

What to do on New Year's Eve and other winter activities 2021
To complement the 1st article published on Milesopedia What to do as a family during the 2020 holiday season?, we’ve come up with some more ideas for New Year’s Eve activities and then on to March 2021.
The readers’ suggestions following the article about activities to do during the long holiday break reminded us:
- the great need for ventilation
- that it is still possible to do business despite the restrictions during a pandemic.
Many are free and only require good boots…or skates. Come on, everybody out!

Bye-Bye 2020
Here are a few ideas for activities to do to welcome the year 2021 that will respect the family bubbles without stopping to drink them. So right before we break out the champagne, some nice outdoor activities.
First of all: if you have access to a lot, have you thought about making a fire in your small outdoor wood stove? And serve the hot chocolate? I assure you, this activity is becoming more and more trendy.

Activities in Montreal
Montreal, Walking in Old Montreal is a great idea. The activity to be done in the evening will allow you to take advantage of the pretty light decorations but also of the free projections of “Cité-mémoire“, available from Wednesday to Sunday as soon as darkness sets in. Good thing New Year’s Eve is a Thursday.
You know this business? All you have to do is download the application for free and bring your own headphones. You follow the chosen route and get to know the characters that appear on the walls, the ground and the trees. Listen to what they have to say. Come and meet Maurice Richard, learn the history of the Foundling Wharf and the Beaver Revolt and much more. It’s free and the activity is permanent. It will always be possible to do it at other times.
Une autre belle activité à saveur historique en cette veille du Jour de l’An consiste en une promenade sur la rue Peel.
Plusieurs éléments dont des illuminations sur les lampadaires vous permettront d’en apprendre sur différents clans iroquoiens : leur composition et les animaux qui les représentent. The archaeological discoveries made here remind us that the Kanien’keha Ka people first inhabited the area long before the arrival of Europeans.

Et pourquoi pas une petite balade sur le Mont-Royal pour dire au revoir à 2020 en contemplant la ville allumée. Between adults, take the opportunity to drink your first bubbles in 2021. And then there are also the paths of the botanical garden, which have been open since December 17.
With the marmaille, we suggest a stop at the Place des Arts to stroll the fairytale route of the Winter Gardens which ends on January 3rd. Another great free activity.

And if you don’t wait too long, it will be possible until January 31, 2021 to reserve a place for the “d’Illumi” activity in Laval, designed by the Cavalia team. 90 minutes on foot or 60 minutes by car.
A bit expensive, I admit.


Activities in Quebec City
Du côté de Québec, jusqu’au 4 janvier 2021, ce sont les fenêtres de la maison Chevalier qui s’illuminent entre midi et 21h. The activity, a real visual and auditory experience, showcases local artistic talent. Meet at the corner of Champlain Boulevard and du Marché-Champlain Street.
La patinoire de la Place D’Youville, contrairement à celle du Vieux-Port de Montréal, reste ouverte. However, the reservation is mandatory on the My Leisure online platform and is limited to a single period of 60 minutes per day.
Open between 10:00 and 22:00 every day.

The reception pavilion is accessible for skating but no loan of equipment is possible. The toilets are open, but with limited capacity. And if you feel like it, when you’re done, you can go tobogganing down the emblematic Dufferin Terrace structure for $3. Acceptable price, my goodness.
But Quebec City has something else to offer. The activity “Full eyes and ears” until January 3, 2021 at Parc Jean-Béliveau unveils a lovely interactive light and sound trail. For young and old. A counterpart to the “Jardins d’Hiver” in Montreal.
And finally, in the greater Quebec City area, including Chaudières-Appalaches, here is a directory of trails to fill your lungs with fresh air.
And elsewhere...
Several other regions of Quebec offer very nice activities. So far, they have not been cancelled. For example, Skating in the forest in Gatineau Park!
But I also think in February about these activities:
- Festival Saguenay en neige
- Quebec’s longest skating rink on the Rivière l’Assomption in Joliette
- Quebec Winter Carnival
And between December 26 and January 10, 2021 (to be verified according to ministerial directives) at the Zoo de Granby in winter mode at 50% of the price of the one in summer.

Other winter activities in Quebec from January to March
Finally, here are some suggestions for activities that we invite you to explore on the web, as they exist in several regions and could really give the pandemic a leg up. And I named:

Conclusion
Voilà! We should be well prepared for winter. Continue to give your suggestions for activities in the group or as comments: everyone is inspired by them!
Photo Credit Cover: Pat Beaudry – Illumi