There is a lively holiday scene in Hartford’s Bushnell Park, as Winterfest kicked off at noon Friday.
The 12th annual event brings free ice skating seven days a week, along with other activities. It runs through Jan. 8.
Skaters were already out on the rink opening day, and there are more to come. Winterfest draws thousands of people from Connecticut and around the world.
Some feel like they are in their natural habitat on ice.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
“It’s just nice how you can skate outside. I love winter! It’s like my favorite holiday season,” Taryn Paige Moore of Manchester said. “I skate out here every year, since last year, and it’s really fun.”
Moore, a figure skater, glides across the rink.
“So you have like double jumps, where you spin double times, triple times!” she said.
Local
The attraction is also drawing young hockey players.
“I started when I was three,” Dean Smith of Manchester said. “It’s just somewhere where you can practice skating!”
“We were driving by, and I figured we’d stop,” Scott Smith, Dean’s dad, said. “He was super excited. He loves the ice, he loves to skate all the time.”
Others are just learning how to skate for the first time.
“I feel positive about it, because it’s so fun to be out here. And so I feel positive about it to come back here an skate more,” Jamilla Dixon of East Orange, New Jersey, said. “It’s so fun to be out here. I’m going to be honest, it’s lit.”
They are all taking turns at the Winterfest rink.
“Typically on vacation days we’ll see anywhere between 500 and 2,000 people, especially on a nice Saturday or Sunday,” Jackie Mandyck, executive director of The iQuilt Partnership, which runs Winterfest, said.
Throughout the entire holiday season, organizers expect up to 40,000 people to show up.
While many of these skaters come from around Connecticut, the event also draws out-of-town visitors. One skater Friday came from as far as San Francisco.
“We’ve seen people here come down and state from as far away as Japan, Puerto Rico, California, so we anticipate that we’re going to be seeing a lot of people from all over the world here his year,” Mandyck said.
Mandyck says the event also gives a boost to surrounding businesses and bolsters revitalization efforts in downtown Hartford.
“I highly recommend, come down, and then come to Winterfest,” she said. “Then add one on. Go to the carousel, go to some of the markets we have in downtown, or simply enjoy some of the fabulous restaurants that we have down here this year.”
They are activities that families welcome to round out their celebrations.
“We decided to start our day with ice skating, and then we’re probably going to go hit the shops,” Leo Burnett, visiting with several family members from Hoboken, New Jersey, said. “It’s a nice area. There’ a lot of stuff around here to do.”
But not before taking more spins across the ice.
“I’m going to try to come out here almost every Saturday,” Moore said. “You can see the trees, you can see nature and just to skate out here, it’s really nice.”
A holiday scene, bringing skaters and families together.
“It’s definitely a nice way to kick off the holidays,” Burnett said. “It brings back memories of being a kid and skating with family. I think it’s a really good time to spend time with family and understand how much they mean to you.”
Winterfest has several events lined up, including free skate lessons, a mascot skate and Santa’s workshop. All event details are on the Winterfest website.
