2 Best Performing Arts Venues in Quebec City, Quebec

A flurry of activity, mainly on the Plains of Abraham but also on several of the city's main drags, surrounds Carnaval de Québec, which occurs over three weekends every January and February. Snow and ice sculpture contests, dog sled relays, and canoe races on the icy St. Lawrence River chase away winter doldrums. Visitors brave the cold to get a glimpse of Bonhomme, the friendly Carnival Master, and tour his Ice Palace, which is rebuilt each year. Caribou, a strong mixture of red wine, hard liquor, and maple syrup, is a popular libation during the festivities.

In the large plaza fronting city hall, as well as the little park across the street, neat rows of darling little wooden huts exactly like those you'd find in Germany offer stollen, steaming hot pretzels, gingerbread, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and other aromatic foods, while jewelry designers, wood sculptors, glassmakers, and other artisans chat animatedly with customers, as German Christmas carols play in the background. If you can’t get to Europe for the holidays, Québec City's German Christmas market is probably the most magical and most authentic you'll find in North America. The market opens in the third week of November and lasts until December 23rd.