
Vermont Winter Carnivals to Celebrate the Season
January 20, 2025
Ski jumping, a wood sawing competition and a nine-mile sleigh ride were some highlights of the first Chester Winter Carnival in 1922.
The sleigh ride to Rockingham and back brought locals to a supper and dance at the Rockingham Grange Hall. The night ran long that particular year, and carnival revelers wouldn’t return to Chester by sleigh until 2 a.m.
The Chester Winter Carnival remains a local tradition, featuring wintery activities like sledding, skating and horse-drawn sleigh rides (but no late-night excursions!).
-The Chester Winter Carnival in 1940. Courtesy of the Chester Historical Society.
Long-Ago Winter Carnivals in Vermont
Besides Chester, other Vermont winter carnivals were happening in the 1920s in towns like Stowe, Springfield and Newport. A decade earlier, Vermont Academy in Saxtons River hosted a winter carnival in 1909, an event encouraged by assistant principal James Taylor, founder of the Green Mountain Club.
Fourteen years earlier, Burlington’s Carnival of Winter Events, held in February 1886, was a five-day winter sports carnival organized by the Burlington Coasting Club.
The wildly successful event, drawing thousands of visitors to Burlington, came about after Montreal canceled its winter carnival because of a smallpox outbreak.
But the following year’s carnival in Burlington, which lacked the buzz of the inaugural event, would be the Burlington Coasting Club’s last.
Winter carnivals have come and gone, or fizzled out and been revived decades later (like Stowe’s event, for example).
Across the Connecticut River, the town of Newport, New Hampshire, will host its 109th winter carnival in February. It’s the longest-running consecutive winter carnival in the country.
-Programs for the 1957 Brattleboro Winter Carnival. Courtesy of Dana Sprague.
A Long-Standing Carnival Tradition in Brattleboro
Brattleboro is home to one of the oldest consecutively running carnivals in Vermont.
“I think come mid-February, people start to get the winter blues and enjoy getting out and enjoying our winter festivities,” says Carol Lolatte, who serves as president of the Brattleboro Winter Carnival and is the director of Brattleboro Recreation and Parks.
The 69th annual Brattleboro Winter Carnival, held Feb. 15-23, 2025, includes ice skating, a sugar-on-snow party, sleigh rides, a chili cookoff, variety show, kids movies at The Latchis Theater and other outdoor and indoor activities.
“Things with the carnival have kind of changed but also stayed the same,” says Wayne Warwick of Brattleboro, who attended the carnival as a child and helped organize the event for about a decade. “A lot of activities that happened years ago—like the pancake breakfast, sugar-on-snow party and variety show—are still happening. It’s a great community event.”
-The Harris Hill Ski Jump in Brattleboro began in 1922. Courtesy image/ Harris Hill Ski Jump
While no longer affiliated with the carnival, the Harris Hill Ski Jump competition on Cedar Street in Brattleboro Feb. 15, 2025, also draws hundreds of visitors. (Scheduled Feb. 16 events have been moved to Feb. 15 because of a forecasted snowstorm).
Local legend Fred Harris—who organized the first Dartmouth Winter Carnival in 1910 at his alma mater—built and financed the Harris Hill Ski Jump in 1921. Harris started the Brattleboro Outing Club that same year.
Ski jumping was once integral to winter carnivals around Vermont, including Newport’s Winter Carnival in 1926, the West Brattleboro Winter Carnival in 1922, and Stowe’s Winter Carnival in 1921.
But the place to see ski jumping in 2025 is at the Harris Hill Ski Jump competition, featuring a 90-meter, Olympic size jump.
-A crowd gathering for a snowshoe trek at the Great Ice winter carnival in North Hero. Photo courtesy of Great Ice.
More Vermont Winter Carnivals in 2025
Other communities across Vermont are hosting winter carnivals this season, including St. Albans, Colchester, North Hero, Montpelier, Rutland, Chester and North Bennington.
North Bennington Winter Festival – Jan. 25, 2025
North Bennington’s Winter Festival includes ice skating, a chili fest, live music, craft making, sledding, food trucks, a bake sale, s’mores and more from noon to 4 p.m.
The annual community event supports the North Bennington Fire Department.
For more information, visit facebook.com/NoBennWinterFest.
-The Frozen Onion in Montpelier is just one of many activities during the city’s Winterfest event. Image: Facebook/Onion River Outdoors.
Montpelier Winterfest – Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2025
Vermont’s capital city hosts a fun weekend with events for all ages. Walk Montpelier’s illuminated bridges, compete in a fat biking race, take a horse-drawn sleigh ride, or get your kids to participate in a cardboard sledding race.
The event kicks off Friday at 5:30 pm at Gurtin Park for a walking tour of Montpelier’s illuminated bridges. Learn about the history of the city’s bridges and the lighting design.
Saturday’s highlights include the Onion River Outdoors Frozen Onion Fat Bike Race and demo rides from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cardboard sled races for kids ages 5-15 will be at 203 Country Club Road at 1 p.m. (registration required).
For more details, visit montpelieralive.com/winterfest2025.
Colchester Winter Carnival – Feb. 1-2, 2025
The 41st Annual Colchester Winter Carnival includes horse-drawn hayrides, pony rides, face painting, skating, kids’ activities, live performances, food and more. Saturday’s festivities are at Colchester High School. Sunday skating is at Leddy Ice Rink. The weekend kicks off with a Lion’s Club pancake breakfast on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
Admission is $8 per bracelet (required by all in attendance over the age of 2)
For more information, visit colchestervt.gov/663/Winter-Carnival.
-The Great Ice winter carnival in North Hero began in 2007. Courtesy photo/ Great Ice.
Great Ice in North Hero – Feb. 14-16, 2025
Soak up the winter beauty of the Champlain Islands at the annual Great Ice winter carnival. The weekend features a Christmas tree bonfire, skating, games, a snow-building competition, winter hikes, a chili cook-off and more.
The carnival, which was started in 2007 by former Hero’s Welcome store owner Bob Camp, features old favorites and new traditions including ice bowling, tic-tac-snow and frozen cornhole.
For more information, visit greaticevt.org.
Rutland Winter Fest – Feb. 14-22, 2025
Want to snowshoe with Big Foot, sled down a snow-packed city street, or snowshoe through the woods? Rutland Winterfest offers that plus over 30 events and activities, including ice skating, ice sculptures, a snowmobile festival, a chili cook-off, human foosball, games, crafts and more.
Rutland Winterfest has been a community tradition for over two decades, growing from a four-hour event into a week-long celebration during school winter break.
For more information, visit rutlandwinterfest.com.
-Kids climb the hill to go sledding at Hard’ack in St. Albans. Photo by Erica Houskeeper
St. Albans Winter Carnival – Feb. 15, 2025
Celebrate winter at the St. Albans Winter Carnival at Hard’ack Recreation Area with sledding, races, skiing, snowshoeing, an ice carving demonstration, sugar on snow, music, a fire pit with s’mores, hot cocoa, and more.
The Duct Tape Derby begins at 2 p.m. (check-in begins at 1 p.m.). Make a sled out of cardboard and duct tape and race it down the hill.
At 5 p.m., enjoy live music performed by the Barn Rats. At 6:30 p.m., enjoy winter fireworks followed by more music.
For details, visit facebook.com/stalbansrecreation/events.
Chester Winter Carnival – Feb. 15, 2025
The Chester Winter Festival includes horse-drawn sleigh rides, ice skating, sledding, kids snowmobile rides and more at the Pinnacle off Lovers Lane. To wrap up the community celebration, join a guided evening snowshoe hike at 5 p.m.
For more information, visit happyvermont.com/event/chester-winter-carnival.
-A ski jumping competition in Stowe in the 1920s. Courtesy of the Stowe Historical Society.
-Main fireworks image courtesy of Great Ice.
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