Puppies prepared, pond hockey postponed
Not all the festival fun has to be reserved for summer. Ice sculptures, curling, telescope viewings, a beer garden, puppies and more will be at the Concord Winter Fest from Friday, Jan. 26, to Sunday, Jan. 28, presented by Intown Concord in partnership with The Hotel Concord.
“This is our sixth year,” said Jessica Martin, the director of Intown Concord. “It started [during] The Hotel Concord grand opening and we partnered with them and it’s just gained momentum.”
While the festival is usually scheduled to coincide with the Black Ice Pond Hockey tournament, weather has caused the tournament to be rescheduled the past few years, and this year is no exception, with the postponement dates being Friday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb. 11.
Nonetheless, there will be plenty to do around the downtown area with a free shuttle sponsored by Concord Area Transit on Saturday. Festivities start with the Art & Bloom exhibition at Kimball Jenkins, presented by the Concord Garden Club. While the opening reception is on Thursday, Jan. 25, the dates coinciding with the festival are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibition features works of art accompanied by floral designs created by the community, Concord Garden Club members and professional designers.
Other happenings over the course of the festival include free wine tastings at Wine on Main, Singin’ in the Rain at Red River Theatre, telescope viewing at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, a doggie meet and greet with Darbster Rescue, Snow-ga with blossom yoga, and an ice carving competition and viewing.
“We’re going to have a judging panel that will judge them but we will also post the photos of them on social media … for people to vote on their favorite and then we do … a people’s choice award,” Martin said.
There will also be vendors, a beer garden and food trucks on Capitol Street on Saturday and Sunday, including Wicked Tasty Food Truck and Bubble Bee Milk Tea. New this year is an outdoor curling rink sponsored by NH Scot on Saturday and a Winterfest Family Dance Party with Mr. Aaron at the Bank of NH Stage on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.
“The overall hope is to give people something fun to do during a time of year where people are sometimes lacking options for things to do. It’s a little bit of a slower time of year for our downtown on the heels of the holidays, so we want to create something that drives people to the downtown [and] helps get people out there. In addition to the festival we have a great downtown with lots of shops and restaurants for people to enjoy. … It’s winter, but there’s nothing saying that we can’t be outside.”
Concord NH Winter Fest
When: 3pm Friday, Jan 16th, to 4pm Sunday, Jan 28th