The story
Quebec Winter Carnival in Quebec City
Quebec Winter Carnival has run since 1955, built around Bonhomme Carnaval, the festival's snowman mascot, and centered on night parades, an ice palace and a snow sculpture competition on Parliament Hill. Its signature event, the ice canoe race across the frozen Saint Lawrence River, and the hot spiced caribou drink, turn Quebec City's deep winter cold into the festival's main attraction rather than an obstacle.
Quebec City's carnival tradition reaches back to informal winter celebrations in the 1890s, but the event as it exists today dates to 1955, when city leaders and business figures revived the idea as an annual festival and introduced Bonhomme Carnaval, the carnival's snowman mascot, whose red-tuque, sash and belt costume has become one of the most recognized festival symbols in Canada.