A new wintry themed festival is kicking off in Cape Breton and its bringing old memories back to life with a new rink.

The Taste of Winter Festival started with light snow falling in Sydney, N.S., Saturday.

Children and parents laced up their skates for the debut of the first outdoor recreational rink of its kind in the area.

“I like that you can go fast, you can play hockey when you’re skating and you can enjoy it with your friends,” says skater, Bryden MacNeil.

Parent, Jason MacDonald says the brand new ice surface reminds him of when he was growing up.

“Until we hit junior hockey ages we often only played on outdoor rinks, five, seven days a week,” he says. “This brings back a lot of memories… I think this is only the second or third time my kids have skated outdoors.”

Officials say the popularity of the Emera Oval in Halifax brought the idea to their attention in Cape Breton.  A public consultation in conjunction with the Winter Festival outlined that skating was something people wanted in the community.

“They wanted free skates and in the comments there would be references to when they skated on ponds, lakes and backyard rinks,” says program director for the CBRM, Joe Costello.

The rink is part of 40 different activities offered at the winter festival this year. The activities range from skating to snowboarding, snowshoeing and concerts.

Physical activity co-ordinator, Colleen Clare says the outdoor rink is an inclusive way to get people outside and active.

“Winter is a time a lot of us tend to stay indoors, sort of hibernate,” Clare says. “The good thing is to get people out and give people different things to do that might not be an organized sport.”

The 30 metre by 17 metre mechanically chilled ice surface is part of a pilot project located at Sydney’s Open Hearth Park.  A chiller pumps brine through mats that are then rolled out under the ice and maintained with temperatures as high as eight degrees Celsius.

Costello says the community wants to make the ice surface sustainable.

“It will it hold up to Cape Breton weather and as well as the usage,” Costello says. “The people that are coming here are skating on quality ice, so nobody gets injuried on ruts in the ice and so forth.

The rink is scheduled to open daily from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. for at least a month.

Officials say they hope the outdoor rink can become a permanent fixture for years to come.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.