Secrets to a Happy Toronto Winter: #13. The sassiest dance parties are on ice

There are bigger rinks and smoother rinks and more famous rinks, like Nathan Phillips Square, where at some point every Torontonian must pose for a photo under the arches, but the Natrel Rink at Harbourfront is our favourite because it’s a full-on party. Eight Saturday nights in a row, from January 3 onward, the city’s best DJs take over the sound system and the rink becomes an open-air nightclub. To the south is the pitch-black lake, to the north the ­twinkling lights of the downtown’s towers. People dress up in vintage mink stoles and crazy-coloured tights and open puffy coats, bouncing, boogying and shimmying as their skating prowess allows, and taking breaks at one of the flaming fire pits around the rink’s perimeter. Free ($8 for skate rental). 235 Queens Quay W., harbourfrontcentre.com.