By Darlene Brace
The annual Mayville Winter Festival will take place at the Lakeside Park on February 16th-18th. It’s a great community event that promotes local businesses and vendors, and there are a wide variety of activities planned.
The Mayville Winter Festival started many years ago, back in the 1970’s by a man named Don Hogan. Don thought it would be great to have a community fun festival during the winter. Today Don’s grandson, Brian Pender, is the president of the Mayville Chamber of Commerce. Brian is continuing his grandfather’s legacy by helping to organize and promote this wonderful winter event.
Brian stated that they were hoping that there would be enough ice or snow to make a castle, as in years past. Since that is unlikely to happen this year, they will be highlighting a wooden replica castle instead. Also this year, they will have over twenty-five vendors, including food, crafts, and specialty items. There will be heated vendor tents for the comfort of the vendor owners and visitors.
The festival starts on Friday night at 6pm. There will be the opening ceremony and the lighting of the castle. They will also be crowning the festival’s queen and king, that local community members will have voted for.
The festival really gets going on Saturday at 10am. Some activities like the snowman/sculpture contest, carriage rides, the KidsZone, and wood carving by Vince the Tree Guy, will take place throughout the rest of the festival. The food trucks and other vendors will be open at 10am to 8pm on Saturday. There will be the Polar Ice Plunge on Saturday at noon, followed by a Snowball Throwing Contest at 1pm, weather permitting.
The Pet Parade will be at 3pm. Owners can show off their pets in this fun parade. There will be prizes for various categories like most energetic, best costume, and more. Participants should meet under the pavilion of the Carlson Center Building.
Live music will be performed by the Midnight Growlers from 5pm to 8pm in the beer and wine tent. They play a variety of music covers from the 1960’s to present, and it will sure to be a fun night of music and dancing.
Following the band’s performance, at 8pm there will be fireworks that are sponsored by the Town of Chautauqua. It will be a magnificent sight to see the fireworks lighting up the night sky on the shores of Chautauqua Lake.
The festival fun continues Sunday morning. At 9:30am, the Winter Spike Fest Volleyball Tournament will be taking place. The Mayville Winter Festival is in coordination with The Glass Half Full in hosting this event. The Glass Half Full is a fundraising organization that hosts volleyball tournaments and other events throughout the year. The proceeds go to local families that are in need of support. If you are interested in participating or volunteering for this event, you can call Kalee at (716) 426-3082 or look on The Glass Half Full’s Facebook page. This tournament will be a fun event and raises money for a good cause.
Also on Sunday, there will be the Winter Fest 5K and it begins at 10am. Some awards will be given for the overall male and female winners, as well as a five-year-old age group. All the vendors and ongoing activities previously mentioned will be open from 11am-4pm.
When asked about his overall feeling about this festival, Brian said, “This is a fantastic community event that has fun family activities all weekend. It brings in thousands of visitors each year, and it’s great for the local economy. The festival helps local businesses and vendors, and it promotes the Chamber of Commerce’s mission. I am proud to be involved in organizing this event. We would like to thank the Town of Chautauqua for its help with sponsoring the fireworks for Saturday night. We also want to thank all of our other sponsors that help make this great winter festival possible.”
The Mayville Winter Festival on February 16th through 18th will be a great family event, with a variety of activities, that you don’t want to miss. Make sure you put it on your calendar of events to attend. Go to the Mayville Winter Festival Facebook page if you have questions or would like to see updated festival information.