8 Family-Friendly Festivals to Embrace Winter’s Magic
Celebrate Wisconsin’s snowy season with spirited events throughout the state. These fun and free outdoor family fests are sure to keep everyone in your group entertained.
Janboree - Waukesha
This city-wide festival in January brings visitors and locals together for some frosty fun. Families can enjoy ice sculpting, creative workshops like “build a recyclable sled,” performances, a fireworks show, a 5K run/walk, an egg hunt and much more. With a whole week’s worth of fun, there’ll be plenty to keep the kids entertained.
Winter Fest - Wausau
Embrace the winter weather with tons of activities during this one-day winter festival in downtown Wausau. Go ice skating and try your hand at curling, then enjoy kids' ice castle building, sled dog demonstrations and free cookies for everyone!
U.S. Snow Sculpting Championship & Winterfest - Lake Geneva
With a full roster of events spanning five days, Lake Geneva’s Winterfest is certainly a celebration of the season. Your family can enjoy a hot cocoa crawl, bonfires on the beach and an ice sculpture tour, along with the ever-popular snow sculpting competition featuring teams from all across the U.S. vying to be champion.
Winter Festival - Fish Creek
Have your kids ever seen a minnow race, taken a dog sled ride or watched ice kickball? If not, they’re in luck—Fish Creek’s Winter Festival features all these activities and more. Partake in outdoor fun, then warm up in a heated tent overlooking Green Bay while you nosh on food and play wacky games (toilet seat toss, anyone?).
Sturgeon Spectacular - Fond du Lac
February in Fond du Lac brings the Sturgeon Spectacular, a celebration of winter and the favorite fish in Lake Winnebago. Featuring snow sculpting, curling, horse-drawn carriage rides, a petting zoo, live music and more, activities for the whole family are sure to warm your heart. Check out Snow Land, a playground sculpted out of ice for kids, as well as a downtown scavenger hunt and tasty Bloody Mary competition.
Winter Festival - Cedarburg
Is it just us, or do freezing temps bring out the creative sides of Wisconsin towns? Cedarburg’s two-day winter fest includes barrel racing, an Ice-Burg Open Golf Tournament and a costume contest! Kids and adults will also enjoy ice-carving duels, a dog-pulling contest, a chili cook-off, tractor-drawn hayrides and a delicious pancake breakfast.
Frozen Assets Festival - Madison
This snowy celebration takes place at The Edgewater, on and off the ice of Lake Mendota. The family-friendly fest includes figure skating, a 5k run/walk on the ice, science demonstrations and free hot chocolate! Put on by the Madison Clean Lakes Alliance, the event showcases all kinds of icy fun.
Bayfield Winter Festival - Bayfield
With skiing, tubing, plunging into the frozen lake and much more, Bayfield (which gets more than 100 inches of snowfall annually) knows how to do winter festivals right. Locals celebrate the season with a whole weekend devoted to winter’s beauty. Check out the candlelight ski/snowshoe/hike at Howl Adventure Center, or if you dare, the whitefish liver-eating contest—a famous, local tradition.
Searching for a place to stay during your winter escape? Explore one-of-a-kind winter lodging in Wisconsin.
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