Bigger and Better in its third year
A Press-Ready Travel Feature
From the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau
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Michael A. Norton
Media Relations
(800) 940-1120; (231) 947-1120, fax (231) 947-2621
mnorton@VisitTraverseCity.com
Photo Credit: John L. Russell
Cutline: Visitors to last year’s Cherry Capital Winter WonderFest enjoy a horse-drawn sleigh ride on the grounds of the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. This year’s festival, to be held Feb. 13-16, will also include rides on snowmobiles, ponies and hot air balloons in addition to a wide range of competitions, attractions and entertainment.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Traverse City tourism planners knew they were taking a risk when they organized their first “Cherry Capital Winter WonderFest” ltwo years ago.
Winter festivals had been tried before in this northern Michigan resort town, but for one reason or another they never seemed to catch on. And this was a particularly ambitious idea: a collaboration between the 600-room Grand Traverse Resort and Spa (best known as a golf and convention destination) and organizers of the National Cherry Festival, whose expertise with midsummer events was no guarantee of success with a winter celebration.
Fortunately, the inaugural Winter WonderFest -- a three-day pageant of winter sports, music, food, wine, fireworks and entertainment – was a solid success. In fact, it proved so popular that the 2008 version was even more ambitious than its predecessor. And the 2009 festival, scheduled for Feb. 13-15, promises to be every bit as interesting, with several new events and venues and a number of new partners, including the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Downtown Traverse City Association, and Special Olympics Michigan.
"This second Winter WonderFest has new community partnerships and expanded events that include several in downtown Traverse City,” said an enthusiastic Tom Menzel, director of the National Cherry Festival organization. “It’s a true win-win proposition for residents, business owners and winter tourists alike.”
Long prized for its natural beauty, glacier-sculpted terrain and extensive trail systems, the Traverse City area is well known to skiers, snowmobilers and other winter sports enthusiasts. But the local tourism economy is still heavily weighted toward summer, and the community has long been on the lookout for ways to reduce that seasonal imbalance by developing new winter attractions.
“We sort of went in on a wish and a prayer last year, not knowing what the final result would be, but the results convinced us that we could very quickly expand this to become a winter festival for all of Traverse City,” said Grant Channing, executive vice president and general manager of the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. “That was our goal from the beginning, but we didn’t expect to reach it so quickly.”
Like last season’s festival, the 2009 WonderFest will include a wide selection of outdoor and indoor attractions. The centerpiece of the festival will be a “Winter Fun Zone” with ice skating, pony rides, inflatable play structures, horse-drawn sleigh rides, snowmobile rides, sledding, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing and a selection of competitive events that range from the familiar (a 5K “frozen foot race” and a broomball tournament to the bizarre (a cherry pit spitting contest, a frozen fish toss and a “Polar Plunge” event where daring swimmers jump into an icy pond for as long as they can stand it).
In addition, there will be bonfires, hot-air balloon rides, a chili cook-off, lots of festive food and beverages, fireworks over the snow, an “adventure film festival,” a concert featuring the 80s rock band Loverboy, and the “Miss Heart of Michigan” Pageant.
Meanwhile, a full slate of WonderFest activities will be taking place in downtown Traverse City – from ice-carving demonstrations and live entertainment to a gala “Taste of Downtown” dinner at the City Opera House featuring signature cherry dishes from the best downtown restaurants. (Traverse City is still the world’s cherry capital, and February, thanks to George Washington, is National Cherry Month.)
“We’re just delighted to be involved,” said Colleen Paveglio of the Downtown Traverse City Association. “We had hoped to be involved in last year’s festival, and we’re very happy to be participating this year.”
A portion of the Winter WonderFest proceeds support the programs of Special Olympics Michigan.
Detailed information about the 2009 Cherry Capital Winter WonderFest can be obtained at the festival web site: http://www.grandtraverseresort.com/index.php/do/Cherry_Capital_Winter_WonderFest
For information about other winter adventures, activities and attractions in the Traverse City area, contact the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-TRAVERSE or on line at www.VisitTraverseCity.
