Montrealers do it in the COLD...

I am continually shocked by Montrealers' infatuation with scheduling outdoor activities in the middle of the winter.

I was in a little park down the street where there's an adorable children's holiday playground. They also sell Christmas trees and have live music.

So it was 5pm--already dark outside--these kids were running around the wonderland, playing in the bitter cold and snow. To give you a sense of the how cold it was, it took 5 minutes for my face and ears begin feel that "pins and needles you've-been-out-in-the-cold-too-long-and-are-in-danger-of-frostbite" pain. I looked it up on line, and with wind chill factored in, it was -22 degrees Celsius (-7 degrees Fahrenheit), yet these children seemed content and happy!

But to the Montrealers, it's not just about kids playing in the snow. It's about weeding out the weak and doing the funnest things at the COLDEST times and in the COLDEST places possible. For example:

Igloofest is an outdoor concert series that happens in Montreal in the last two weekends of January, at night, on the quay (wharf). So they compound being outside in late January, with the nighttime cold, and the extra chill of being on the water! Why?

Let's have a look at yearly temperatures in Canada.
Wow, it appears that Igloofest is, indeed, held at the ABSOLUTE COLDEST time of the year! at the coldest time of day, in the coldest part of Montreal!!!

Will I be at Igloo fest? Hells yeah!
Josh Wink and Spank Rock and other awesome artists are performing for a $5 cover. I'm SO not missing that...

Will I be complaining the ENTIRE TIME about how COLD I am? Probably. (sorry Joseph)

It beats sitting at home watching movies or being packed like a sardine into some stuffy nightclub with sweaty 16-year-old Quebecker cokeheads, eh?