Wrapping a winter vacation around a winter festival gives you the heart of a terrific trip to resorts or regions that love to party when there's snow on the ground. All of these annual festivals are chock-full of activities and events that are equal fun for spectators and participants. They have a common denominator, too: the festivals are in resorts and locales where there's lots to do outdoors, whether it's dog sledding, alpine or cross country skiing, ice climbing, sledding or other winter sports. The links to festival sites will lead you to annual dates and more details about the festivals.
Don't let race names like "Frostbite Footrace" mislead you. The annual Fur Rendezvous Festival, February 22-March 2, 2008, takes place in Anchorage, where the weather is surprisingly mild that time of year and daylight lasts for more than 10 hours. The city is protected by the Chugach Mountains and warmed by Japanese currents, so the average high in late February is 25 degrees and the average low is 9 degrees.
Activities include dog-sled races, coed snowshoe softball and creating snow sculptures. For the less active, there are melodramas, native arts & crafts shows and fireworks.
Photo credit: Al Grillo
When the ESPN Winter X Games came to Aspen, Colorado, several years ago they attracted an entirely new audience: a young, cool and not necessarily rich crowd that loves winter sports games with a decided edge. Skier X, SuperPipe, Snowboard Best Trick Showdown, Snowmobile Freestyle and Snowmobile Snowcross are just sampling of the extreme sports you can watch. Expect non-stop partying, music bands and crowds during Winter X Games 12, Jan. 24-27, 2008. If you don't make it, watch the live programming on ESPN and ABC and you'll book early for next year. Visit ESPN for the full schedule.
Help Quebec City celebrate its 400th anniversary during this year's three-week long Carnaval de Quebec, Feb. 1 - 17, 2008. You could watch (or participate in) the canoe race on the icy St. Lawrence River, or cheer for the dog sleds racing on snow-covered street in the Old Quebec sector of this city, with its distinctly French flair. Around the races this year there are night parades with extravagantly designed floats, outdoor dance parties and lots of other activities.
If you love winter walking or ice climbing and want to end the day with a dram of single malt, the Fort William Mountain Festival might be the trip for you. The festival, Feb. 15 -23, 2008, is a celebration of mountain culture with indoor and outdoor ice climbing workshops, winter mountaineering workshops, lectures and exhibitions. Events include the first-ever UK Slacklining Masters Contest and the Scottish premiere of US mountain-biking film Klunkerz. Both kayaking legend Corran Addison and mountaineer Kenton Cool will be there. For more information about Scotland's West Highlands Visit Fort William.
Pushing the boundaries is what the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival at Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia, is all about. Mascot Mayhem, Whistler Dogfest and World Backcountry Freeride Jam are clues to the action during this spring party, April 11-20, 2008. Expect non-stop activities during the day, lot of demos and dozens of live concerts when the lifts shut down. To experience the fun, visit the Whistler2007 website, which also has inof about this year's event.
Image yourself drifting over the Swiss Alps in a hot air balloon. Or, looking up as some 100 balloons from 20 countries fill the sky during the 29th Annual International Hot Air Balloon Meeting, Jan. 19-27, 2008. During the week there will dirigibles in the sky, parachuting and paragliding demonstrations, tethered balloon flights and much more.
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