Ottawa Winterlude

What is Ottawa Winterlude?

Ottawa's Winterlude takes you to an epic annual winter festival experience right at the capital of Canada. Thousands of visitors each year join the festivities. 

It is a magical winter festival highlighting snow and ice sculpture competitions, an Ice Dragon Boat Festival and a Winterlude Triathlon among many more!  Snow playgrounds, ice sculptures, and the world's largest naturally frozen ice rink where people can enjoy skating and sporting events transform Ottawa into a winter wonderland.

Need to Know

One of the most popular and best-loved attractions of Winterlude is the 7.8-km Rideau Canal Skateway which makes the largest naturally frozen skating rink in the world. 

Nowhere else in the world can you ice skate so far with such a spectacular backdrop, this itself is a memory waiting to be created.

Did You Know

This wondrous event was first held in 1979 and has won many awards since as a major highlight of the winter season in the whole of North America.

Plan to visit the Ottawa Winterlude for a unique experience that will thrill the whole family.

Coronavirus is causing a number of event cancellations; we provide event website links on each page for you to check the latest updates.

See our Coronavirus page here.