeal, atmosphere, attitude, and affiliation were key, as were a sense comfort and safety. Inte-grated ‘welcome programs’ addressed these ideals directly and were crafted to reinforce positive experience of winter.

Capital city and regional audiences responded, and the outdoor festivals found resonance within a population eager to refresh their perspective on Edmonton’s winter season.

Attendance at winter events in Edmonton doubled following the project launch, and audiences at individual events for both new and existing festivals continued to grow steadily during the course of the 3-year pilot project.

POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Winter Light festival is sheer brilliance! Keep it burn-ing. Edmonton has become a treasure map of winter magic! Winter Light is the place to be! Yay! Lots of fun. Great winter activity. - Brandy

Community Affiliation

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MESSAGING COLD CLIMATE – WARM SELL

EMBEDDED in the pi-lot project

mandate was the broad challenge ‘to pro-mote positive civic winter attitudes in Ed-monton’. Developing positive winter expe-rience was seen by both the City and the event organizers as a key factor in refresh-ing Edmonton’s ‘quality of life’ and devel-oping a civic-wide conversation about the potential of our winter city. Brainstorm-ing sessions helped define the commu-nication strategy: to frankly acknowledge winter barriers but focus firmly on winter’s unique attraction as a distinct season.

A positive message about ‘winter expe-rience’ was embedded in an attractive ‘winter festival’ event pitch, designed to motivate both public opinion and festival attendance. Strategies like challenge, hu-mour, nostalgia and enthusiasm were em-ployed in communications. Slogans, key words and visual images reinforced posi-tive, fun ideas about winter and promoted the ‘cool’ aspects of festival programming:

Light It UpStep Outside Warm up to Winter Life Begins at -40

Communications were carried by estab-lished media and public networks, then expanded quickly into extensive personal-ized audience outreach and active social marketing. Both strategies were invaluable in building the word-of-mouth communi-cation, and attract a key target audience.

“@WinterLightFest was amazing last night! Way to go #yeg!”

The organization’s direct communication efforts reached approximately 500 media outlets, 2800 ebulletin subscribers, 2300 Facebook friends, and 700 Twitter follow-ers.

“…a reason to get out of our winter shell and enjoy the beauty of nature and art combined. Another success - congrats! Proud to live in Edmonton” - info@email

Thank you for the winter wonderland! It’s magical! Fantastic!Kim and Eric

Quelle belle soir! This is amazing! An all-new perspective. Bravo! Merci!

Thank you for the magical winter walk. It was a mystical fantastic experience. I heart it, thanks, Ocean.

Very cool! I’ve lived here for so long and never known about this! I’m definitely getting involved next year!

Brilliant! I really appreciate it and it makes for an eventful day. Thank you Edmonton Winter Light for organizing this. INSPIRING!

Thanks for the amazing adventure. One of the best things in Edmonton, ever.Totally awesome. I am so glad I came!

Keep up the good work with your winter festivals. I wish we had them back home. We love it here. Jim and Verna Ferguson, Oshawa ON.

We love Winter Light! YYYSean’s family.

Totally magical…. a pretty star village in the snow. So beautiful!

This is so great and good! I love it!

Proud to be an Edmontonian tonight! What a beautiful event!

What a halcyon atmosphere. So well executed! Loved it. Looking forward to more.

TESTIMONIALS

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The inaugural winter light programming team, on the steps of city hall for the Winter Light project launch.

Winter Light Gala (Jan 9)Setting out on a creative journey The first Winter Light event was a collage performance, art, lights and mu-sic. This multi-disciplinary approach characterized the artistic philosophy of Winter Light: excellence in individual arts, integration through festival design.

Baba Yaga Trail Adventure (Jan 30) Seeking adventure and finding reward Recreation director Matt Décore had an indelible impact on Winter Light. Matt, along with Memi Von Gaza as lead artist and story teller, helped de-velop the adventure walk concept that became emblematic of the project’s originality in programming. His athlete’s perspective brought the rewards of physical action, challenge and achievement into the winter landscape. These quests approached winter with energy, courage and joy, and re-flected the adventurous heritage that infuses Edmonton’s character.

Light Meadow Mill Creek (Feb 7) Testing the ‘art possible’ Highly experimental conditions awaited artists in the winter environment. Contemporary dancer and choregrapher Kathy Ochoa was among the first to accept the challenge, developing a 3 part dance installation that was performed at Snow Valley, Silver Skate, Mill Creek and Churchill Square. The work commented on the art form with humour and irony (Black Swan Snow Lake, Solid Gold Lame) and was an illustration of the strength and vulnerability of the human body, a central under current of winter experience.

Local hero and aboriginal elder Lloyd Auger ex-amines Joe Renaud’s fire sculpture.

Hearts of Fire (Feb 14) Festivals celebrated inner city spirit through traditional knowledge, feasting and outdoor games. Lloyd later that day challenged former soccer champ, and Winter Light executive as-sistant, Talia Morrissey to a lively scrimmage of ‘yoga ball soccer’.

Family Day (Feb 20)A global family Outreach spurred an array of showcases for the city’s cultural di-versity. In event-based visual art the flag pa-rade project linked 100 community artists together for a brilliant exhibit on the theme of family.

Snow Reels (Mar 1- 4) A medium for the message Local media artists like Will Bauer, Lind-say McIntyre, Tim Folkmann and Jeremy Rittwage regularly ex-perimented within the festival, creating origi-nal work in the urban

Star Party, Coronation (Mar 7) Beauty at any temperature Overcast skies and record cold temperatures couldn’t dampen enthusi-asm for this outstanding star party. From inside warm tipis, the music of Andrea House and Chris Smith carried out on the wind, where sidewalk astronomers regaled the hardy and curious with stories of ‘extreme astron-omy’ and star lore. A surprise performance from visiting Inuit throat singers created a haunting reminder of the deep traditions of northern life and art.

Winter Light Gala (Jan 9)Baba Yaga Trail Adventure (Jan 30)

Light Meadow Mill Creek (Feb 7) Hearts of Fire (Feb 14)

Family Day Global Village (Feb 20)

Star Party, Elk Island National Park (Feb 28)Snow Reels (Mar 1- 4)

Snow Daze (Mar 5 – 6)Star Party, Coronation (Mar 7)

Illuminations (Mar 21)

lanscape. Metro Cinema provided a local venue for speciality films from northern communities around the world.

2009 PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS WINTER LIGHT TIMELINE

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Mispon (Jan 6) A traditional perspectiveFire was central to every Winter Light event, providing light, warmth, cere-mony and beauty. Elders like Betty Lafferty and Toni Calihoo offered prayers rooted in traditions of thankfulness, hospitality, tolerance and welcome, and spoke of the earth’s regenerative power under the blanket of winter.

Baba Yaga Trail Adventure (Jan 22-23)Lighting the way Edmonton artist Memi Von Gaza became Se-nior Resident Designer at Winter Light, exu-berantly exploring core artistic themes through a series of innovative light installations, origi-nal lantern design and a contemporary take on ancient folk tales. Her brilliant, whimsi-cal, and mysterious sculptures shone light in dazzling ways and in unexpected places - casting the spell for popular night time

Family Day (Feb 15) Celebrating an inclusive cultureAward-winning musician and community devel-opment worker Debbie Houle led Winter Light’s heritage and outreach program. Working closely with an aboriginal advisory group that included leaders and elders such as Lewis Cardinal, Brenda St. Germain, Reuben Quinn, and Mini Freeman, Debbie wove rich threads of traditional knowledge, culture and artistry into the project. A key inspiration was the region’s deep tradition of welcome to ‘all the peoples’, which guided Debbie’s role as ‘Multi-Community’ Outreach Liaison, bringing Winter Light into a network of individuals and organizations helping to build healthy connections in Edmonton’s ever evolv-ing society.

24hrs to Ignition (Jan 21) Setting the fire Edmonton’s arts community was front and centre in the development of Winter Light. Well-known media artist Tim Folkmann led as fire curator. He coordinated the welcome fire program, initiated the sculpture competition 24 hrs to Ignition, and regularly presented local fire artisans and per-formers like Vibe Tribe. Tim directed Rocket Sled Across the North Saskatechewan, Winter Light’s first foray into large-scale spectacle and pyro, featuring hilarious and daring performances by

Big Winter (Feb 26 -27) Exploring neighbourhoodsBig Winter, a special winter festival in Mill Woods, delighted local residents with a mini-adventure walk featuring woodland dioramas by Memi Von Gaza and a high energy concert from local indy-folk musicians the Low Flying Planes.

Star Party (Mar 6) Celebrating the winter sky Star Party Coordinator Sherrilyn Jahrig’s remarkable collaboration be-tween the Royal Astronomical Society, Elk Island National Park, Winter Light and the Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve offered a spectacular winter experience. Set in the snowy landscape of Astotin Lake, the timeless bril-liance of the stars was celebrated with astronomy and science, traditional ceremony and knowledge, and magical light installations. The event drew international attention from the Astronomical Union Conference in Arizona, Travel Alberta in Korea, National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Na-hanni National Park, Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. 6000 people from across the region and as far north as Nunavet gathered to experience the vast natural wonder of northern landscape and sky.

Mispon (Jan 6) Baba Yaga Trail Adventure (Jan 22-23)Hearts of Fire (Feb 13)

Family Day (Feb 15) 24hrs to Ignition (Jan 21)

Olympic Torch Celebrations (Jan 13) Big Winter (Feb 26 -27)

Star Party (Mar 6) Illuminations (Mar 12-13)

adventures like Baba Yaga, Big Winter, Mill Creek, and Illuminations.

formances by Fire Fly Theater. Tim also created beautiful media art works for Illuminations, Baba Yaga, and Mispon.

2010

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PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS WINTER LIGHT TIMELINE

Love Love Love! I’ve had a blast tonight. You’ve brightened up my night.

- Karla Culler, Vancouver

“ a glorious night of urban street theatre, both avant-garde and accessible, an aesthetic spectacular..”

- The Edmonton Journal

Flashpoint (Jan 22)Ice and Snow, Art and Sport Expanding the creative capac-ity for winter recreation was a central thesis for Winter Light. In partnership with Edmonton ski operators, programmers devised innovative ways to integrate arts, recreation and spectacle. Ad-venture trails, sport photography competition, historic display,

Illuminations (Jan 29) A spectacular winter circus Winter Light’s flagship event was an integrated installation of con-temporary performance, media art, music, and design, featuring a large scale pyro spectacle with guest artist Circus Orange. The intricate collaboration included light design by Matt Vest, an in-teractive sound score by Aaron Macri, contemporary choir mu-sic led by local composer and conductor Jordan Van Beirt, tra-ditional dance by Leo Letendre, roving performance led by Darrin Hagen and Linda Karenko, and the brilliant ‘building as light box’ installation by acclaimed media artist Lindsay McIntyre.

Mill Creek Adventure Walk (Feb 25 – 26)Everyone loves a parade Already active as an emerging artist Dylan Toy-maker became a leading and inspired interpreter of the project’s main theme: light. He was instru-mental in developing Winter Light’s sustainable technical capacity, a commissioned designer for lantern and light installations, and an invaluable contributor to site and community development. His dazzling exhibitions became a signature aes-thetic component of Winter Light, and a magi-cal element for the audience. Audio artists Aaron Macri and Dave Clarke provided a surprising sonic experience. A community lantern parade became a mile long trail of light woven through the night.

Meltdown (Feb 11) Partners in winter lifeCommunity enterprise generated new winter events with a wide array of partners, commu-nity organizations and collaborators, including Meltdown, a media and music infused indoor-outdoor party hosted by the Jubilee Auditorium.

Flashpoint (Jan 22)Illuminations (Jan 29)

Common Ground (Feb 4 – 5) Meltdown (Feb 11)

Family Day (Feb 21)

Mill Creek Adventure Walk (Feb 25 – 26) Star Party (Mar 5)

Common Ground (Feb 4 – 5) A joyous Winter Village Festivals weaving together ‘multiple-communi-ties’ was one of Winter Light’s most rewarding and successful areas of development. Strong cultural partners like Sun & Moon Aboriginal Arts Society, community leaders from every culture, and a robust arts outreach program brought to-gether dancers, poets, visual artists, drummers, story tellers, knowledge keepers and performers emerging from the rich immigrant cultures of Afri-ca, Europe, and Asia. Common Ground featured a gorgeous installation of 7 heritage shelters – a temporary village hosting more than 75 artists and heritage interpreters. Blessings and ceremonies, gorgeous light design and site installation, original play activities, family fun and a free multi-ethnic feast brought joy and energy to an extraordinary celebration of community spirit.

the world’s longest dragon slide sculpture by Ryan Winspinski, and inter-active media art by Will Bauer offered fascinating interpretations of Edmon-ton’s unique ski hill culture.

2011

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PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS WINTER LIGHT TIMELINE

FUELLED by issues arising from Council’s winter city portfolio, Winter Light was con-

ceived as a project of community-based cultural development.

The project was led by a team of artists who reflected a cross-section of culture backgrounds and interests, and who embraced the mandate to engage a broad range of individuals, organiza-tions and groups in the project. An extensive and on-going con-sultation process was initiated, intended to root Winter Light in a strong network of community stakeholders, to develop informed dialogue, and to reflect the depth and diversity of Edmonton’s civic character.

Festivals are a deeply valued characteristic of Edmonton’s identity, generating pride, a sense of ownership, and enthusiastic partici-pation. Fostering the winter agenda through festivals offered the City an opportunity to build upon the reputation, programming and production capacity of a strong festival community. From the out-set, Winter Light established active links with the existing winter festivals, Ice on Whyte, Deep Freeze and Silver Skate, collabo-rated on direct and indirect program development and promotion.

Winter Light was also engaged by the City of Edmonton to refresh their Family Day celebrations and the event quickly became an integral part of Winter Light’s community engagement goals. Led by Debbie Houle and Bob Rasko, exciting community art, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural programs were developed, offering fresh ideas, celebration and discovery around the idea of individual and civic family.

One of the most effective forms of community engagement un-dertaken by Winter Light was the creation of ‘advisory circles’. These advisory groups opened up previously unanticipated areas of leadership, programming and artistic excellence, stimulated cultural education, and created exciting opportunities within the Winter Light group. Artists and cultural workers from a wide variety of ethnic groups, cultural backgrounds, and nationalities engaged with Winter Light. The outcome was original program development that filtered throughout Winter Light events such as Family Day Global Village, Hearts of Fire, Aboriginal Camp, Family Day Flag Project, and the flagship multi-community, multi-cultural event, Common Ground.

Recreation is at the heart of positive winter experience. Winter Light developed close programming affiliations with the Edmonton Ski Club and Snow Valley, resulting in some of the most success-ful activities of the project, including the Baba Yaga Trail Adventure and Flashpoint. Playdays Canada and River Valley Programs also became contributors of unique programming, animating a spirit of play and adventure for all ages.

The central mandate of the project – celebrating Edmonton’s winter spirit – shone brightly on an international stage during the Olympic Torch Relay, when Winter Light provided colourful and lively symbols of Edmonton’s winter culture and heritage.

FUELLED BY A VIBRANT COMMUNITY SPIRIT

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GUIDED by a network of citizen advisory groups, community outreach was co-

ordinated by Debbie Houle, Betty Grudniski, Talia Morrissey and Bob Rasko. The project was involved in extensive engagement and liaison activities to non-mainstream groups, newcomers, and community groups across the city.

__________________________________________________

Action for Healthy Communities ASSIST Community Services CentreBissell Centre Canada- China Friendship Society of EdmontonCanadian Arab Friendship Association of Edmonton Canadian Native Friendship CentreCanadian Somalia Culture Society Catholic Social Services Centre for Race & Culture Changing Together Chinatown and Little Italy Business Association City of Edmonton Revitalization Cultural Connections InstituteE4CEdmonton Federation Of Community Leagues Board Edmonton Native Healing CentreEdmonton Federation of Community LeaguesEdmonton Immigrant Services Association Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers EmployAbilitiesExcel Society Filipino Society for Growth and Change Hope Mission ihuman youth society Indo-Canadian Women’s Association Metis Child and Family Mill Woods Family Resource Centre Mill Woods Welcome Centre for Immigrants Multi Cultural Health Brokers Coop Multi Cultural Women and Seniors Services Association Native Counseling Services Norquest College Northern Alberta Alliance on Race Relations Pakistan Canadian Association South Asian Humanitarian Aid The Family Centre The Mustard Seed Vibrant Communities Edmonton Vietnamese Canadian Friendship CentreWelcome Centre for Immigrants Women Building Futures YWCA

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

We had an awesome time, beautiful light, nice people, great music – this rocks! Keep it up.

- Sabrina and Matt

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As part of its overall mandate, Winter Light undertook to promote Edmonton as a ‘hot spot’ for winter festivals and outdoor winter lifestyle, with an ambitious 3-year, $400,000 campaign in local and regional markets.

Grass Roots to Main Stream

The overall Winter Light marketing strategy was ‘grass roots to main stream’. With de-sign and branding support from Calder Bateman, and the dedicated design and marking services of pocobrio, Winter Light developed advertising for print, outdoor, electronic, web and social media. This marketplace investment was augmented by strategies for social marketing, media relations, community outreach and audience development.

Winter Light’s primary goal was to attract local audiences and generate awareness for Edmonton’s quality of winter life, and this formed the foundation of all marketing efforts. Advertising placements bridged the gap between brand identity and event marketing for general public audiences, while social networks, media relations and audience develop-ment reached deep into niche markets and targeted communities. Seeking to create enthusiasm for winter ‘experience’ as well as event attendance, Winter Light promotions used a combination of messages and techniques, generating a sense of excitement, novelty, opportunity, nostalgia, and humour.

Winter Light took its brand and messages to international audiences through the web, and through participation in cooperative tourism marketing efforts and media, including direct representation to international tourism media. Winter Light’s website was a par-ticularly powerful and successful tool - www.winterlight.ca attracted over 10 million hits and hundreds of thousands of unique visits during the 3 year project. The website, in combination with social marketing, tourism and media relations, attracted international awareness for Winter Light activities and the City of Edmonton. The marketing campaign also generated additional budget for the project through spon-sorship (> $200,000.) and partnership, redoubling the financial impact of the initial in-vestment, and creating alliances for future winter city awareness efforts by the City.

Winter Light’s marketing and awareness campaigns were a notable success of the pilot project, drawing new audiences to winter events (doubling overall attendance and generating national and international media attention for Edmonton’s emerging profile as an exciting, livable ‘winter city’.

MARKETING MAIN STREAM - DIGITAL - GRASS ROOTS

EXPENSES 2008/ 2009 2009/ 2010 2010/ 2011

Marketing 125, 322 168, 280 155, 672

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Marketing

The Winter Light pilot project drew media attention from Edmon-

ton, throughout the region, and around the world, and was the subject of more than 730 media stories and reports.

Media reports covered a variety of topics – the very concept of celebrating or ‘sell-ing’ winter; notions about Edmonton as a winter city; comparison with other winter festivals and cities; and general interest in the local activities, artists and participants. Broader discussions regarding contempo-rary northern life, urban design and winter-city ‘livability’ took place in a variety of me-dia forums.

“When the snow flies and winter temperatures drop well below freezing, many cities retreat into hibernation. Not so in Edmonton. Alberta’s capital city is a win-ter playground and a breeding ground for sub-zero festivities. Case in point, the Winter Light Festival. This is the largest and most popu-lar winter festival in the province, taking place annually from the beginning of January until the first weekend in March. It consists of 10 unique events that showcase winter sport, promote outdoor play and celebrate public art.“ - Jodie McKague, AOL Travel

“… amazing… a fantastic show … For a few minutes, I forgot that I was cold. Kudos to Winter Light for a great event. Let’s have more of this please.” - Mack D. Male blog.mastermaq.ca

MEDIA WHEN THE SNOW FLIES

“ slide into a warm parka, wrap a scarf around your neck, pull on a toque and party Canuck style at nine Winter Light festivals... This massive undertaking takes over various Edmonton neighbourhoods and …highlights some formidable local, national and international artistic talent. - Anna Borowiecki | St. Albert Gazette

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“One of the most aesthetically successful uses I’ve ever seen of the Square space - visually, theatrically, and acoustically… filled with mystery, with beauty, with an edgy sense of menace… a stroke of genius… “

- Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal

“At 7 p.m. on a Saturday night in March 2010, 3,600 people were inside the park for the Winter Light Star Party … the Elk Island event is a populist celebration that’s high on gorgeous skies and low on intimidating terminology. Members of Edmonton’s arts, recreation and science communities help run what is likely the world’s largest winter stargazing event .. By the time the park gates closed at the 2010 star party, 5,000 people had stood in the cold to view planets and galaxies. As if rewarding their endurance, the northern lights flared up just before 10 p.m. in curtains of bril-liant unforgettable green.”

- Peter McMahon, Canadian Geographic

City of Edmonton Arts Council Edmonton Arts Council Alberta Foundation for the Arts CityTV / OmniPattison OutdoorEdmonton ExaminerPocobrioDelta Edmonton CentreBudget Car & Truck Canadian TireCanadian College of EMSEdmonton Ski ClubCalder BatemanVue WeeklySnow ValleyJubilee Auditorium

The City’s 3-year $2.2 million dollar investment in Winter Light had impact on a wide range of City strategies and goals. The project:

- kick-started visibility for Edmonton’s ‘winter city’ strategy- generated new arts and heritage programming- created social capital - encouraged positive civic attitudes & promoted civic pride- enhanced neighbourhoods and community connections- strengthened and extended the ‘festival city’ brand- generated positive media reports about Edmonton- created employment and economic activity

Winter Light activities stimulated an additional $260,000 in private investment from funders, businesses and community members, significantly multiplying the City’s original investment.

Over 87% of the Winter Light budget was spent in the capital region, with benefits and employment generated and multiplied throughout local economy. It had particularly significant impact on the arts and cultural sector, with nearly half the budget, over $1.4 million, dedicated to programming.

The Edmonton Arts Council’s Winter Light 3 year pilot project completed its activities in June 2011 with a balanced budget of $2.5 million.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT SOCIAL CAPITAL AND CIVIC CAPACITY

INCOME 2008/ 2009 2009/ 2010 2010/ 2011

City of Edmonton 770, 110 818, 328 658, 103

Grants (Province) 27, 980 71, 400

Sponsorship/ Earned/ Other 29, 781 92, 524 36, 969

TOTAL 799, 891 938, 833 766, 472

EXPENSES 2008/ 2009 2009/ 2010 2010/ 2011

Artists/ Programming 523, 198 555, 323 402, 799

Operations 160, 554 217, 389 193, 468

Marketing 125, 322 168, 280 155, 672

TOTAL 809, 075 941, 000 751, 941

SUPPORTERS

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Funder: City of EdmontonCouncillor Portfolio: Ben Henderson, Kim Krushell

Project Initiative: Edmonton Arts CouncilExecutive Producer: John Mahon

Steering CommitteeBen Henderson, Kim Krushell, Peter Field, Julian Mayne, Christine Causing, Memi von Gaza, Paul Lucas, John Mahon, Tedd Kerr, Jim Hillman, Davina Stewart, Robert Moyles

Visioning GroupDonna Cardinal, Michael Phair, Tedd Kerr, Christy Morin, Ellen Finn, Robert Moyles, Ben Henderson, Kim Krushell, Ritchie Velthi-us, Trevor Anderson, Kim Sanderson, Jim Gurnett, Shirley Lowe, Brian Murray, Nate Box, Denise Assaly, Marc Piquette, Pamela An-thony, Debbie Houle, Jim Hillman

Indigenous EldersBetty Lafferty, Brenda St. Germaine, Tony Calihoo, Elaine Brass, Mini Freemen; Alvena Strasbourg, Will Campbell, Leonard Saddle-back, Bill Nooskey

Aboriginal Advisory CircleLewis Cardinal, Goota Desmairais, Debbie Houle, Freida Gladue, Florence Shone, Gary Gagnon, Alvena Strasbourg, Melissa Jo Moses, Ben Moses, Joy Sinclair, Marilyn Dumont, Jaret Sinclair Gibson, Sherryl Sewepagaham, Leo Letendre, Rueben Quinn, Lyle Tootoosis , Rocky Morin, Angela Ferguson

Multi-Cultural Community CircleShahriyar Khan, J Taro Hashimoto, Sophie Yaqub ,Courtney Lohmes, Jehan Wassef, Ralph Paufler, Angelica Gonzalez, Shari Gidyk, Irshad Chaudhry, Janet Bauer, Florence Pang-Tsui, Ve-ronica Stuckless, Ratan Lawrence, Dick Wong, Mulki, Judy Miller, Judy Sillito, Mohamed Abdi, Irene Polletti, Bola, Mary Pinkoski, Titilope Sonuga, Ifoema Chiwetelu, Teresa Spinelli, Yvonne Chiu, Shari Gidyk, Donal Langford, Bonnie Karien, Judy Sillito, Jose-phine Pallard, Florence Pang-Tsui, Yazan Haymour

Collaborating OrganizationsSilver Skate, Deep Freeze, Ice on Whyte, Sun & Moon Aboriginal Arts Society, Snow Valley, Edmonton Ski Club, Elk Island National Park, Edmonton Royal Astronomical Society, Boys & Girls Club of Edmonton, Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, Civic Events Edmonton, Mill Woods Seniors Society, FAVA, Inner City High, River Valley Programs, Metro Cinema

THE CLIMATE was right for a winter city initiative in Edmonton,

and the pilot project met all its key objectives. The overall effect of such a large civic investment had a real impact: artistic, cul-tural and heritage development of festivals; expanded winter event capacity and audience attendance, marketing impact, messaging and social awareness. The project stimulated increased civic inter-est and pride, and offered a fresh take on Edmonton’s “Festival City Live All Year” reputation.

In short, Winter Light put an exciting new focus on the city’s most notable season: winter.

The project was not without challenges. Caution about the proj-ect’s direction was expressed, not all programming experiments were successful, and extreme weather occasionally presented ob-stacles for production and for audiences. Yet the project quickly generated widespread support, interest and approval as the benefits of the project activities were made visible in the com-munity. Festival event audience approval was particularly strong, with thousands of individuals expressing enthusiasm in feedback, emails, and comments.

Winter Light was closely aligned with City of Edmonton goals, ac-tively linking up with civic strategies already in place. Most nota-bly, the project contributed strong value to both the “festival city” brands the city celebrates and the vibrant ‘northern city’ status to which it aspires.

Winter Light benefited from community vision, investment and proj-ect review. Winter Light was the subject of research and evaluation in a comprehensive position paper written by consultant Donna Cardinal. Her paper Winter Light: Befriending Winter reviewed the initiative, and evaluated the project in the context of the City’s ef-forts to position itself as a winter/northern city. The paper saw Win-ter Light as a vehicle “to create an authentic vision of Edmonton as an interesting and contemporary winter city... to generate healthy community lifestyles, festival spirit and civic pride... to define Ed-monton as a great winter city to our citizens and to the world”, and concluded that:

“Winter Light is working as planned. It is developing roots in the community... and is influential in creating a positive attitude in general towards Edmonton’s winter season.”

The Winter Light project stands as a strong example of Edmonton’s capacity for innovative cultural, community and civic development.

PROJECT REVIEWCULTURAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

page 14

“ Fantastisch! Geweldig. Let there be light!!!” - The Netherlands

WINTER LIGHTFestival Office9654 Jasper AvenueEdmonton, Alberta,Canada T5H 3V5

email: [email protected]

telephone: 780.760.2229

fax: 780.760.2263

web: www.winterlight.ca

WINTER LIGHTADVENTURES IN EDMONTON

2009-2011