| Due
to a lack of snow all 2023 Winterfest activities except the Chili Cook
Off were postponed until March 4.
2023 is the 30th year for Winterfest in Mackinaw
City, Michigan. The 2023 festival will be a one day event with outhouse
races, Kids Big Freeze Obstacle Course and a chili cook off. This is a
slightly larger event than in 2022, but still much smaller than it was
prior to 2020.
Chili Cook Off: 11:30AM-1PM
Kids Big Freeze Obstacle Course: Noon
Pepsi International Mackinaw Outhouse Races: 2PM
The Chili Cook Off is held at Mama Mia's Restaurant at
231 E Central Avenue. Tasting and voting for your favorite chili is only
$5/person with a cash bar and 50/50 raffle.
The Big Freeze Obstacle Course is in the Mackinaw Crossings
parking lot, just west of South Huron. It is open to ages 5 to 17 and advance
registration is available at (231) 436-5664 or events@mackinawcity.com.
On site registration is 10:30-11AM, but only if space is available.
The 2023 International
Outhouse Race competition is held at Shepler's Parking Lot 556 E Central
Avenue and will have a $500 grand prize. Registration is available at (231)
436-5492.
|
About Mackinaw
City in the Winter
'09 Mackinaw City winter trip report
|
These photos were taken during the 2009 Winterfest when
the weather was beautiful but cold. Saturday was gloomy, but it didn't
seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the people attending the outdoor events.
The bars were packed with participants and snowmobilers. The sunny photos
on this page were taken on Friday. The others were on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the cold, a record 151 people registered to participate
in that year's ninth annual ice fishing tournament on Paradise Lake and
around $1,600 was raised for marine protection programs and projects. The
euchre tournament also had its highest number of competitors ever.
The sign next to this sculpture of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw
pleaded for volunteers to help work on the sculpture.
Despite working late into the night, this sculptor did not add all
the details he hoped to include. The actual retired
Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is docked only a few hundred feet away.
Andrew Brown ice sculpture team starting work on their abstract sphere
2nd place U.S. "Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw" by Larry Strouse of Carp
Lake
1st place winning ice sculpture by Andrew Brown team of Central Lake,
Michigan
3rd place "ship in a bottle" - Tom Lalonde of Cheboygan, Michigan
Chili Cook Off held at Mama Mia's (2020 photo by AM)
Mackinaw City used to have an annual fundraiser where the person that
predicted when the ice tower in front of the village hall would
melt won at least $1,000. The official time was when an electronic
device frozen into the ice drops to the ground.
In 2008 it fell on April 24. (Now one is grown on the shore across
from the Church of the Straits.)
Copyright 2009-2023 by Keith
Stokes. These photos may not be reproduced without
written permission. . |
