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Thousands attend first Winter Carnival

Following the First Annual Williams Lake Winter Carnival’s resounding success, organizer Darrick Boyes’ inboxes are being flooded.
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Preston Cameron enjoys the sledding hill during the First Annual Williams Lake Winter Carnival in Boitanio Park.

Following the First Annual Williams Lake Winter Carnival’s resounding success, organizer Darrick Boyes’ inboxes are being flooded with congratulatory messages.

“I’ve got hundreds of messages from people saying they had a blast,” he said, adding close to 3,000 people attended the carnival in Boitanio Park on Saturday, followed by another 2,000 or so on Sunday.

The carnival included such attractions as snowball tossing, karaoke, sleigh rides, sledding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, a bonfire, teepees, face painting, a Lions Club pancake breakfast and multiple food vendors, a snow art contest, igloo building, Elsa from Frozen and more.

Boyes’ original intent was to create an event giving the residents of Williams Lake something fun to do in the winter time, and to allow people to show some community spirit.

“The biggest reason why I did this was to bring the community together — that’s something we’ve always lacked in Williams Lake,” he said. “To get all the different cultures into one place and experience each other in a positive way rather than this negative vibe we sometimes get.”

Boyes thanked the group of roughly 100 volunteers who graciously lent their support to the project and helped things run smoothly.

“The whole team giving their time to the event was phenomenal,” he said.

“Just so much positive stuff. Lots of people are flowing in saying they want to help for the next one. People are reaching out — they want to do other events like it in the spring to just try to keep things going.”

And planning for next year’s Winter Carnival is something Boyes always had in the back of his mind.

“I don’t think small,” he said. “That can be a good thing or a bad thing, but I was never thinking this would be a one-time thing. This was something that was going to be continuous.”



Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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