Calgary’s Chinook Blast festival ‘a go’ for second weekend following frigid temperatures last week​on February 9, 2025 at 12:05 am

Following frigid temperatures last weekend, the Chinook Blast winter festival is in full swing this weekend with outdoor live music performances and a slew of indoor and outdoor events.

Visitors this weekend have a range of options with which to celebrate the cold season, according to an itinerary shared by festival organizers.

Local performers such as Zenon+, One Big Jam, Brother Ray Lemelin and The Matinee Kings, and DJ BLKFT will take over the outdoor stage on Saturday and Sunday with several performers roaming along Stephen Ave. for Instagrammable opportunities with fans.

Last weekend, with temperatures dipping below -20 C, outdoor events at the Confluence were postponed, festival spokesperson Laura Huculak said.

“It’s a little too chilly to perform,” Huculak explained on Feb. 1.

This weekend, however, all events are “a go as it’s warmer than last week,” she said Saturday.

Staff are still prepared to support outdoor performers with breaks throughout performances and frequent check-ins, she said. Visitors can always pop indoors into the market at The Pioneer if they need a break from the weather, and fire pits will be available by the Confluence if needed.

“Our programming team also keeps a close eye on the weather to see if it shifts at all throughout the day,” she said.

For the third year in the row, the festival on Saturday included Drag On Ice, featuring a number of drag performances by local performers like Kaos, who was a contender on season 4 of Canada’s Drag Race, Addi Pose, Dogii Chow and others.

The Green Fools Theatre Society, famous for creating Fjord, a life-size polar bear puppet for the Calgary Zoo, will be debuting a larger-than-life white elk puppet at the festival on Feb. 15.

The festival’s Winter Sports hub, cancelled last weekend, is back this Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. with a slew of activities for all ages, including skiing, snowboarding, skating and horse-drawn carriage rides.

Visitors can also check out the local market at The Pioneer, featuring pop-up stalls hosted by First Nations, Metis and Inuit artisans.

The Kensington BIA also hosted a lineup of Indigenous artists and performers on Saturday.

Those interested in a wintertime short storytelling exhibit can visit the East Village after sunset to walk through Journey Through The Stars, a four-location exhibit, each location representing a story by a local artist.

In celebration of Black Music History month, the National Music Centre highlighted the evolution of Black Canadian music with interactive activities, exhibitions and live performances on Saturday.

For photographers and art enthusiasts, the Exposure Photographer Festival returns with a number of exhibitions featuring work by a combination and internationally exclaimed artists as well as local emerging and established talent.