Snowkings’ Winter Festival will open at noon on March 1, 2026, kicking off a busy month of events and performances at Yellowknife’s Snowcastle.
March will see the return of annual favourites like the Royal Rave, Great Meltdown, and Royal Ball evening events – as well as newer events like a Candle Ice Review.
Weekend afternoons will feature family-friendly performances, including a K-pop dance workshop, Bella Beats dancers, YK Larp yeti hunting, Northwords story time, fiddling and more.
The Snowcastle will be closed on Mondays but otherwise open to the public from 12-5pm daily and for special evening events.
This year’s castle features an art deco theme.
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“We have new turrets this year, so big towers that have ice sculptures at the top of them,” said festival director Monique Cudbertson, also known as MoSnow.
“We also have our staple ice balls being formed, and Mr Freeze has been working away at creating gargoyle-style ice sculptures that will be placed within the castle.
“The builders are doing great. They’ve been working super hard along with the carvers to create a really beautiful castle.”
Despite long stretches of -30C in January and very little snow, MoSnow said the builders “are a hearty group.”
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The evening events
The first evening event this year is the Frozen Dog Film Festival on March 4, followed by the Royal Ball on Saturday, March 7.
1-800-Polka, a polka group from Saskatchewan, will play the ball alongside Yellowknife’s Andrea Bettger. 1-800-Polka describes its style as reminiscent of “small-town prairie old-time dance bands of days gone by.”
Throughout that week, the Northern Industrial Construction international carving symposium will also take place. Snow carvers from around the world will turn three-cubic-metre blocks of snow into sculptures.
The following week will feature comedy night on March 11, headlined by Shirley Gnome, a comedian and musician described as a “sexually emancipated rodeo clown” in their Instagram bio. Gnome will be joined by Yellowknife comedians Emily Blake, Mike the Plumber and Martin Rehak.
On March 14, an event dubbed the Candle Ice Review will see Desirée Dawson return to Yellowknife. Dawson, a baritone ukulele specialist, was selected for Folk on the Rocks’ artist-in-residency program in 2022 and performed at the summer folk festival in 2023.
Yellowknife bands Flora and the Fireweeds and taylor saracuse and some other dead people will take to the stage alongside the headliner.
The Snowcastle’s Shiver N’Shake on Saturday, March 21 features genre-bending artists Kimmortal, Jonny Vu, Lil’Vogl and Koleya.
During the last – and hopefully warmer – week of the month, the Sizzling Soirée Burlesque show featuring Yellowknife’s Parkas & Pasties is slated for Wednesday, March 25.
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More: Read the full schedule on the festival’s website
The Royal Rave follows on the Friday night, featuring DJ Alleycat, DJ Glad It’s Night and DJ Blorb.
On Saturday, March 28, the Great Meltdown will wrap up the month’s events on the castle’s final day.
NOBRO, a Juno award-winning garage punk band from Montréal, headlines the last show, with Yellowknife bands HYFY and Punch Dummies accompanying.
Where can I get tickets?
Eager visitors can go on construction tours before the castle opens. The tours run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons starting at 1:30pm, with tickets for the tours available online.
There are also a handful of tickets remaining for the annual King of the Hill reverse raffle, where the last tickets drawn will win cash prizes – and every $100 ticket purchased comes with a daytime season pass.
Snowkings’ Winter Festival tickets are on sale for individual events alongside day passes, season passes and VIP passes, the last of which gives access to all evening events and performances.
