Frost Bites art festival returns to Hamilton’s Bernie Morelli Centre

A one-week community festival with a smorgasbord of free activities and events for all ages is sure to warm up the coldest of month (and heart) as the annual Frost Bites festival arrives at the Bernie Morelli Recreation Centre.

Now in its eighth year, Frost Bites presents six days of hands-on creative workshops and a weekend full of fun arts and craft-making events for kids and their grownups.

Events scheduled for Thursday include a Shadowland Lantern-Making Workshop (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Sunday), with other events this week featuring participatory storytelling in French and English, music workshops, skating, traditional hide tanning, Anishinaabemowin language games, and more.

It all culminates in a handmade lantern-led Procession of Light through the streets of Ward 3 on Sunday, where participants are encouraged to bring their own lantern “or borrow one of ours” for a stroll through the neighbourhood “carrying light and hope for a brighter future for Hamilton.”

The walk (6 p.m.)  is free and open to everyone and the walkers will be guided by the Hamilton Aerial Group in their illuminated costumes alongside Kanien’kehá:ken (Mohawk) two-spirit musician Nathan Muir and Tiffany Silversmith, a Six Nations Band Member from the Onondaga Nation.

Frost Bites is organized by Hamilton Festival Theatre Company, which strives to make theatre accessible to both audience members and theatre makers while fostering the development of professional artists and the arts in Hamilton. In addition to Frost Bites, year-round programming includes the flagship Hamilton Fringe Festival, artist development initiatives (ALERT & Spark Teen Creation), and other public workshops and events.

For more information on Frost Bites, visit https://hftco.ca/frost-bites/