(North Bennington, VT) –– The annual North Bennington Winter Festival will be held Saturday, January 27, 2018 starting at 8:30am. This is a yearly Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce event that draws out locals, visitors, shops and the community to gather and share in some fun during the winter months.
Starting at 10am make sure to stop by the Southshire Community School for free cookie decorating and a book sale at the McCullough Library. Head Start will be doing photo ops and making snacks. Taraden will be doing pony rides.
One of the main attractions will be the Lake Paran Plunge also known as the Penguin Plunge! The Lake Paran volunteers will be doing a full pancake breakfast at 8:30am served by the Cub Scouts and the plunge at 11am. Looking to plunge? Sign up online at Bennington.com/winterfest.
The Friends of the John G. McCullough Free Library will host a pop-up book and media sale from 10:00AM - 2:00PM. This sale features high quality used books at low prices, rare and antiquarian books, DVDs and CDs. Sale specials will be announced throughout the day. All proceeds from the sale directly fund library programs, materials and services.
The Left Bank will have massages, acupuncture and Winterfest sponsor Power Guru will be doing a solar display fair with electric car rides, wine and beer and cheese tasting 11am – 3pm.
A special feature of the Winter Festival is the NorShaft Lions 9th Annual Chili Fest. This is an opportunity to sample some of the over 25 different chilies from the traditional beef (hot, medium and mild) to chicken, turkey, venison, vegetarian, white, corn, chocolate dessert chili, etc. The Chili Fest takes place at St. John the Baptist Church Community Hall from 11:30am - 1:30pm. The Girl Scouts will also be on site with a bake sale at the church
The Village School of North Bennington is hosting a Winter Carnival between 11:30 – 4:00. The school will be filled with all sorts of fun activities for both children and adults. Kids can enjoy interactive STEM games, a bounce house, carnival food, glitter tattoos, games of skill and chance, a video game tournament, and much more while adults can shop at our Used Book Sale and well-stocked White Elephant Sale. Admission is free but tickets for the various fun venues are 10 for $5, 25 for $10 or 55 for $20.
Park-McCullough House is excited to join the North Bennington Winterfest tradition this year! They will be hosting snowman building and a fire pit with all the fixings for s'mores. They will be in front of the big house from 12pm to 3pm with supplies. This event is free and open to all.
Local restaurants will be warming the crowd and feeding hungry bellies. Kevin's Sports Pub and Restaurant will be having their pig roast event: Beer, Bourbon, BBQ and Bacon. Pangaea will serve craft cocktails to warm you up served all night along and early bird dinner specials starting at 5pm.
Powers Market will once again be doing spirits tasting and cheese tasting this year. They will be partnering with Spirits of Old Bennington to offer a tasting of the distillery’s line of Gins, Rums, and Whiskeys.
Weather permitting, a wagon ride will stop at each of the sites around the village and bonfires are set up throughout the village to keep everyone warm. Taraden will also be offering pony rides from 12pm – 3pm for $5. A winter art show by the Bennington Area Arts Council will be taking place at the train station from 12pm – 3pm.
Sponsors of the event include Whitman’s Feedstore, North Bennington Variety (who will be serving $1 hot drinks all day), Power Guru and the Bennington Banner.
Maps and information will be available at various locations around North Bennington including the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce membership and welcome center on Veterans Memorial Drive. Let's turn out and enjoy this day of fun with family and friends!
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Photos: 2015 Penguin Plunge at Lake Paran
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