Celebrations soared through the southwest on Saturday when Winterfest returned to Gull Lake. 

The fun-filled event returned in full swing for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lindsay Alliban, Economic Development Officer for the community, stated that they couldn’t have gotten a better day for the action packed event. 

“Mother Nature cooperated big time for us, and we had a beautiful day in Gull Lake, and we had a lot of people come out,” she elaborated. “The hall was full all day, the sledding hill was full all day, a lot of people tried out our cross-country skis and snowshoes and we also had an outdoor skate rink skating rink which was full most of the day too, with a beautiful bonfire all day and some music playing. So, overall, we had a super awesome weekend.” 

A pancake breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday kick started the series of events and activities which continued into the early hours of Sunday morning.  

“The evening activities started out with a food and drink fair which went amazing,” she explained. “There were so many different foods for people to try like tacos, Lebanese food, baking, chili, and Bannock burgers. Most of our food vendors sold out which was awesome. We also had a beer garden, with different drinks to try, so those went amazing. And then fireworks were around 8:30 p.m., there was a spectacular show outside for everyone to enjoy. Then Tyler Lewis and his band rocked into the late hours of the night, and it was a full house for that as well.” 

Alliban added that seeing the community out and enjoying the day was incredibly rewarding. 

“We had a lot of support from the entire community for the event, including a lot of people who volunteered in different organizations,” she stated. “So, the day went really smoothly because everyone just took on their activity and took care of it.  

“The pace was really nice, which gave people a lot of time to reconnect with each other and have conversations, and we saw that throughout the day. That people were just really enjoying spending some time together. It was really nice to see the building and outside full, with lots of chatter and smiles and laughter. So, it was a really great time for the entire community to come up together for an event again.”