Chinook Blast 2025: A Winterrrrific Experience!
March 11, 2025 | Calgary, Events, What's Happening
Another Chinook Blast is in the books! Despite the frosty temperatures, Calgary’s winter festival once again delivered unforgettable experiences in fresh and exciting ways. This success was made possible thanks to our incredible partners, as well as the talented local artists, musicians, and performers who brought the city to life.
Celebrating Five Years of Chinook Blast
This year marked a significant milestone—Chinook Blast’s fifth anniversary! From its inception during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to becoming Calgary’s signature winter festival, Chinook Blast has continually evolved, offering unique experiences while championing our local arts and business communities.
Winter Sports Hub at The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland
RISE UP Calgary Community Outdoor Stage on Stephen Ave
A New Footprint
With Olympic Plaza under construction, this year’s festival took on a new shape. In collaboration with our partners, we reimagined Chinook Blast by expanding festivities along four blocks of Stephen Avenue and introducing the brand-new Winter Sports Hub at The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland. Stephen Avenue became the home of the RISE UP Calgary Community Outdoor Stage, featuring electrifying performances by local artists. And when the chill became too much (we can deliver the Blast but not the Chinook, unfortunately), we seamlessly transitioned indoors, thanks to one of our footprint partners, THE CORE Shopping Centre.
Fortunately, our markets were warm and inviting! This year, we welcomed The Pioneer as a new venue, where our market partners—Art Spot, Authentically Indigenous, and the returning Asian Heritage Foundation—curated unique cultural experiences and a collection of vendors providing handcrafted goods throughout the festival.
The RISE UP Calgary Stage at THE CORE Shopping Centre
Asian Heritage Foundation’s Night Market at The Pioneer
Introducing the Winter Sports Hub
We introduced an exciting new element to the festival: the Winter Sports Hub at The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland. This interactive space celebrated winter sports and activities, featuring ice carving, horse carriage rides, maple taffy, Drag on Ice, winter basketball, disco skate parties, snowboard tryouts, and so much more. It was a true showcase of the best of Calgary in winter!
Horse wagon rides
Surgio and Harvey the Hound
Ice carving
Drag on Ice 3
Live Music and Performances
We were incredibly proud to feature a diverse lineup of local artists and musicians, representing a rich array of cultures and musical genres. True to the resilient spirit of Calgarians, these performers brought energy and joy despite the frosty forecast. And the Chinook spirit thrived for those performances moved indoors to THE CORE, turning the shopping center into a vibrant stage. Downtown never looked or sounded better!
Over at our Winter Sports Hub, the party didn’t stop with DJs electrifying skating performances and a brass band. The Central Library also got in on the fun featuring a jazz ensemble.
Madhuban Performing Arts at THE CORE
Little Red Ball on Stephen Ave
Cowtown Collection at the Winter Sports Hub
Chinook Blast’s Food & Beverage Specials
Supporting local businesses is at the heart of Chinook Blast, and this year, downtown bars and restaurants embraced the festival spirit with special offerings. From hot chocolates and specialty cocktails to happy hour deals and curated food tours, Chinook Blast became a true foodie destination, celebrating Calgary’s culinary scene.
Chinook Blast VIP Event
Stunning Art Installations
No Chinook Blast is complete without eye-catching art! This year, festivalgoers enjoyed eight brand-new installations, along with projection mapping and Exposure’s FENCE photography exhibition along Stephen Avenue. Two striking installations, which were created through our collaboration with the City of Calgary through the Winter City Design Competition, were also found downtown. Chinatown, East Village, and THE CORE also featured installations!
Installations in order: Serenity Passage by Petrucci Glass (Century Gardens), The Looking Glass by METAFOR (Stephen Ave), Ice-Burg by Center for Civilization (East Village), Sien Lok Park light arches (Chinatown), Dot Spot by Hereby (Bow River Pathway), Echo of Snow by Collin Hnetka (Stephen Ave), Meet Me Here by Studio Moey (Stephen Ave), Reciproculus by Architectural Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Society (Stephen Ave), Luminisona by Ideen & Romin Banijamali, Jacob & Simon Schön (Stephen Ave).
Check out all the installations on Stephen Ave here.
Chinook Blast’s Mascots Return
Our mascots are back! This year, they hid in QR codes across Chinook Blast’s festival grounds! Logan the Polar Bear, Bellamy the Bunny, Teagan the Brown Bear, Alva the Penguin, and Shiloh the Fox, were all waiting to be found. We gave a Chinook Blast X WestJet swag bag to three lucky winners, one for each Chinook Blast weekend.
A True Winter Staple
Despite the cold, Chinook Blast continues to bring warmth and vibrancy to Calgary’s winter season. We are deeply grateful to all the Calgarians and visitors who came out to support the incredible local talent in our city. Our heartfelt thanks go out to our many partners who helped bring our vision to life.
As we look ahead, Chinook Blast remains a shining example of Calgary’s creative economy in action. By celebrating Indigenous, Black, Asian, Queer, and other diverse communities, we not only enrich the festival but also strengthen the cultural fabric of our city. It has been an honour to be part of this journey, and we are excited to continue shaping Chinook Blast into a dynamic celebration of winter sports, arts, and culture for years to come!
JazzYYC at the Central Library
Flow Bot at THE CORE
Indigenous storytelling presented by Heritage Park
Thank you to all our partners and sponsors
Executive Sponsors
• City of Calgary
• Tourism Calgary
• Calgary Arts Development
• Calgary Economic Development
Programming & Venue Sponsors
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, Town Hospitality, Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel, The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland, Calgary Downtown Association, THE CORE Shopping Centre, RISE UP Calgary
Art Advocate Sponsors
WestJet, RISE UP Calgary
Supporting Sponsors
Alberta Blue Cross, Second City Print Solutions, Graham Construction & Engineering Inc., Hip Image, Aspen Properties
