Academy Awards

The Academy Awards are popularly known as the Oscars and are held every year in North America to honor the efforts and hard work of those who have entertained the audience with their brilliant work.    How Academy Awards got the name Oscars is a mystery which has not been solved to date. The award is extremely prestigious and is considered to be the ultimate recognition of talent in the world of cinema. Winning an Academy award is supposed to be the best thing that can happen to an actor/actress. Even a nomination is a big honor itself.

The Academy Awards were first held in 1929 amongst 270 guests and from a small dinner time award have over the years emerged as the most awaited event of the year televised live in many countries and watched buy millions of people round the globe. The first Academy Award ceremony was aired on the radio and after 1953; it was broadcasted on the television. Now the awards ceremony is watched in 200 countries. The ceremony lasts for four hours.  In the first ceremony, only 15 awards were given out and now the list of categories is pretty long and at a guess 34 awards are given out in various categories including science and technology, foreign films etc. The voting process is fair and foolproof and only two employees know the result prior to the ceremony.

The statuette awarded at the Oscars is 13 ½ inches tall and weighs 3.85 kg. It is in the shape of a gold covered britannium knight standing on a black metal base shaped as a reel of film. The statuette is the property of the academy and not of the recipient; this rule was formed in 1950 and so those who have won this award or inherited it, cannot sell it.  The event is glamour personified and stars try to out do each other in costumes.

Winterlude Festival, Canada

Winterlude is the Canadian way of honoring the cold winter season. This family event is held in Ottawa annually on three consecutive weekends from 5th February to 21st February and shows that even freezing winter can be fun.

Festival of Winterlude began in 1979 and is the brain child of the National Capital Commission. It attracts millions of visitors every year as winter sets in and the entire area is covered with snow. The Rideau Canal is the major crowd puller. This 202km long canal freezes to form the world’s largest skating rink. Its 8 km stretch from downtown Ottawa to Carleton University provides a perfect venue for figure skating, skate races and relays. Skis and sleighs are available on rent from the venue. Rest areas, changing shacks, and food stalls are other facilities provided to the visitors along the canal.

Besides skating activities, snow sculpture competition is also a part of this winter festival. 13 Teams from all over Canada participate in this competition and are given 43 hours to create amazing snow structures. The Confederation’s Park is the venue of this competition.

Children can enjoy themselves at the Snowflake Kingdom in the Jacques-Cartier Park. It is the largest snow playground in North America and offers activities like the enormous snow slide, snow maze, tobogganing, dogsled and horse sleigh rides, and the Ice Hog Theatre. Ice Hogs are the official mascots of the festival.

Live music and fireworks are other features of the Winterlude. Except for the Snowflake Kingdom, the rest of the venues are open for public on weekdays as well.