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Whistler is where the party is this spring break

Spring Break special web series
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Whistler during Spring Break is the place to be and over the next few days Pique will provide details of Whistler's most popular spring time activities. Every day a new activity will be profiled and in this report the focus is on the parties.

Let’s get some things out in the open, right up front. Whistler has this reputation as being — ahem — a party town. I’d like to set the record straight. Everything you’ve heard about Whistler parties is a bald-faced truth. There, I’ve said it.

“Work hard; play harder” is emblazoned on the town’s crest, right under the words, “Ski like there’s no tomorrow.”

Ask any local. The hardest part of becoming a true Whistlerite is party training. It isn’t easy and isn’t always pretty but party training starts on arrival and no one makes a big fuss over the occasional “accident” that inevitably happens as one progresses from toddler to party big girl or boy. Just clean up your mess and keep shakin’ your booty.

There are, of course, strict rules of engagement. One may only party on days whose names contain the letter ‘y’. One should never party alone. There should always be music, if only in your head or earbuds. And if anyone complains, they should immediately be invited to join the party as an honoured guest.

While there are no lack of impromptu parties taking place on a daily basis, the formal — organized — party season kicks off around Halloween with the B-Grade Horror Fest, our local filmmakers’ homage to really cheesy scary movies. From there, it’s scary pumpkin time, a whole-town’s-invited event.

Cornucopia rolls in shortly after that with its celebration of two of our favourite things — food and wine. It’s a marvelous setup for the Whistler Film Festival which leaves us all revved up for the holidays and gives us just enough time to go on a party diet before the eggnog starts flowing.

Christmas begets First Night at New Year’s, begets WinterPRIDE, begets Presidents’ Week, begets Spring Break and just about the time you think you can’t put on another happy face, the World Ski and Snowboard Festival rolls into town to celebrate everything about mountain culture and a few other things you never dreamed existed. Phew!

Whatever you do, keep moving and remember the local motto: ski hard all day, party hard all night, sleep when you’re dead.