Party in Your Parka
The cherry trees lie dormant during the winter months that bring piles of snow and frigid temperatures to Traverse City, Michigan. The tourists are gone from northern Michigan’s “Cherry Capital,” and this hilly region sweeping around Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay is silent, breathtakingly beautiful — and cold.
In short, it’s the perfect time to throw a party.
Winter Wow!fest, formerly known as the Cherry Capital Winter Wonderfest, fills the streets of downtown TC with bundled-up revelers. Ice sculptors craft flights of fancy that dot the sidewalk up and down Front Street. Pets large and small play pretend Iditarod at the Monster Dog Pull, where dogs try to pull a weighted sled across a finish line while their owners holler encouragement. Locals and winter sports enthusiasts commingle in the snow and slush, the restaurants and shops crackle with energy, and somehow the air doesn’t seem quite as cold.
The sprawling event uses four disparate venues as anchors. Once you’ve had your fill of ice cream eating contests, bed races and cherry-pit spitting competitions downtown, head over to the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa for tented, outdoor wine and beer festivals that draw hundreds of tipplers and feature sleigh rides and bonfires. The Grand Traverse Civic Center will play host to an indoor softball tourney, while Mt. Holiday Ski Area offers family-friendly activities, including ski and snowboard contests open to the public. There’s even an obligatory polar plunge for hardy souls into the ice-covered waters of Lake Michigan, all in the name of charity.
Michiganders have been heading “up north” each winter for decades, where the frozen winter wonderland is a well-kept secret. Wow!fest throws open the treasure chest for the rest of us.
Winter Wow!fest 2011 will take place February 18–21. For more info, go to visittraversecity.com.
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