Winter Festival

No winter would be complete without attending the early February Mackinac Island Winter Festival.  This annual event is organized by the Mackinac Island Recreational Development with the proceeds from the celebration used to improve recreational activities.  Listen for the sound of the snowmobiles arriving about noon, and then, the festivities always start off by children visiting and climbing on the turtle sculpture at Great Turtle Park.  Every year there more and more folks coming over to enjoy this frozen party.
One of the main attractions is the creative cardboard sled event.  Sled owners get very whimsical with their designs and enjoy the comfortable ride down the sledding hill.  Designs range from a cardboard yellow submarine complete with portholes to a more basic brown box version.  It’s very entertaining to watch and participate in the creative cardboard sled event.

A couple of other popular events which are high on entertainment value is the youth broomball event and the snow bowling.  Getting brooms to move a ball is not as easy as it looks,
discovered several participants.  Two brooms were even broken during the game which was filled with much laughter.  As for the bowling, the bowling pins are sometimes bigger than the children competing.  This is not “Bowling for Dollars,” but it is lots of silly fun.

This family friendly festival also includes face painting and even a snow egg hunt.  Enjoy the sights and sounds of children of all ages enjoying themselves in the snow.  Islanders make a special effort with the surprises hidden inside the multicolored eggs hidden around the Great Turtle Park play area.

Why not take the whole family and beat those midwinter blahs by attending the Mackinac Island Winter Festival?  You’ll be delighted you did.  For more information about the February festival, visit: http://www.mackinacparks.com

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