While frigid temperatures brought winter fears, Highlanders and visitors can look forward to some frosty fun this weekend.
SnowFest will fall in Highlands Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Kelsey Hutchinson Park. The best part? The event is free, and ice skating is $5.
This is the third SnowFest. Tricia Cox, a member of the Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Visit Highlands, NC and Vice President and Broker in Charge at Berkshire Hathaway, said the event has grown over the years.
“We hope it becomes bigger and brings people to the area to help support our local businesses during the lean months. The other side of that is we all know it’s quiet up here for the locals… We wanted to create something that was fun,” Cox said.
Cox said mainly locals attend SnowFest. The kid-friendly event can be a perfect opportunity for families, or even opportunities for adults to engage with their inner child.
“We thought let’s do at least one weekend of guaranteed snow for kids to be able to play in. That’s the whole purpose of Snow Fest is for the kids, and even the adults who still have that inner child,” said Tina Rogers, the Chamber’s events and bookkeeper manager.
Snow Fest will feature an all-day DJ, a merry-go-round, snowball fights, hot refreshments, furnished and heated tents, sledding, a snow gun and other wonderful winter exuberance. Berkshire Hathaway will provide cider on Saturday while Highlands-Cashiers Hospital provides hot chocolate Sunday. Sunday will also feature ice carving and sculptures.
Cox said it is important for Berkshire Hathaway to participate in the event as a way to give back to their community.
“It’s about being out there, being social with the local community,” Cox said. “It’s just a way for us to be out there with the community itself. We feel incredibly blessed to be a part of this place.”
The first year, Mother Nature complied a little and helped Highlands out with the snow. Last year, Highlands Outpost brought out their snowblowers. It’s hard to guarantee the amount of snow, but Johanna Fein, Communications Director with the Chamber, said Highlands Outpost will cover areas of the park with anywhere from one to three feet of snow.
Fein said Highlands Outpost provides a Latitude 90 All-Weather Snow Machine, which can make snow in temperatures up to 75 degrees fahrenheit. These machines use about an eighth of the water as a normal snow machine.