How to Build an Igloo(fest)

How to Build an Igloo, Douglas Wilkinson, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

In Canada, we get winter. This means two things. It means a) we get it in the sense that it happens here. It also means b) we get it as in we understand winter. (Like Kanye West said, “get it, get it?”)

We Canadians are a tough bunch. We’ve had to learn, by hook or by crook, to cope with winter and its relative delights. We all love complaining about shoveling the front steps, but rare are those of us who can’t appreciate the chilly romance of a skating date, or smile at a kid diving headlong into a snowbank to make a neat row of snow angels. (Awww.)

A leading force in this “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach to winter chills is Montreal’s Igloofest. Starting tonight on the Jacques-Cartier Pier in the Old Port, Igloofest is a music festival that happens outside, right in the bitter January cold. That’s right: DJs, fur hats, moon boots and even wacky ski suit competitions, all al fresco under the bright winter stars. In French, the Igloofest’s tagline is: “le party le moins hot en ville” (the least hot party in town.)

The reason I am telling you about all of this (besides the obvious fact you should go check it out, if you’re in town), is that we the web team, being the synergy beasts we are, thought we’d put you in the mood for Igloofest with the classic of NFB classics: How to Build an Igloo.

Should you find yourself wondering whether a film from 1949 about igloo-building is worth your precious 2011 time, just consider this comment someone recently on Reddit:

I started this up and then asked myself if I really wanted to devote ten minutes to learning how igloos were built. Ten minutes later I realized I had made the decision.

Happy igloo fun, everyone! Stay warm!

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Visit the Igloofest website

Check out the Igloofest schedule

Get the Igloofest iPhone app