Bayfield's Winter Festival "celebrates snow, ice and cabin fever" March 1-3

Bayfield Winter Festival celebrates snow, ice and cabin fever
while supporting local organizations March 1-3

There aren't many places where you can don a fish suit or ballerina outfit and have people pay you to jump into a giant hole in frigid Lake Superior. The Bayfield Winter Festival, sponsored by Wausau Homes, is one of those places, and it's all for a good cause.

The weekend of March 1-3, Bayfield, Wisconsin will be "celebrating snow, ice and cabin fever" during its 8th Annual Bayfield Winter Festival. While many of the featured activites will directly benefit local non-profit organizations like the Bayfield Area Recreation Center and Mt. Ashwabay Ski and Recreation Area, others are just plain crazy and fun. Major events throughout the weekend include a Polar Plunge in Lake Superior, the WinterDASH and WinterBASH at Mt. Ashwabay, and the Run on Water from Bayfield to Madeline Island.

Events kick off on Friday afternoon with downtown shopping, a Freeze Your Glass Off Deck Party at the Bayfield Inn, pickup broomball games on Lake Superior, and a candlelight walk on the Brownstone Trail.

Saturday's Polar Bear Plunge is perhaps the most dramatic of the weekend's activities, with hundreds of spectators gathering to cheer on brave souls as they jump into the 33-degree lake water. Many participants don flamboyant costumes and perform acrobatic dives to vie for event prizes. The Plunge takes place at the bottom of Rittenhouse Ave (behind the Bayfield Inn) at 12:30pm - cameras are recommended!

Mt. Ashwabay WinterDASH Bayfield Winter Festival

Mt. Ashwabay's WinterDASH is a 5K winter obstacle course that is both challenging and fun with the motto "no gear - just guts". Participants will climb, crawl, carry and scramble their way through 200 acres to the grand finale - a tube ride to the finish line. The DASH starts at 3:30pm on Saturday. Participants and spectators alike can then celebrate in style at the Mt. Ashwabay WinterBASH, from 5pm to 9pm. Amenities include a giant bonfire, local beer, chili dogs, and three live bands: Dan Walkner, The Ringtones, and the Lordes of Baltimore performing inside a heated pole barn. There will also be tubing, horse-drawn sleigh rides, and an evening cross-country ski amid the sparkle of hundreds of luminaries placed on Mt Ashwabay's trails. Visit www.mtashwabay.org for additional BASH and ski hill information.

Adventurous festival-goers can round off the weekend with a "Run On Water." This much-anticipated event starts at 11:15am on Sunday. Participants will run, ski, skate, bike or skijor, traversing the famous "ice road" across Lake Superior for 4.5 miles to Madeline Island and back. As long as it's a non-motorized mode of transportation - anything goes!

Many other activities will take place throughout the weekend including the Big Ice Golf on Madeline Island, a children's penguin egg hunt at the Bayfield Area Recreation Center, kiteboarding, a Pajama Breakfast at the Egg Toss restaurant, plus downhill and cross-country skiing and snowboarding at Mt. Ashwabay Recreation Area.

For more information about the 8th Annual Bayfield Winter Festival, please visit www.bayfieldwinterfestival.com or Bayfield Winter Festival on Facebook.