© Musée de la civilisation, Séminaire de Québec

As early as 1894 the first celebrations of the Quebec Winter Carnival were already taking place. Quebec´s joyous mid-winter festival helped calm the day-to-day worries caused by an economic crisis affecting the whole continent. It was a celebration organized around seasonal sporting events such as the skating competition, the dogsled race and the canoe race across the majestic Saint Lawrence river. Walking at nightfall along the snowy streets of the joyous city, decked out in all its finery, one could hear strains of music and laughter, and spy, through frosty panes, the whirl of dancers and the bright colours of their costumes.

	© Musée de la civilisation, Séminaire de Québec

Back in those times, the Quebec Winter Carnival took place every two years, then at irregular intervals through the period of the First World War and the 1929 financial crash. It was not until 1955 that the winter celebration took on an official status and was organized for the beginning of February each year.

	© Le journal Le Soleil, Québec 1983

Christened Carnival Street because of the numerous popular Carnival activities associated with it, Sainte-Thérèse Street has long been a focus for Carnaval festivities. Carnival Street was born out of the spontaneous collaboration of its inhabitants. Since 1955, each household has taken pleasure in carving sculptures out of ice or snow depicting Carnival, legendary characters, or scenes of everyday life. Little by little the street has been decorated with ever more banners and lights, and in the face of the perennial fascination it holds for the numerous visitors who come to see the sculptures and be part of the festive atmosphere, the Carnival organizers have year after year given their official blessing to this local initiative. The sculptures, first created spontaneously by the local population, later became the focus of competitions. The street was selected as the exhibition site for the sculptures in the national competition from which the Canadian representative at the Quebec Winter Carnival´s international competition of snow sculptures was chosen.

	Sculpture created by the team from the Asbestos region of [...]
	© Quebec Winter Carnival, Frédérick Lavoie