Montreal Winter Carnivals

The goals behind such an endeavor was specifically said to be recreational, touristic, and economic, as well as having an additional influence on the establishment of Canadian national identity.

[2] On average, roughly 50,00 spectators would arrive for the week in late January or early February, a large percentage of whom were from the United States and Europe, all wishing to view and take part in the activities.

[5] Advertisements also helped to create awareness about the event, and some were targeted directly at American tourists unfamiliar with Canadian sports.

These would primarily glorified winter sports and activities, establishing them as emblematic of a Canadian culture that emphasized outdoor life and rugged beauty.

[10] At the climax of Carnival week the ice palace would be site of a great battle, a siege, between "armies" of hundreds of snow-shod soldiers.

In addition, sporting celebrations of this type were beginning to become fairly widespread, lessening the novelty of the Montreal Winter Carnival.

[13] In 1885, in part due to an outbreak of smallpox in the summer before, the carnival failed to draw the crowds and revenue that it had in the two previous years.