Frost Regina is in full swing, with many different events taking place across the city.
So far, the 2024 winter festival has seen everything from dance battles to aerial acrobats and ice sculpting.
People in Regina also were able to take part in the festival’s Arctic Abode Construction Competition, which saw four teams competing to build the best and most creative winter shelter.
The event was organized by the Design Council of Saskatchewan and the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District.
The teams were asked to build an Arctic abode that represented the theme of “warmth through form.”
Participants had some rules they had to follow, including durability in varying winter weather. The structures had to be made from at least 50 per cent ice blocks, and the blocks had to be made at home and brought to the site at Victoria Park on the day of the competition.
Lenae Fornwald, a member of the Design Council of Saskatchewan, said that even though the construction phase is over, the community can still take part by helping to choose a winner.
“People can come around throughout the week, and they get to vote on people’s choice,” said Fornwald.
Rather than an igloo competition like the festival saw in previous years, Fornwald said this year’s competition is focusing more on winter homes.
“I think this year it can be like homes in the Arctic, so we’ve got a rabbit’s burrow (and) I think one is doing a log cabin, so it’s more of a winter home kind of twist on it,” said Fornwald.
Adam Fritzler, a participant in the competition, said the event was very accessible for people looking to join.
“It’s not limited to any people with any design background whatsoever,” Fritzler said.
“We’re all a bunch of lawyers and stuff. Anyone can sign up and go in and give this thing a try, and I think it’s great.”
The newly built homes are meant to stand throughout the week for the public to vote on, but some of them might melt away slightly thanks to Saskatchewan’s recent stretch of warm temperatures.