Why Snowfest Matters

I have made several posts over the past three weeks highlighting the wonderful partnerships and opportunities that we have built through our work on Snowfest in Two Rivers. It is equally important to understand why this matters and why I and the entire team have committed so much over the past four years to host this community festival not once, but hopefully twice and for years to come.

The picture above is notable both for how comically large my father's Snowfest '81 t-shirt looked on me and that it marks the first photo taken of me where I actually remember the moment. Snowfest was a fundamental part of our summers growing up as it provided a punctuation mark on Two Rivers. It was one of several events that brought the community together, but was more notable in how it welcomed those from outside of it.

The story of Snowfest is quintessentially Wisconsin. A public works crew uncovers a buried pile of snow in July 1937, ending a friendly horse race to determine which was the "coolest sport in Wisconsin." Community leaders take the tale as inspiration and host the first Snow Festival later that month, and the rest is history.

For those that grew up in Two Rivers, or all of us, for that matter, there are memories and experiences that tie us back to a place. It may be a sound, a sight, or a smell. It could be the sense memory of someone special in a moment. For me, the two things that connect me back to Two Rivers are sand and snow.

It has been admittedly far more difficult to plan Snowfest 2022. We have a small and dedicated team that had little to no experience planning a large community festival in nine months. We are proud of all of the work that we will share in the next week. Visitors to Neshotah Park will find a buzz of activity with new sounds, sights, and tastes to explore.

We cannot wait to share the more than twenty musicians and family entertainers that we have scheduled, to tell the stories of the more than fifty entrepreneurs and small businesses we are supporting, and to share the wonder of snow in July. Most importantly, we want to showcase all that Two Rivers has to offer.

None of this happens without the support of our partners and sponsors. We are always interested in working with new friends, especially as we work to create a stronger arts and music community on the lake shore. We have some rather ambitious plans for next year's event and to support the Central Park West 365 development now underway. We want to showcase new voices and sounds, introduce new businesses to markets, and fill new spaces with music and community.

I am curious about your longest-lasting summer memory. What are the things that you miss from your childhood? What is the one thing you could do this summer to begin to bring them back?

Welcome to Snowfest.