Top 10 Places to Catch a Winter Festival

The frosty weather may keep everyone inside but these festivals are bound to make even the biggest hermits venture out into the cold. Next time you’re planning a meeting during the snowy season, you might want to take one of these cities into consideration. 

1. Anchorage, AK. Since its conception in the 1930s, Fur Rendezvous has evolved into a 10-day celebration of Alaskan life, highlighted by the running of the reindeer and sled dog races that draw mushers from around the world. Still, the festival has remained true to its roots with a lineup of outdoor sports such as snowshoe softball, ice hockey, and a frostbite footrace. (Feb. 24 – Mar. 4)

2. Saranac Lake, NY. Deep in the Adirondack wilderness, the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival hosts traditional winter sport competitions such as alpine and Nordic skiing, children’s skating races, and curling as well as offbeat contests like a women’s frying pan toss. Each year, the carnival reflects a chosen theme (this year is aliens from outer space) and its main attraction is an elaborate ice palace built with thousands of blocks of ice harvested from Lake Flower. (Feb. 3 – 12)

3. Ottawa, Ontario. The centerpiece of Winterlude is the frozen Rideau Canal Skateway, home of the Beaver Cup Hockey Classic, a winter triathlon, skating demos, and even a bed race. The Snowflake Kingdom in Gatineau has a number of snow slides and in the evenings, local chefs and winemakers show off Ontario’s bounty in multicourse dinners. (Feb. 3 – 20)

4. St. Paul, MN. Starting in 1886, festival-goers have reveled in two weeks worth of winter games, toboggan slides, and a towering ice castle. Today, they still march in torch-lit parades, run half-marathons, and admire detailed ice sculptures. (Jan. 26 – Feb. 5)

5. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The Bon Soo Winter Carnival features 10 days of downhill canoe races and bum slides. Events are capped off with an annual polar bear swim in the frigid waters of lake Superior. (Feb. 3 – 12)

6. Hanover, NH. The Dartmouth Winter Carnival started out in 1910 as a field day for students. Today, Division 1 ski competitors, along with amateurs, compete in a 3K ski race and human dogsled races on the college green. The event also features horse-drawn sleigh rides and a skating party on Occom Pond. (Feb. 9 – 12)

7. Quebec, Canada. The Quebec Winter Carnival is the largest of its kind in the world and stays true to the Quebecois custom of pre-Lenten celebrations. Teams races canoes down the St. Lawrence River, artists from around the globe compete in one of the oldest snow sculpture competitions and revelers don red hats and sashes in a nod to the festival’s snowman ambassador. (Jan. 27 – Feb. 12)

8. Sapporo, Japan. Each year, visitors descend on this northern Japanese city to view the hundreds of intricate snow and ice sculptures carved by international teams for the Snow Festivals. Visitors can also partake in a number of other activities, such as snow-rafting, figure-skating, or sampling local delicacies. (Feb. 6 – 12)

9. Steamboat Springs, CO. The winter carnival showcases the region’s rich winter sports heritage with a muzzle-loading biathlon, in which participants clad in vintage fur-trapper outfits compete on marksmanship and Nordic skiing. There is also a ski parade, tubing party and some quirky contests, including a donkey jump and a shovel race. (Feb. 8 – 12)

10. Whitefish, Montana. For more than 50 years the residents of Whitefish have feted Ullr, a legendary god of snow who lives in Nearby Big Mountain, with Fiesta Pescado Blanco, a weekend of street and ski parades. Winter activities include skijoring (in which skiers are towed by horses), ice hockey and an annual Penguin Plunge. (Feb. 3 – 5)

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