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Not everyone will get to enter snow garden: festival staff

Castle Aurora Mar 12 small_4
With reduced capacity, Yellowknifers unable to reserve a slot inside castle walls are still invited to check out the snow sculptures and décor on the castle's exterior. Bill Braden photo.

Two weeks into Snowbuddy’s 2021 winter garden and some have not yet had the chance to see behind castle walls. 

While Snowbuddy and his team have asked the office of the chief public health officer to increase capacity for the festival’s final week, reduced capacity dictates that only about a third of the 16,000 usual visitors will be able to enter the garden.

To try to accommodate as many Yellowknifers as possible, the snow buddies are asking those who have now tickets to hold off on booking admission tickets for the last week of the festival. 

When the final round of admission slots go live Sunday, festival staff have also indicated that tickets will now be booked at a maximum of five at a time.

If you are one of the lucky few, and later can’t make your ticket time, staff ask that you cancel through the festival registration system as soon as possible.

With reduced capacity, Yellowknifers unable to reserve a slot inside castle walls are still invited to check out the snow sculptures and décor on the castle's exterior. photo courtesy of Bill Braden

“No-shows are just no good,” Mike Mitchell, AKA Black Ice Mike, wrote in a news release Wednesday.

To Yellowknifers unable to reserve a ticket, Mitchell encourages them to still venture out on Yellowknife Bay to see the snow sculptures and carvings adorning the exterior of the castle. 

The final admissions round goes live Sunday morning at 9 a.m. The festival runs until March 28 and is seeking volunteers to man the garden during March break. 

The snow crew acknowledges the likelihood that some may still not be able to book a spot, but asks that residents “take comfort in the fact that Snowbuddy has done his best to keep the winter tradition alive during these difficult days.”

In 2022 the release states Snowbuddy “fully intends to bounce back next winter with another frozen fortress – form and festival details TBD.”