REGINA - Organizers are still pointing to positives about hosting 2024 Frost Regina, despite a noticeable dip in attendance compared to 2023.
Officials are reporting over 63,000 people attended the third-annual Frost Regina winter festival, with ran from Jan. 26 to Feb. 4. The attendance projection is way down from the 88,000 who showed up in 2023 and was well short of the 100,000 goal that organizers had targeted at the start of the festival.
A big story as the week went on was the unseasonably warm temperatures that were well above zero Celsius. The days of warm air ended up wreaking havoc on Frost Regina outdoor events as the week unfolded, with ice and snow melting fast at outdoor locations.
The Rink on Wascana, located right on Wascana Lake, ended up closing early for the season right in the middle of the festival and put a major crimp on activities at the Wascana hub.
Various other outdoor skating and sliding venues and even ice sculptures set up at the three other Frost Regina hubs at the REAL District, in downtown and in the Warehouse District also turned to mush, and had to close as well.
Still, most scheduled events were able to go on as usual, with indoor events largely unaffected. While there was initial optimism at the start of the festival that the predicted warm temperatures would encourage more people to come out to Frost Regina, the closures and the publicity surrounding them are now taking the blame for the attendance woes.
In speaking to reporters Wednesday, Mayor Sandra Masters acknowledged the weather was a factor, especially “when you have all of your outdoor rinks melt to the point where they couldn’t be used.”
“I know visually in terms of downtown, you had people out every night like in previous years past. So when you’ve got the (Provincial Capital Commission) rink, which is enormously popular for families to attend as well — and when you’re talking about dog-sledding, it’s hard to slide without snow. And so I think it really is just a factor of the weather. The fact that we had, I believe, over 60,000 people still speaks to people coming out and connecting and actually wanting to get together in public and enjoy what is there.”
Masters did point to what she saw as positives, with events on the GLOW stage attracting families and with events in the Warehouse District pulling customers into local businesses.
Of the four city hubs hosting Frost Regina events, the largest numbers were reported for Frost @ Real at the REAL District, which saw over 40,023 guests attend at that locale.
Despite the overall dip in attendance, organizers remained upbeat about what took place.
“Frost has become a Regina staple, and we were excited to see all that visited our hub,” said REAL Acting CEO Roberta Engel in a statement. “While the warm temperatures presented a few challenges, our indoor programming ensured all had an exceptional experience and we know many memories were made.”
While Frost Regina has received accolades throughout its run, it has also been a money loser in previous years. As for whether Frost Regina returns in 2025, the mayor would like to see it return.
“If I had my way, it would be back, but I suppose that will be up to a vote of council,” said Mayor Masters.
