The two-month festival, put on by Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. is considered the largest winter festival in the Midwest and was rated by website The Travel, as one of the 10 most epic U.S. winter festivals worth braving the cold for. But with a major weather event moving in, could the frigid temps end up keeping visitors away? Bill Kirk, Communications Director with Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. says that while they did have to postpone an event happening tonight, the show must go on.
“We do plan for it and we try to embrace it as much as we can, but there are days when it can be a little too much and this is one of those days.”
The festival boasts over 20 large-scale and interactive art installations from local and international artists, all within walking distance of each other, along with food trucks, live DJ’s and street performers. Kirk says despite the weather not always cooperating, over the past few years, the festival has been worth the investment.
“We do track foot traffic and visits into the downtown area that we work in. So last year we did record four and a half million visits to downtown. That is a significant foot traffic increase over years prior when World of Winter wasn’t going on.”
You can learn more about the festival at WorldOfWinterGR.com. The festival runs through March 10th.