DOOR COUNTY – Leave it to a tourist destination like Door County to offer a range of ways to get outside and have fun in the February air.
It’s been about a month since Christmas and the New Year, and after a quiet January, community and business organizations are poised to host their annual outdoor festivals and events in a bid to heal the post-holiday winter doldrums.
And they come after the changes and uncertainty of the winter of 2021, when these events were canceled or altered from their usual formats due to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the peninsula. Some changes from the usual this February — Ellison Bay’s popular Groundhog Day Parade, for example, isn’t happening — but one way or another, local residents and visitors have a chance to get outside and participate, or watch, a number of fun events.
So, here are four ways Door County residents and visitors can get into the community and shake off those winter blahs.
Fish Creek: Winter Festival, May 5-6 February
After last year’s cancellation, the peninsula’s best-known outdoor winter party (mainly) returns for the 34th year with its usual collection of fun, quirky competitions and games, along with live music, food, a fun run and more.
Originally created by local Ron Merkle as the Winter Games and presented annually by the Fish Creek Civic Association, the Fish Creek Winterfest centers around the large, heated Main Tent at Clark Park, right on Green Bay’s cove with the most fun and games take place on February 5, the Saturday of the festival.
The tent opens at 10:00 this Saturday, the games take place inside until 3:00 p.m. and outside on the ice. Quirky, popular games like toilet seat tossing, ice bowling and disc golf (new this year, available from 11:30am to 1:30pm) take place outside, with minnow racing among the competitions under the big top.
Also under the tent is the Stumpf Fiddle Contest at 2pm, now with two divisions, Beginner and Pro. Pre-registration is required to participate.
Also known as a polka cello, pogo cello, bumbass, hum strum, devil’s stick, or jinling johnny, a blunt fiddle is typically made from a broomstick or other long piece of wood with a rubber ball or spring at the bottom. a cake tin, tambourine, or other similarly shaped resonant device; a wire stretched across the cake pan from top to bottom; and bells or other noisemakers. Hitting the instrument on the floor creates a bass drum sound, while hitting the wire across the sheet metal creates a snare drum sound.
The annual Smokin’ Hot Chili Cook-off in the tent is canceled this year due to concerns about the pandemic, but popular blues rockers Dirty Deuce will take to the tent stage to play from 3pm to 5pm. Fireworks will explode over the bay at 5:30pm.
If visitors can’t get near the park upon arrival, or for those who want to hang out in the village, free tram rides through the village are available from 10am to 5pm
The festival concludes on February 6th with the 12th Annual Fruit Loop Run, a 10:30am 800m fun run/walk that starts and finishes at the park tent for participants in their coolest or craziest costumes – yes, costume prizes will be do be awarded – with a certain type of colorful muesli, which is then served.
For those who will be in Fish Creek all week, Winterfest organizers are bringing back their Sasquatch hunt. The hunting object is located in a different place in the village every day from Monday, January 31 to Friday, February 4. Those who find Sasquatch will also find part of a password and a clue as to where it will be next day. The creature will then be at Winterfest on February 5th; Those who have collected the five parts of the password can take them to the gatekeeper between 10am and 11am to be entered into a drawing of $200 in prizes.
To register for the Stumpf Fiddle Contest or for more information, call 920-868-2316 or visit visitfishcreek.com.
Fish Creek: Orchard Country Cherry Pit Spit, February 5
While Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery and Market does not host the Winterfest traditionally held in conjunction with the Fish Creek Winterfest, it does host one of its festival’s most popular events, the Cherry Pit Spit Contest. Beginning at 1:00 p.m. on February 5, people in the orchard can go outside to see who can spit a pit farther than the others; Prizes are awarded in several classes.
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Indoors, Orchard Country also offers wine and cider tastings or flights, specialty beverages, and fresh baked goods and snacks. Outside, Mayberry’s Carriages offers scenic horse-drawn sleigh rides through the orchards (snow and weather permitting; reservations required by calling 920-421-1152).
The market is also a pick-up and drop-off location for the free trolley rides to and from the Village Winter Festival.
Orchard Country is located at 9197 State 42, just south of Fish Creek. For more information, call 866-946-3263 or visit orchardcountry.com.
Sister Bay: Door County Pond Hockey Tournament, February 12
After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, the eighth annual Door County Pond Hockey Tournament is making a change from its original schedule, although it’s the same change that was made two years ago.
The event was supposed to be held at Kangaroo Lake in Baileys Harbor, where it was born in 2013, but concerns about ice conditions on the lake and a lack of helpers to prepare the rinks and host the tournament at that location prompted organizers to move it for the second time at the Sister Bay Sports Complex ice rinks. According to a post announcing the change on the tournament’s Facebook page, the Sister Bay venue received rave reviews from attendees after the 2020 event, and the lighted rinks allow for late-night play, which is on the lake was not possible.
Rinks will be set up for teams of four from across the state and elsewhere — 50 teams competed in the last tournament, and several teams traditionally come from the Chicago area — to compete in eight divisions for first place and the Stanley Thermos trophy. Goalkeepers are not allowed. All teams play at least three games of 30 minutes each with a half-time break. Registrations are closed as all divisions are full, but teams may be placed on a waitlist.
Spectators are welcome and discounts including beer from One Barrel Brewing will be available. The Sister Bay Shuttle Bus runs between the ice rinks and village facilities every 20 minutes from 9am to 8pm and is free of charge.
Sister Bay Sports Complex is located at 2155 Autumn Court, about a quarter mile from downtown. Visit doorcountypondhockey.com or facebook.com/DoorCountyPondHockeyTourney for more information.
Sturgeon Bay: Fire & Ice, 18th-19th February
One of the few festivals that was able to take place during the height of the pandemic last February was Fire & Ice, the citywide ice and snow carving competition sponsored by Destination Sturgeon Bay, albeit with some changes and restrictions. And assuming public health conditions don’t trend down over the next few weeks, it’s broadly back to normal for a 17th run.
The highlight of the weekend is carving. Twenty blocks of ice and six blocks of snow will be transformed into sculptural works of art by carvers ranging from novice to professional in downtown Sturgeon Bay beginning at 9am. Spectators are cordially invited to watch the carvers at work. A carving brochure is available at the Destination Sturgeon Bay Welcome Center, 36 S. Third Ave.
Carvers compete for prizes in the advanced and beginner categories, with the awards ceremony at 3:00 p.m. in the Welcome Center. Potential carvers are welcome to apply by emailing carly@sturgeonbay.net for more information.
The public can participate in the third annual Community Snowman Build at Martin Park. Snowman footage will be provided, and those who take a picture of themselves with their newly built friend can post it on social media using the hashtags #SturgeonBay and #NoBadDaysinSturgeonBay.
To get to all the carvings and shops and amenities in Sturgeon Bay, complimentary Door County Trolley rides are available throughout downtown from 10:00am to 3:00pm
The weekend officially begins in Sturgeon Bay on February 18th with Candlelight Ski & Snowshoe from 6pm to 8pm at the Crossroads at Big Creek Conservation Area. Trails that meander through Crossroads’ 125-acre conservation area are lit by lights, and Crossroads features hot chocolate and a warming fire that roars. Participation is free, but donations are welcome.
The night of February 19, after the ice carving and snowman building, is the Fire & Ice Gala and Auction at Stone Harbor Resort, this year after the 2021 Gala was converted to an online event. The normally sold-out celebratory gala features a three-course meal, a Bubbles & Bling raffle presented by T. Simon Jewelers and dancing to live music from local R&B favorites Big Mouth and Power Tool Horns. Tickets are $100 each.
Bidding on the 70 silent auction and 10 live auction packages begins online on February 16th at Handbid.com and continues through February 19th at 10pm at the gala, with prices starting at the last bid placed on Handbid.
The festival concludes with a Winter on the Water fireworks show over the Sturgeon Bay Canal. The fireworks will be launched from the railway bridge next to Sonny’s Pizzeria on the waterfront.
For gala tickets or more information, call 920-743-6246 or visit sturgeonbay.net.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.