Vita and Area Winter Festival is back

A year after the Vita & Area Winter Festival was cancelled due to a lack of volunteers and committee members, it’s back, but organizers say the festival that runs Jan. 17 to Jan. 18 will be a one-time event.

The festival had been running for five years, with breaks for COVID, starting out as an event for dog sled racing.

Last year, the plug was pulled.

“Basically, we’ve lost so many committee members and just not enough people to run between committee members and volunteers,” committee president Jerry Lubiansky told The Carillon at the time. “We’re basically running on empty.”

This year’s resurgence of the festival does not mirror a resurgence of volunteers or community support.

Instead, it’s a simple matter of using remaining funds for one more event.

“This is our last kick at the can,” Lubiansky said this week. “I can almost assure you it will not happen again.”

Lack of volunteers continues to plague the committee.

Reliant on sponsors, it’s difficult for remaining board members to attract the kind of sponsorship the festival enjoyed when it first began.

And hosting this event comes with costs such as providing prizes for sled dog racing and other events.

“It costs us so much,” he said. “We have no way of recouping any of that. We can’t charge admission because (the festival) is spread out over such a big area in town.”

That makes this year’s event a must attend for those who want to enjoy sled dog racing in the Southeast.

Lubiansky said it would take a miracle that would have to include a major sponsor to keep it going.

“The board is not big enough,” he said. “When we first started, we had a group of about 20 people. Now we’re down to about five.”

Six and 10 dog racing teams will hit the trails on both days of the festival.

Sunday will also include skijoring, an event that will have people on skis pulled by dogs.

Other Saturday events include a curling bonspiel, kids’ activities, hockey and ringette.

Sunday will see a pancake breakfast as well as the sled dog race windup and awards in addition to other activities.

Attendees can also take advantage of the toboggan hill and canteen.