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Carnaval de Québec
by Allan Rogers
 As
Bonhomme waved thousands of French Canadians "ooohed," "ahhed"
and cheered, their breath froze in clouds above the night parade at
world's largest winter carnival. Bonhomme is a giant snowman with a
figure to rival the Michelin man and is the key personality at the
Kellogg Québec Winter Carnival. He crops up everywhere you see him on
posters and meet him at all the events where he has a friendly wave for
all and cuddles for the children. At the night parade, in the
Charlesbourg district, huge models of him appeared on many floats and
his wintry grin popped up between The Pyramids, The Eiffel Tower,
penguins and other bizarre creations. There were marching bands, stilt
walkers and the whole shebang was beamed across the nation on
television. Songs devoted to the event echoed around us "Carnaval,
Mardi gras, Carnaval, A Québec, c'est tout un festival...." We were
in sub zero temperatures so taking pictures involved briefly shedding a
glove and poking a nose and an eye out between hat and scarf. It's an
event for which you must wrap up well, wearing, if you can, red and
black, the carnival colours.
Bonhomme's
Ball
The carnival, which in 2001, begins on the 26th of January, runs for
seventeen days and the highlights include a splendid fancy dress party.
Everyone loves dressing up and for those luck enough to go to Bonhomme's
Ball there are hundreds of inspired costumes available for hire. A
friend of mine went as The Pope and had a great time consorting with
'Cat Woman' a flapper and a many feathered 'show girl.' Returning to our
table he declared, " I'm saving fallen women." In unison the
males  responded "Save one for me - boom, boom!" Yes the wine
was good too. The next day the cool air quickly cleared the head as we
joined the crowds lining the streets to watch the dogsled races. These
are fast and furious and the dogs don't stop for anything. You can take a more sedate ride on a horse drawn bus
sledge. One driver is a colourful figure that who a full-length fur coat
and raccoon hat with tail. We rode up to the 'Plains of Abraham' where
the roller-blading youngsters of summer had been replaced by families on
cross country skis towing infants in sledges. These well wrapped up
bundles, stuffed into mini ski suits, looked as though they might grow
up to be Michelin men or another Bonhomme.
Night
of the Long Knives
Some kids were building snowmen, but further down, closer to the
town, they had serious competition in the shape of some really 'cool
art' at the International Sculpture of Snow Competition (L'International
de Sculpture sur Neige.) I watched as the figure of St George and the
Dragon emerged from twenty-eight tons of snow. It
was the British team entry created by Jonathan Rodney-Jones (Captain)
Shannon Ridd and Michael Green from Barnstable in north Devon. The
competitors start with a huge block of snow five metres by four by four
metres. They spent five days crafting it with saws, spades, knives,
rasps and specially devised tools. The final night was known as the
'night of the long knives' and it took a measure of courage to persist
through the testing temperatures. Jonathan, a sculptor by trade,
normally works in English hardwood, bronze or stone. Michael is a
ceramic artist and Shannon is in mosaic. The creations of seventeen
international teams were joined by two Canadian entries. Artists from
Singapore (Fai Hua Kuano assisted by Wang Ruo Pin and Tan Joai Thong)
produced a work called "Looking in." which gave the impression
of a giant eye. The work was brilliantly illuminated throughout the "Night
of the Long Knives" and the artists, who were competing for
the first time, thawed  their
fingers on the spot lights knowing that as it got darker the mercury
would drop to an 'unbelievably cold,' minus 30 C.
Fai Hua Kuan'
reactions: " From the first day it seemed really cold for us, as in
Singapore every day at home, the temperature is in the eighties, I
normally work in woodcarving. I had never touched snow before; I thought
it might be like building sand castles and I had to revise my thinking
as to how fast I would have to work on it, but we got a lot of help from
the Canadian team next to us, they gave us tools and technical advice.
They are very experienced in this and have treated us very, very
nicely."
"We would like very much to come again and take part
next year.
"
There is a worldwide circuit for snow and ice carving exhibitions and
of the forty plus competitions around the globe, Québec and Harbin in
northern China are the largest. Perhaps it's something to aspire to.
Think about it the next time you are building a snowman and sticking a
carrot in for it's nose.
The whole idea started in Québec back in 1953. Families and children
made ice sculptures in the street and people loved it. With time it
progressed to become an international attraction within the Carnival.
The sculptors come not only from countries that have lots of snow and
cold temperatures, artists from Morocco, Africa and Singapore have tried
their hand at the cool art form Next year there may be a team from
Japan.
The Canoe Race
The Plains of Abraham appeared to be a gigantic winter playground for
the whole family. (The 'Abraham' was not the one from the bible, but the
designer of the park, the same guy who laid out Central Park in New
York.) In the nearby 'Place de Jardin'
we watched 'canoe racing' but there was no water to be seen. Some
extremely fit competitors wearing wetsuits and spiked boots pushed hefty
boats around a slippery snowbound circuit. This was the eliminating heat
for the canoe race across the St Lawrence. There is a strong historic
link. The Indians once made log boats by burning a tree out, but with
the arrival of the settlers tools were used to make boats sturdy enough
to cope with the fast flowing, icy river. This was in the days before
the icebreakers arrived, days when a third of the population of Leve,
across the water from Québec, earned their living as canoe operators.
Eventually steamboats took over the trade but as late as the 1940's the
'canoes' were still in use around the islands. It was a dangerous a job
and in the Carnival one of the most exciting events is the Canoe Race
with teams of five rowing over the St Lawrence and dragging their boats
across on the ice floes. To get a better understanding of just what they
were tackling, the night before the event I paid £3.50 and took the car
ferry across to Leve. On the metal deck, we felt the vibrations rise
through our feet and we looked out from the bows as the ship forced its
way through the ice we were surrounded by a roaring and thunderous
noise. The ice was not smooth stuff and we thudded through great lumps
with mini icebergs the size of a car. I was somewhat in awe of the
canoeists and what they were about to attempt. It was impressive, so too
was the journey back in the moonlight towards the lights of the old city
and the Québec's skyline which was dominated by Chateau Fortenac. The
next day from the terrace of that magnificent hotel (Chateau Fortenac is
reputed to be the most photographed hotel in the world,) we watched the
children whiz down Dufferin Terrace on a specially constructed toboggan
run. You can even hire a sledge and have a go It certainly whetted our
appetite for something beyond being a spectator. Winter activities of
all sorts are easily arranged. One of the more unusual is to use the
shuttle service that picks up at the city hotels (cost $CD 18,) and
transports you to Valcartier for a spot of snow rafting.
A visit to the Kellogg Québec Winter Carnival, provides also an
excellent opportunity to fit in a holiday at Québec's ski resorts.
QUEBEC LINKS
Fact file Destination Québec, 08705 561 705
www.Québecregion.com
Carnival information and music
www.carnaval.qc.ca/
Mont-Sainte-Anne 001 418 827 4561 Web page
www.mont-saint-anne.com Adventure-Québec (Dog Sled) 001 418 826
0027
Village Vacances Valcartier Web Page
www.valcartier.com
Hilton
Québec 08705 515151 Web Page
www.hilton.com
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