Busy weekend: Ice races, horses, bikes and sled rally

So you've got a couple of horses and a sleigh and no plans for the weekend? Load 'em up and head to Lac La Biche for a horse and sleigh rally around the beautiful (and busy) lake this weekend.
A sleigh ride rally is one of the newest attractions for the annual Winter Festival of Speed that turns the frozen surface of Lac La Biche lake into a hot-bed of activity over the weekend. The horse-drawn rally runs on Saturday.
"We're expecting that we could see 20 to 40 sleigh teams this weekend," said Festival of Speed organizer Ken Staples when asked about the popularity of the basic horsepower event. "I think people will be pleasantly surprised."

And for those looking for more horsepower than a pair of trusty steeds can generate, the Western Canadian Ice Racing Championships runs Saturday and Sunday and features more than three dozen car racers sliding around a 1.5 kilometre track that has been carved into the ice.

A smaller oval circuit has also been freshly dug out of the ice surface and will see motorcycles, quads and side-by-sides racing for prizes on Sunday.

And... ( and? Wow. It seems impossible to be able to add an 'and' at this point, but there really is even more activity planned.)
"We'll have the snowmobile poker rally going on Saturday all day, giving riders a chance to travel across the lake for a fun event," said Staples.

"It's going to be busy on the ice. We even have some airplanes coming and landing on the runway on the lake," Staples said matter-of-factly, as if airplanes landing on an ice runway a few hundred metres from racing cars and motorcycles is normal weekend fare when you live in Alberta's northeast.

With the horse and sleigh rally framing the events on the ice by taking a shoreline course around the lake, the snowmobile poker rally taking participants across the big lake, planes landing and taking off from the lake, and racers spinning wheels over the lake,the area's signature water body is the highlight of the busy weekend.

"We're very fortunate to have all the features that we do in this area, this community," said Staples, adding that an army of volunteers and community sponsors have also come forward to make the event happen this year again. "Over the 30-plus years we've been doing variations of this weekend, it's the community support that keeps it going."

Almost facing a total cancellation due to frigid weather conditions, questionable ice quality and difficulties finding alternative locations earlier in the month, the Winter Festival of Speed weekend has weathered not only actual storms, but also logistical challenges over the last few weeks. But again, said Staples, some hard work and lots of community support has saved the event.

"It's all come together," he said with a comical exhale of breath and shrugged shoulders, making far less of a big deal about the numerous challenges and concerns in planning this years event than actually took place. "It's a great weekend for the family and for the community."