Bon Soo is getting a virtual makeover this year

The province-wide stay-at-home order has caused the 58th edition of Bon Soo to go entirely virtual in a pandemic-inspired makeover. 

Bum slides, fireworks and the polar bear swim are out, online contests and games are in, and this year’s souvenir button features a masked-up Mr. Bon Soo with outstretched arms in a nod to ongoing social distancing measures.  

This year's winter carnival is scheduled to take place Feb. 5-15.    

“It’s virtual only, so we’re not having people or crowds in any way during Bon Soo. Hopefully, we’ll be back next year, and we can make it bigger than ever,” said manager Jeany White. “It’s been a crazy year for not just us, but everybody who’s living through this right now.”

While it was decided even prior to the province-wide lockdown that the polar bear swim wasn’t going to happen, organizers are hoping to merely put a hold on the drive-in fireworks display and movie screenings and roll those events out at a later date.    

“If we can make it happen, we’re going to make it happen. Even if we have to do it in March,” said White. “Nothing wrong with having awesome fireworks in March.”

The 2021 edition of Bon Soo will see the winter carnival partner with local businesses and organizations to present a number of virtual events, including a virtual scavenger hunt, city-wide snowman-building challenge and a handful of photo submission contests.

Bon Soo organizers hope to encourage community engagement by entering all event participants into draws in order to win prizes. 

“It’s been very positive for us, because it allowed us to think of other ways to do things for Bon Soo,” White said. 

This year’s Bon Soo button, unveiled on social media Thursday, will be sold for the regular going price of $8. The buttons have usually doubled as a pass to Bon Soo events in years past, but that's not the case this year.

White says that Bon Soo’s survival hinges on button sales, covering the majority of overhead costs like rent, insurance and storage units for the volunteer-run event. 

“Some people think the buttons are too much [money], but that’s what helps us come back every year,” she told SooToday. 

White acknowledges that it’s been a challenge to reinvent the annual winter carnival. 

“We’re hoping it pans out, because we really want to see Bon Soo going,” she said. “We have a small board, we’re all volunteers - and we’re really digging deep to make this happen this year.”

More details on this year’s Bon Soo will be available via social media and the carnival’s website in the coming days.