The inaugural Jets whiteout party of the 2017-18 playoff season was such a big draw Wednesday night that organizers are going to expand the bash by another city block in downtown Winnipeg for Game 2 against the Wild.
Organizers of Wednesday night's Winnipeg Whiteout Street Party met Thursday morning to talk about the possibility of expanding the event for Friday's NHL playoff game.
They've decided to extend the Donald Street party zone one block south to St. Mary Avenue, with the addition of an alcohol-free zone where families can watch on the big screen "in a more relaxed setting," organizers said.
"Our first event exceeded our expectations," said Dayna Spiring, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, in a statement Thursday. The agency hosted the party in co-ordination with True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Winnipeg Jets and the team's home arena, Bell MTS Place.
"We wanted to build on that momentum. Winnipeg showed well. This expanded space means we can welcome even more people of all ages," Spiring said.
Diehard fans filled Donald Street between Portage and Graham avenues Wednesday night to watch the Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in Game 1 of the teams' first-round NHL playoffs series.
"Last night was an incredible night. It was an incredible night for Winnipeg and an incredible night for Jets fans," said Spiring.
"It was a great crowd. It seemed like everyone had a great time and everyone was safe and we're really happy with how things went."
An estimated 5,100 people packed in for the street party at its peak, Spiring said.
Those numbers came as a bit of a surprise for organizers.
"Winnipeg in April this year hasn't been balmy, but Winnipeggers came out in full force," she said.
The Wednesday night street party was licensed and featured two giant screens for fans to watch the game, food trucks and adult beverages for sale.
The city worked with Winnipeg Transit, the Winnipeg Downtown BIZ and Winnipeg police to plan transportation and security for the event, and those stakeholders met Thursday morning to begin planning Friday's party.
"We've got all hands on deck to do a postmortem on what the party looks like," said Spiring.
Spiring said the plans for Game 2 include more vendors and the addition of two new big screens. One will go in an alcohol-free area at Millennium Library Park, the other will be placed on Donald south of Graham. That brings the total big-screen count in and around Donald to four for the next game.
Game 2 against the Wild takes place Friday at 6:30 p.m. The whiteout party gets underway at 4:30 p.m.
Comments
To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted.
By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. Please note that CBC does not endorse the opinions expressed in comments. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time.