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Edmonton's winter patios put you front row
Outdoor winter patios are front row to winter adventure in Edmonton. Join Edmonton's vibrant winter patio scene to reconnect with friends, enjoy time together outside, celebrate your adventures together and make plans for the next one! #SkiNorthAB #YEGWinterPatios
Edmonton, AB — Patio hopping on a winter day in Edmonton magically transports you inside a gigantic snow globe.
As the snow swirls, so do the scenes before you: climbing a frozen wall of ice, skiing downhill looking out at the Muttart Pyramids below, snowshoeing through forest parkland, gathering with friends around good food after an adventure, hot drink steaming as you raise it to your lips, adding just one more log to the fire to keep that warm glow burning into the night.
It couldn’t feel any more like the magic of winter if Bing Crosby were crooning and snowmen were coming to life.
But hold on: patios, in winter? Yes, you read that right. It’s been several years since WinterCity Edmonton, the City's initiative to make Edmonton a great winter city, first opened up the possibility of winter patios. But it’s an idea whose time seems to have arrived.
Enter the #YEGWinterPatios Warming Kit, launching this December 2021. A $10 spend is your ticket to winter’s front row with almost 20 patio venues in Edmonton’s hottest winter locales. It’s a warm and inviting way to support local businesses while staying connected and enjoying the winter, outdoors.
GET YOUR TICKET TO THE FRONT ROW - SIGN UP FOR #YEGWINTERPATIOS E-NEWS.
The kit, available at participating #YEGWinterPatios venues, includes your choice of either a WinterCity Edmonton blanket or scarf and comes with a signature #YEGWinterPatios postcard designed by local artist Jason Blower.
In addition, by purchasing a kit you are helping others stay warm this winter, with all proceeds going to the Boyle Street Winter Warming Bus.
“I think in a city like Edmonton, you’re not going to change the weather but you’ve got to change how you deal with it,” says Julie Cournoyer, as she warms herself next to the fire on the patio at Café Bicyclette. “For me, the WinterCity strategy pushed me to embrace it more. I absolutely spend more time outside and I find I’ve changed how I talk about winter.”
Anyone can enjoy a patio when it’s warm out. It takes a different mindset to embrace being on a patio when it’s below zero — and a different approach to patio comforts, too. The dress code is different and cozy blankets, fires and hot drinks factor in more frequently. But few things are better for beating cabin fever.
To give you a sense of the patio scene, here's an entertaining #YEGWinterPatios explainer (and drink-making demo) from The Next Act Pub:
With a preponderance of sunny winter days in this northern city, soaking it up on a patio (even if you’re not in shirtsleeves) has a certain appeal. Café Bicyclette was the first to establish a winter patio in Edmonton around five years ago, but since then the movement has grown.
In 2022-23, almost 20 locations around the city are hosting winter patios, and the list of venues is growing and becoming more diverse, with domed, heated seating for exclusive dining experiences, outdoor art displays, a variety of firepits and outdoor heaters, and activity in every direction.
Photo:
Jeremy Derksen
Kicking back at the Edmonton Ski Club patio.
Kim Gates is kicking back on the Edmonton Ski Club patio after skiing a few runs with his friend Samantha Friesenhan, in his hand a pork belly sandwich topped with carrot and daikon radish from Drift Food Truck, paired with a Broken Spoke cider.
“The opportunity to meet people here in the river valley, get together with your friends in this natural setting we’re blessed with in the centre of the city, and having things to do makes it an amazing gathering place,” he says.
There are 15+ #YEGWINTERPAtios - discover them all!
Shared experiences outdoors, gathering together despite the temperature to laugh, play and enjoy the season is the essence of winter patio culture.
At Culina On the Lake, the family trio of Isla Tanaka, her daughter Kimi and her mother Jean Jackson and their new pup walk up to a table and order a late lunch, having just snowshoed around Hawrelak Park lake. With the forest, the lake and a crackling fire behind them, the afternoon drifts by.
Photo:
Jeremy Derksen
Strings of lights twinkle in the frosty evening, as Ryan Wiesner and Orshie Kertesz sit in a gondola car taking in the scene on Jasper Ave. The gondola is not a new city attraction; the owners of the Rocky Mountain Icehouse had a gondola car custom built and installed on their patio. The effect is like being instantly dropped into the Rockies (and yes, it’s bigger on the inside).
“It’s that après-ski feeling when you’ve had a great day and you’re a little tired, and you grab a blanket and just cozy up,” says Daniel Cournoyer, as the last of the light dims on the patio back at Café Bicyclette. “Fire creates community, it’s that heart and that warmth, and coming together.”
The outdoor patio is that gathering place where strangers become friends, and where friends share laughs and reminisce over past adventures as they plan new ones.
Why not enjoy it year round, by visiting one of the many #YEGWinterPatios now?
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