Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884

Winterfest cancelled

Lack of snow stymies ski-joring festival plans

Due to an overall lack of snow, the Sundance Chamber of Commerce has made the difficult decision to cancel its annual Winterfest celebrations.

The Sundance Winter Festival had been scheduled for February 12 but, with less than two weeks to go, the city is conspicuously free of the piles of plowed snow that are usually visible at this time of year. The winter has been mild so far, with few significant days of snowfall.

This is the second cancellation in a row for Sundance's popular winter event. Organizers were forced to call time on last year's event for the same reason: you can't build a ski joring course if you don't have any snow.

The future of Winterfest has been uncertain due to issues finding help with the organizational side of the event. However, this was recently solved thanks to a contract with Gillette Skijoring Derby.

Consequently, this year's cancellation is not expected to have any bearing on next year's Sundance Winter Festival.