Cupcakes (and an ice sculpture festival)!

Tomorrow is the first day of the Ice on Whyte Festival here in Edmonton.  The festival runs until January 22nd, and I have a feeling it will be fairly busy this weekend with temperatures of plus two to minus four in the forecast.  Come Monday however, the temperature is slated to fall to a spine numbing minus 26 degrees Celsius .  For our American friends that translates to about minus 15 degrees.  Sadly, the temps are doomed to stay at this mind boggling low all week, climbing up to a balmy minus 15 for next weekend.  


I suppose I can't complain too much, as we've been very lucky this winter.  The bébé and I have been able to enjoy almost daily walks, and we've only had to shovel twice.  Had the temperature stayed above zero as it did last week, the ice sculptures would have been sad and drippy looking, and the giant ice slide for the kids could have quickly turned into a perilous activity.  In fact, the festival was supposed to open today, but they have delayed the opening until tomorrow at 2 PM due to "recent extraordinary weather conditions". 

The sculptures really are beautiful, and there are a couple of perks that could draw you out of your Snuggie and off the couch.  First, the Youth Emergency Shelter Society will be holding a café in a heated tent where you can enjoy coffee or hot chocolate and defrost your toes.  All profits from the café will go to support at risk youth in our community.  Also in the heated tent you can enjoy live music every evening.  And that's not all!  Onto the cupcakes promised in the title of this post.  


I don't know if you know this or not, but Flirt Cupcakes makes THE best cupcakes in the city.  I know there are those who are devout supporters of other cupcake bakeries in the city, but I have tried them all (yes, it was a very arduous and thankless task) and I have made my decision.  This paragraph is a lovely tangent, I know, but how does all of this relate to the festival, you ask?  


Well, many Whyte Ave retailers have special offers running for the duration of the festival, and you may have guessed by now that Flirt is one of those retailers.  Two-for-one cupcakes!!  If that doesn't get you out of your Snuggie, I don't know what will.  And honestly, if you have a long winter coat, you could just wear your Snuggie underneath (not that I've ever done this).   


So print off your coupons (there's even a two for one admission coupon for the festival itself) and get out there to enjoy some icy art and cupcakes!  And if all of the above mentioned enticements still aren't enough to spark your interest, observe my underwhelming photography skills in evidence at last year's festival for a taste of what's waiting to be seen:

It's Buddha.  My skills do not allow for any depth perception whatsoever which is why poor Buddha has no visible facial features.