AMHERST — After a decade staging a day-long event to bring the community together to enjoy snow, ice and cold temperatures, the town’s Leisure Services and Supplemental Education department and the Friends of Amherst Recreation are expanding Winterfest to a full week.
“Eight Days of Winter Celebrations” is the title of Winterfest 2018, which begins Feb. 3 and concludes, as usual, with a variety of activities and competitions at Cherry Hill Golf Course in North Amherst a week later. In between, a number of venues, mostly in Amherst, will have winter-themed events.
“It reached a point where it was lacking real involvement throughout town,” said LSSE Executive Director Barbara Bilz, adding that Winterfest has been a popular event for North Amherst and the Mill District. “This was a good opportunity, a good time, to expand it throughout town.”
Bilz said the main event, which has featured activities like the chili cookoff between local restaurants, the Cardboard Classic sled race and a fireworks show since 2008, will be kept intact when it takes place again Feb. 10.
Already, more than two dozen events are scheduled over the week, but Bilz said LSSE is looking to continue to add to this, and will be accepting ideas from those interested through Dec. 22.
“This is the final push to have more winter-themed events,” Bilz said.
Among the Feb. 3 kickoff events already listed on the LSSE website are Flakey’s Indoor 5K Fun Run, at the Mullins Center at 9 a.m., a storytime at the Jones Library at 10:30 a.m. and a Luminaria on the Town Common beginning at 5 p.m. The following day, which is also Super Bowl Sunday, will be a jazz concert at Cushman Market & Cafe at 11 a.m., and sledding at Cherry Hill at noon. Then, throughout the week other events will include a gingerbread house decorating contest, crafts making and animal visits and athletic contests at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College.
Bilz said the hope is to line up more no cost or low cost events that are, in most cases, family friendly. The business community will also be invited to put on events, with some restaurants already creating signature cocktails for Winterfest.
Any community group interested in putting on an event should contact Nikki Abelli, special events coordinator at LSSE, at 259-3151.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
