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Despite its flat topography, Regina is getting its own “mountain.”
The new landscape is coming to Queen City as part of the 2025 Frost Festival.
Canada Snowboard approached the festival to bring The Grind event to Regina, said Frost Regina Committee Chair Judith Veresuk.
“It lined up perfectly with the dates for Frost, and we thought that would be a nice pivot, bringing more activity outside, which Frost really was about,” she said.
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The Grind is a street-style snowboarding series showcasing Canada’s top riders in urban environments from sea to sea. There are solo and team competitions and a $30,000 prize pool, plus a $20,000 bonus for series winners.
The Grind will take over Victoria Park on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
Veresuk said The Grind is the biggest change to the festival.
“We’ve worked really hard with them (Canada Snowboard) over the past three months to develop a course that would take advantage of the sight lines and the great flat topography that we have in our downtown,” she said.
Veresuk hopes the event could find Regina’s next big snowboarding star.
“We have a great appreciation for snowboarding just because it’s the home of Mark McMorris,” she said.
“So who knows, maybe we’ll find the next up-and-coming Mark McMorris from one of the visitors, or one of the kids that come out to see the see The Grind, and say, ‘That’s what I want to do.'”
Judith Veresuk with Frost Regina says the new snowboarding event will highlight what Frost is really about, being outdoors. (Abby Zieverink/980 CJME)
In previous years, the festival was 10 days long. Veresuk said this year it will be a one-weekend event from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.
“We wanted to really give people the greatest bang for their buck in one weekend. And we feel we’ve done that with this program,” she explained.
The weekend-long festival is free for all to attend, including The Grind.
“There’s absolutely no barrier for anyone in the community to come out and enjoy the festivities,” she said.
Veresuk hopes to see economic generation for the city through hotel stays, restaurants and shopping.
Festival goers can also expect to see more of the classic events from years prior like dog sledding, horse carriage rides, performances from local artists, ice rinks, Crokicurl and more.
“We are looking at some indoor spaces in the Warehouse (District),” she said. “I believe they’re looking at transforming their summertime hop circuit into something winterized. So we’re really excited as they build out that program.”
Frost won’t have a hub at REAL this year, as the Brandt Centre is already booked for another event.
However, REAL Hub programming will be located in Victoria Park.
Roberta Engel (left) and Judith Veresuk are excited for the return of Frost Regina in 2025. (Abby Zieverink/980 CJME)
Acting President and CEO for the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) Roberta Engel, said they are still excited to be a part of Frost.
She’s excited for The Grind.
“We’re going to have a mountain, technically, quote, unquote, in the middle of Victoria Park, something that we’ve never seen or done before,” she said.
Other areas hosting events include the Wascana Hub in front of the Legislative Building, the Downtown Hub in Victoria’s Park and Pat Fiacco Plaza and the Warehouse Hub will be located throughout Warehouse businesses.
— with files from 980 CJME’s Abby Zieverink
