‘We did have to close some things:’ Frost Regina feels the heat

As Frost Regina winds down for 2024, the warm weather brought both pros and cons for the annual winter festival.

Jennifer Johnson, Regina’s deputy city manager, said Saturday the festival has been a great success.

“We’ve had thousands of people through all of the hubs,” she said. “People are just so happy and appreciative and seem to really be enjoying the activities — and, of course, enjoying them in these milder temperatures.”

But the warm weather reduced some of the outdoor attractions to puddles.

“We did have to close some things, including the skating rinks,” she said, referring to the outdoor rink at the Wascana Centre Hub.

Attractions at Confederation Park also felt the heat.

“The ice slides are closed, but some of the ice sculptures are still standing and holding up OK,” Johnson said.

“It’s one of those things like if something is in the shade, it has held up well, and if it’s in the sun, it hasn’t held up as well.”

As for accommodations, only one event was affected, according to Johnson. The free skate with Denali, which was supposed to be outside, was moved indoors to one of the rinks in the Co-operators Centre.

“Other than that, I don’t think too much has had to be moved or changed,” Johnson said. “Almost all of the programming is actually still able to happen and go ahead. It’s just those skating rinks and those were closed earlier in the week.”

Despite the melt, the warm weather had a positive impact.

“People can spend more time outside and can visit multiple locations and just really enjoy themselves and not be too cold,” Johnson said. “We have so many things still going on this weekend that weren’t impacted by the weather at all.”

Thankfully, the long list of indoor activities made up for any loses.

“REAL has a huge list of things happening indoors, so none of that is effected by the weather,” she said. “They’ve got performances all day, they’ve got glow going on inside. Your tickets to Glow give you access to all those performances.”

The festival wraps up Sunday. For a full list of remaining events and activities, click here.