Annual Deer Park Winter Festival Starts Friday, With Snow Or Without In/Around: Deer Park

The 11th annual Deer Park Winter Festival begins Friday night and continues through the weekend, snow or no snow.

“Right now we have about 3 inches of snow on the ground - actually it’s more like slush,” Betty Cox, publicity chairman for the festival said Tuesday, as the temperature rose into the 40s. “We’re hoping for colder weather and some snow, or course, but we’ll have fun no matter what.”

That’s good, because weather forecasters predict the thaw will continue through this weekend.

Events that require snow - the snow sculpture contest and the cross country ski race, for example - could be canceled if the warm weather continues, Cox said.

But thanks to the creativity of the festival organizers, many snow-related events can be salvaged. Snowshoe softball players, for example, will be outfitted with swim flippers instead of showshoes to play in the slop, Cox said.

The fun begins Friday at 6:30 p.m. with a bonfire, fueled by discarded Christmas trees, and a fireworks display at the Civic Center-Perrins Field complex at Crawford and Stevens downtown. Activities continue through Sunday with a variety of both indoor and outdoor events.

Most festival events are free and geared toward families. Indoor activities include an art show, karaoke contest, dance, movies, chili contest and bingo. Outdoor activities include a fun run, a treasure hunt and an ice sculpture contest.

“It’s a nice break from the busy holiday season,” said festival chairman Dave Johnson. “Most spectator events are free of charge so it’s good for the pocketbook, too.”

Organizers are expecting about 3,000 people to attend the three-day festival.

A complete festival schedule will be included in Friday’s Weekend section of The Spokesman-Review. For more information, call the Deer Park Chamber of Commerce at 276-5900.