It was such a hit last year, it's happening in Portage la Prairie again this year: WinterFest.

Portage Community Revitalization Corporation's community engagement coordinator Stefanie McKim says preparations are underway for the second annual event, slated to take place at the BDO Centre on Feb. 19.

"It's a really, really exciting thing to be able to repeat events because of their success last year," explains McKim. "We thank the community for showing us they're interested in attending these events and helping us to be able to put them on again. PCRC is partnering with ROK (Recreation Opportunities for Kids) and the Portage Learning and Literacy Centre to bring you Winterfest 2017."

She says activities include free skating at the BDO Centre, and free hot dogs and hot chocolate. You can try out snowshoes and also roast marshmallows over an open fire. McKim says something new they've added is maple syrup taffy tasting.

"It's going to be half indoors and half outdoors," she adds. "The skate portion will be indoors, but the rest of the activities we hope to luck-out with the weather to have it outdoors. Last year we had it at the northeast rink. That was really great. We did encounter some variables that we wanted to change this year such as washrooms or alternatives in case of bad weather. I've had really bad luck with weather for my past couple of events. I'm a little gun-shy about hosting an all-outdoor event. This seemed like a good solution. Also this year all the outdoors rinks are struggling because of such warm weather. We're really glad we did decide to go with the BDO Centre. It's still accessible for people without transportation and it's a good central location. It also brings an event to a different area.

McKim says they lost count last year at 250 people, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. With activities in winter hard to come by at times, last year's Winterfest was the perfect fit.

"We're really excited to bring this event to our city and to create such strong partnerships between community organizations," she adds. "We each have something different to bring to the table. When you unite with other organizations with different strengths you can bring a great event like this together."

Schedule is 2:30 - 4:30 at the BDO Centre for the Community on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Free refreshments

 

Skating