[twitter]The Ice Magic Festival Lake Louise is a great celebration of the season.

The festival started in 1994 and is now a centerpiece to SnowDays, a new month-long celebration of winter in Banff National Park.

There is ice carving, ice castles, ice queens, ice skating even an ice bar.

You catch the drift? It’s cold, there’s snow and ice, so we might as well have fun with it.

Spread over 2 weekends at the end of January, The Ice Magic Festival at Lake Louise is a great day visit for a family.

Just get there early in the day or you’ll be stuck without a parking spot by the lake and be forced to wait in long shuttle lines from the village to the party.