A skating party, a WAG '80s flashback and heavy metal: CBC Manitoba's top weekend picks for Jan. 11-13

This weekend, you can enjoy skating through a colourfully lit winter wonderland, take an artsy musical trip back to the 1980s or — if you prefer your entertainment options a bit more "extreme" — see some of Canada's loudest and most aggressive bands at a heavy metal festival.

Three of CBC Manitoba's on-air personalities share their top picks for the Jan. 11-13 weekend.

Shannah-Lee Vidal's pick:

I want you to bundle up and grab your skates some some winter fun.

On Saturday, the Winnipeg Arts Council invites you to celebrate the official opening a trio of sculptures along the edge of the frozen Kildonan Park pond with a family skating party.

The art installation is called Bokeh. The giant orange, yellow, and pink poles are adorned with globes that emit colour-changing lights. After the sun goes down, the lights will make a dramatic and fun glow upon the ice surface.

Bokeh was designed by local artist Takashi Iwasaki and Nadi Design (led by Meaghan Hunter). It's one of 60 works of public art across the city.

And because it is a party, there must be music! DJ Mama Cutsworth and DJ Hunnicutt will be spinning tunes to get you energized. As a bonus, snacks and refreshments will be served.

The family skate party will be Saturday from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. It's free to attend, but you will need your own skates.

Ismaila Alfa's pick:

Walkmans, leg warmers and everything neon — I want to send you back to the '80s!

For this time warp, you'll only need to head down to the Winnipeg Art Gallery for their exhibit The 80s Image.

It explores the resilience of painting and still photography throughout the 1980s and how artists responded to the quickly changing media landscape.

You'll see around 50 works by Canadian artists whose work helped define the decade — artists like Cliff Eyland, Wanda Koop and Ken Lum.

But what's the '80s without the music?! Well luckily, the people at CKUW — the U of Winnipeg's campus radio station — have curated an '80s playlist that you can download and listen to while you check out the exhibit.

While the exhibit is at WAG until spring, on Friday night you can go down for an '80s party with a live CKUW broadcast, and dance to the '80s music matched to the artwork!

It's happening Friday night from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. Admission is just five bucks and there's a cash bar.

Colton Hutchinson's pick: 

Grindcore, death metal, doom, black metal — to the untrained ear, all of these musical genres might sound like the same exact noise. But for hardcore metal fans, the unique styles are worlds apart from each other.

They're all slamming together this weekend as a part of Eye and Ear Control Records' Raw Control festival.

It's two nights of music featuring some of Canada's heaviest metal acts. The weekend marks Eye and Ear founder Brad Skibinsky's birthday, so what better way to celebrate than to feature some of his favourite bands in Winnipeg's favourite venues?

"The scheduling worked out for the bands on these dates, so it was kind of a no-brainer to put them in two of the best rooms in the city and pack them with people in the dead of winter," he said.

The bands in question? Toronto doomers Irn and Calgary grindcore standouts Wake.

Irn will head the bill on Friday at the Handsome Daughter on Sherbrook Street. The small room will be transformed into a brooding dungeon of slow, punishing guitar riffs. They'll be joined by local acts CO and Talon to kick off the festival.

Night 2 will kick it up a notch at the Goodwill Social Club on Portage Avenue, when Wake takes the stage with unrelenting, ear-shattering music, featuring drumbeats blasting near 300 beats per minute under technical guitar styles and truly frightening vocals.

Their 2018 release Misery Rites landed on countless "top album" lists for the year, and has launched the band into a touring schedule nearly as horrific and busy as the music itself.

"It's cathartic, both in the writing stage and playing live, most nights," vocalist Kyle Ball said about Wake's music. "But it can also be a reminder of the dark space I was at when I wrote them … making it harder other nights."

Metal fans will be pleased to have them in town, along with locals Zombie Assault and Fumerot for Saturday night.

"The local metal scene here has always been really strong," says Skibinsky.

"It fluctuates but there have always been a hardened core of people making things happen. For being in the middle of nowhere, Winnipeg sets the bar very high across the board."

Make sure you find some ear plugs if you dare enter Raw Control in Winnipeg this weekend.