Attendance at the Winnipeg Jets playoff street parties will be capped at 5,000 people.
The whiteout parties will be held on Donald Street between Portage and Graham avenues before and during each home playoff game. The area and crowd limit are the same as last year, and so is the $10 ticket price.
Five dollars from each ticket will go to United Way Winnipeg.
The Jets clinched a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs last week. Their opponent has yet to be determined. The NHL playoffs start April 20, but it’s not known when the Jets will play their games.
Kevin Donnelly of True North Sports & Entertainment said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that the parties will include three giant TV screens, compared with two last year. He also said the Party in the Plaza at True North Square will return this year.
“It is a lovely spring day, but there is a whiteout coming,” he said. “We know the playoffs are an exciting time for our city, and fans want to be in good company to take it all in, whether it’s inside the arena or bringing energy to our surrounding downtown.
The Party in the Plaza starts three hours before puck drop. The whiteout parties will begin two hours before each game, and the doors to Canada Life Centre will open 90 minutes before the game.
Donnelly, United Way Winnipeg CEO Michael Richardson, Premier Wab Kinew and Mayor Scott Gillingham spoke at the news conference.
Tickets for the whiteout parties and Party in the Plaza events go on sale through Ticketmaster on April 17. Single-game tickets for home games in the team’s first-round playoff series go on sale Monday.
Jets fans celebrate at a Whiteout party during a NHL playoff game against the Vegas Golden Knights in April 2023. (John Woods/ Free Press files)
The Jets faced the Vegas Golden Knights in a first-round Stanley Cup playoff series last year. Two street parties were held, on April 22 and April 24. The Knights won the series in five games and went on to win the NHL championship.
The proceeds of the 2019 and 2023 whiteout parties raised more than $212,000 for community agencies, including N’Dinawemak, Main Street Project, Velma’s House, Astum Api Niikinaahk and the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre. More than 155,000 fans have attended the street events, which started during the team’s 2018 playoff run.
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