The Quebec issue
Quebec Winter Carnival 2027: Dates, Effigy Pass Prices and How to Plan Your Trip
Buy the Effigy pass early and know what it covers. Then plan the days around Bonhomme's ice palace so you don't lose a morning at a closed waterfall.
By Joris van der MeerQuebec City on foot, past the postcard
Bonhomme Carnaval's ice palace goes up beside the Parliament building, and for 10 days in February the Grande Allée fills with people in parkas. The 2027 Carnaval runs from February 5 to 14. The pass that gets you in, the Effigy, is $29 plus tax in presale.
Dates and the Effigy
Carnaval de Québec takes over three sites in the Grande Allée area, from February 5 to 14. They are a few minutes' walk from the walled town. Book your flights inside those dates. Outside them there is nothing to see, because the sites come down and the ground goes back to being a park and a boulevard.
The Effigy is the pass that gets you onto the sites. It's $29 plus tax in presale until January 17, then $39 plus tax from January 18. Children of 12 and under don't need one. The pass also comes with a booklet of winter discount coupons for local businesses.
You can buy one once you're here instead. A reception desk on Boulevard des Cèdres sells Effigies from January 4. The carnival sites sell them too, once they open.
So far only the music is confirmed. There are nine nights of shows on three stages, with Fouki, Marie-Mai and Voïvod among the acts, and a drag tribute to Québec music on February 12. The night parades and the ice canoe race across the St. Lawrence aren't scheduled yet, and the rest of the line-up lands at the end of November. If you can only travel in December or March, pick a different trip.
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Free skating by the sites
Skating at the Patinoire de la place D'Youville costs nothing. The rink is wedged against the Porte Saint-Jean gate, a few minutes from the carnival sites, with the old walls rising on three sides. It opens at noon from Monday to Thursday and at 10 a.m. at weekends, and closes at 10 p.m. The season runs to March 14. There are no reservations, so turn up and share the ice. Skates are rented on site, and skate aids are lent to adults as well as children.
For a longer loop, go to the Anneau de glace des plaines d'Abraham. It's a groomed oval of ice laid on the open battlefield park. You'll find it just west of the fine-arts museum, and you can walk there from Grande Allée. Skating and the groomed cross-country trails are free, and it's open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At the Chalet des patineurs, skates are $9 for two hours and snowshoes $12, and a family pack for two adults and two children is $26. Last year the ring ran from December 11 to March 9, and a sporting event closed it for parts of mid-February, so check before you go.
Toboggan and ferry
Au 1884, the Glissade de la Terrasse Dufferin sends wooden toboggans down a triple ice chute built onto the boardwalk under the Château Frontenac. A ride is $5 per person, and a family of four pays $18, in cash at the booth. Four people fit on a sled. You drag it up the slide yourself, and an attendant pulls the lever to let it go. The season opens on December 4. Last season it ran 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days and later on Friday and Saturday, so ask on the day rather than planning an evening ride. Queues get long over the holidays.
The Traverse Québec–Lévis is a working commuter ferry, and an hour on it costs almost nothing. The crossing takes 12 minutes, and in winter you can hear big blocks of ice knocking together on the river. It's $4.25 for adults and $2.95 for children aged 6 to 15. There are no online sales, so buy at the terminal, which is beside the Musée de la civilisation in Petit-Champlain.
Ice fishing in the old port
Village Nordik du Port de Québec drills fishing holes straight into the frozen harbour basin, close enough to walk to from the old town. It runs on six weekends from January 29 to March 7, Saturdays and Sundays only, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All the equipment is provided and guides stay with you on the ice, so you don't need to know what you're doing. You're fishing for trout. There's a heated social space with food, which is what turns it into an afternoon. The weekend of February 13 and 14 is built around ice canoeing, in the middle of the carnival. Ask the price when you book.
Half-days out of town
The Hôtel de Glace is rebuilt from scratch every winter at Village Vacances Valcartier, about 20 minutes' drive north of the city. This season is themed on art, light and emotion, and on the living culture of the First Nations. You walk the Grand Hall, the carved ice suites and the chapel of ice where couples marry. A day pass is $35.99 online or $42.99 at the door, and admits you from 10 a.m. An evening pass is $25.99 online and starts at 8 p.m., after which the suites are for overnight guests. For $69.99 you add the Winter Playground next door and its skating trail. It opens on December 26 and runs to March 21, and that opening date moves in a mild December.
Parc de la Chute-Montmorency is 15 minutes' drive east of downtown, or an hour each way on the 800 bus. The falls half freeze into a wall of yellow-white ice, with a cone of frozen spray mounded at the foot. Go once the carnival is on. The park has no services from January 4 to February 5, and the cable car is shut. A January visit means parking up and walking in to a cold site with nothing open. Services come back on February 6, the day after the carnival starts. The cable car then runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until March 31. The boardwalk and the panoramic staircase at the foot of the falls are closed all season.
Spa, dinner and a late beer
After two days in the crowds, an hour of hot and cold outdoors sorts most of it out. Strøm spa nordique Vieux-Québec is on boulevard Champlain, on the riverbank below the old town, and its outdoor pools look out at the ice on the St. Lawrence. Entry starts at $69 and varies by slot and season. A robe, towel and locker are included, so all you carry is a swimsuit. It's open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, and it fills up, so book online several days ahead. The Drøm evening sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday are for ages 18 and over, from 5 p.m. They're $75, or $115 in high season.
La Bûche on rue Saint-Louis in the old town does cabane à sucre (sugar shack) cooking inside the walls, so you don't need a car to eat it. The kitchen does a deconstructed pâté chinois, a beer-glazed ham and a venison tartare, and brunch is served from the morning. It gets very busy, so book online, and confirm the closing time when you do.
Noctem Artisans Brasseurs on rue du Parvis in Saint-Roch is open from 11:30 a.m. until 2 a.m., and from 3 p.m. on Mondays. That matters when the carnival's music nights finish late. The house beers took two golds at the Canada Beer Cup in June, so start with those. Tables can be booked online. Saint-Roch is downhill from the walled town, so work out how you're getting back up.
When the wind makes walking miserable, the Observatoire de la Capitale buys you a warm hour that still feels like sightseeing. The glazed gallery wraps the top floor of the Édifice Marie-Guyart on rue De La Chevrotière. You look down on the snow-covered plains and the ice on the river. It's $14.75, and it's open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Don't go up on a low-cloud day, as the view is the only reason to be there.
Before you go
Buy the Effigy in presale, reserve the spa and the restaurant before you fly, and keep some cash for the toboggan booth. See the Quebec guide and the Quebec hotel search.
Before you go
When is the Quebec Winter Carnival in 2027?
It runs from February 5 to 14, 2027, across three sites in the Grande Allée area of the city. There is nothing on those sites outside those 10 days, so build your flights around them.
How much does the Effigy pass cost and where do you buy it?
It's $29 plus tax in presale until January 17, then $39 plus tax from January 18. You can buy it at the Boulevard des Cèdres reception desk from January 4, or at the carnival sites once they open on February 5.
Do children need an Effigy?
No. Children aged 12 and under get in without one, so you only pay for the adults and older teenagers in your party.
Has the full 2027 programme been announced?
Only the music so far: nine nights of shows on three stages, with Fouki, Marie-Mai and Voïvod among the acts, and a drag tribute to Québec music on February 12. The night parades and the ice canoe race are due at the end of November.
Is the ice hotel open during the carnival?
Yes. The Hôtel de Glace at Village Vacances Valcartier, about 20 minutes' drive north of the city, opens on December 26 and runs to March 21. A day pass is $35.99 online or $42.99 at the door, and the opening date can slip if December is mild.
