What's new for 2010

Every year, we try to add new activities and attractions to the Cherry Capital Winter WonderFest lineup – just to keep things interesting! Here’s a sampling of the new entries in the 2010 festival:

A Kid’s Biathlon – with paintball guns instead of rifles!

You’ve seen the biathlon at the Winter Olympics – that too-cool event where competitors have to ski along a course and shoot at preset targets every so often. That’s what this new Saturday competition at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa will be like – except that they’ll be provided with paintball guns instead of rifles. The new time-based competition is being presented by the North American Vasa, our national cross-country ski race, which happens to be going on at the same time as the Festival.

New Downtown Fun

Folks keep telling us how much they love Saturday’s Soup’r Bowl soup-tasting tent, the avenue of ice carvings, the Front Street Frozen Bed Race and the downtown “Sweetheart of a Sale” specials – but they really wanted more events and attractions to fill up the day. Well, you asked for it!

In the morning, we’ll start out with a Monster Dog Pull (sponsored by Northern Michigan Veterinary Hospital) in the morning, where canine Olympians can compete for the title of “monster dog” by pulling weighted sleds. In the afternoon there’ll be horse and carriage rides around downtown, entertainment on Front Street, and (of course) the Soup’r Bowl (sponsored by Charter Business and Charter Communications), which stays open until 3 p.m. Afterward, there’ll be winter versions of popular Cherry Festival competitions – including a frozen pit-spitting contest (sponsored by Cherry Republic) and a Brain Freeze ice cream eating contest (sponsored by Moomer’s Homemade Ice Cream). Starting at 5 p.m. there’ll be a beer tent – open from 5-9 p.m., complete with live music (sponsored by Bud Light).

Winter WonderFest “Snowball” Softball Tournament

The Grand Traverse County Civic Center will play host to the two-day midwinter Snowball Softball Tournament Saturday and Sunday. As many as 20 teams from across the state of Michigan will compete on four neighboring diamonds in this ASA-sanctioned tournament, which will feature a beer/entertainment tent and other concessions. More info »

A Winter Version of the Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival

Lovers of craft beer, world music and winter fun won’t want to miss the first annual Traverse City Winter Microbrew & Music Festival taking place Friday night from 5 to 10 p.m. under huge heated tents on the greens and in the Club House Lodge at the Grand Traverse Resort. A $25 ticket will get you five pours of awesome Michigan microbrews and some great music. (There’s a free Afterglow party later in the Aerie Lounge.) More Info »

A Brand-New Winter Wine Wonderland

What a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day! A festival of Traverse City wines, gourmet desserts and artworks, with a perfect view of the closing fireworks display of the Cherry Capital Winter WonderFest. The new Winter Wine Wonderland will be held Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 per couple or $20 per person, and include a souvenir wine glass, five wine-tasting tickets and five dessert-tasting tickets. More info »

More Fun Events at the Grand Traverse Resort

The folks at the Resort have added several other new events, including dog sled rides and demonstrations, ice carving demonstrations, a family comedy juggling show, and a kid’s biathlon.

Mt. Holiday ’s “Downhill Dash” Becomes a Free-for-All Race

The Friday Downhill Dash at Mt. Holiday Ski Area started out as a crazed mountain bike race down the face of the Hall’s Hollow ski hill. But non-bikers at the 2009 event thought it looked like so much fun that they begged to be included – so the 2010 event will be thrown wide open to anything that wants to come careening down the hill: mountain bikes, ski bikes, skis, snowboards. Whatever.

Also, Mt. Holiday is planning some special “Presidents Day” events on Monday – check the schedule for details.