Local Attractions and Businesses in Kanata, Canada - Comfort Inn

Ottawa's Winterlude takes place over three weekends in February and is North America's largest winter festival. Amongst a myriad activities, the event boasts the world's largest skating rink in the form of the frozen, 8km-long Rideau Canal.

All sorts of weird and wonderful events take place under the banner of the festival, with the frozen canal acting as the venue for many of the shows, performed both on and off skates. It is very much a family event, with much of the entertainment being aimed at a younger audience. A trip to Snowflake Kingdom is a must, where mammoth mountains of snow have been transformed into a fairytale fantasy land, including around 30 giant snow slides carved with images depicting well-known fairytale characters.

Visitors can try their hand at such Canadian traditions as sledge hockey, ice climbing, curling and dog-sledding. Public ice-block-carving is also encouraged, but if sculpting is not your strong point, you can see how the professionals do it.

Dress warmly and join the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected over the three weekends.