Victoria Park skating rink opens in Regina for the season

It’s like something off a Canadian postcard – a skating rink in the heart of a park.

The outdoor skating rink at Regina’s Victoria Park is back for the ninth year, officially opening Tuesday.

“It’s the beauty of being downtown in an urban setting in a park. This is everybody’s park, we like to say,” said Leasa Gibbons from Regina Downtown, who mans the rink while the City of Regina maintains it.

“The rink is here really until it melts, but we’ve got staff booked until the end of February,” Gibbons said.

Admission to the rink is free, as are skate rentals.

Raiza Dioquino was there with her 14-month-old son Isaac and her mom, who was visiting from the United States.

“There’s no admission … it’s free family fun,” she said.

“Actually Regina offers a lot of festivities. This is one of them. This is every year so I kind of know which ones are free.”

Gibbons said more and more people come out to the rink every year.

“Most people tend to winter. It’s kind of just changing our mindset in that we live in a winter city so it’s not going to change and we should get out and enjoy and not spend our winter cooped up and then go, ‘Oh right, it’s March and I’ve been sitting on the couch watching Netflix all year.”

Regular hours for the rink are:

• Monday to Friday – 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Saturday to Sunday – 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Holiday hours are:

• Dec. 24 – 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Dec. 25 – closed
• Dec. 26 – 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.
• Dec. 31 – 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Jan. 1 – closed
• Jan. 2 – 11:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m.