By Aaron Schulze

Village of Love

Village of Love hosting 48th Annual Winter Festival

Feb 7, 2019 | 4:55 PM

A community expecting a crowd four or five times its population isn’t a common occurrence, although that’s exactly what the Village of Love plans to do on Saturday.

Love’s Annual Winter Festival, which is run by volunteers and donations, has been running since 1971 and usually sees a crowd of 200 to 250 people. According to the 2016 Census, the Village of Love’s population is roughly 50 people.

Shelley Vallier, Mayor of Love and secretary treasurer of the Love Board of Trade which organizes the festival, told northeastNOW this year’s festival should still see the usual crowd they’ve seen, despite the cold weather.

“Today it’s -40 [Celsius] here, so it’s not looking too good,” Vallier said. “But it doesn’t seem to matter too much on the weather; we will still get our crowd. If the weather warms up, I’m hoping to get more.”

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Vallier said the village doesn’t struggle to host people 200 to 250 people, as a local business is able to help the village in case the Love Community Hall gets overcrowded. Some events are also expected to be held outdoors.

The festival begins at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and old-fashioned events such as nail driving, pillow fighting, leg wrestling, sweedsaws, smoosh smoosh races, and Norwegian kick sleds throughout the day. Vallier said prizes including mugs and travel bags will be up for grabs in events this year instead of trophies.

A cabaret with a country rock band named Jett Run, along with a midnight lunch, will close out the evening.

Love’s Annual Winter Festival takes place on Saturday, Feb. 9 at the Love Community Hall.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow