Four events to look forward to in February

 

Past winner of Winterfest (Photo courtesy of Lake Geneva Chamber)
Past winner of Winterfest (Photo courtesy of Lake Geneva Chamber)

Many folks are ready to say goodbye to January’s below freezing temps and heavy snow shoveling. So here are some events to put on the calendar to help.

Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva Winterfest Jen 31-Feb 4

Amazing snow sculptures will be created along Geneva Lake during Lake Geneva, Wi’s US National Snow Sculpting Championship. It is part of the town’s 29th Annual Winterfest that includes several activities.

Although it begins Jan. 31, visitors won’t see the completed sculptures until that first Saturday in February. It takes a while to have the snow delivered to each sculpting team’s worksite and it takes time for them to carve out their masterpieces.

There will be 15 state championship teams competing from all over the US. Look for them sculpting at Riviera Plaza and Flat Iron Park Judges will rate the work at about 1 p.m. Saturday. In past years, visitors also had a chance to vote for their favorites.

Strolling the downtown to shop, see ice sculptures, watch snow sculpting and enjoy live entertainment fills out the days until the winners are announced. Sculptures are still up on Sunday, weather permitting.

For more information visit Winterfest Lake Geneva

 

Woodstock IL town square filmed in Groundhog Day (JJacobs photo)
Woodstock IL town square filmed in Groundhog Day (JJacobs photo)

Groundhog Day is back in Woodstock, IL    (but also in Punxsutawney, PA)

Events surrounding the famed 1993 film start Feb. 1 but are celebrated with a redo of the weather predicting creature in Woodstock, IL on Feb 2. Suppposedly, film director Harold Ramis chose Woodstock for filming because the story-line location in Pennsylvania was far from his North Shore home in Illinois.

To see where weather forecaster Bill Murray and his station co-worker, Andie MacDowell fell in love, go to Woodstock, not Pennsylvania, a tourist destination northwest of Chicago with a picturesque square featured in the movie.

If in town early in the morning Feb. 2, you hear groundhog Woodstock Willie say when spring will come. But stay to tour the film’s sites and see the movie. 

For clips visit Groundhog Day utubeFor more Woodstock info visit Groundhog Day/Woodstock. For the Punxsutawney, PA site see Punxsutawney Groundhog ClubFor folklore and background on Groundhog Day go to Farmers’Almanac Groundhog Day.

(Photo courtesy of Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism site)

Asian (Chinese) Lunar New Year 2024 Feb.10-25

 Learn about the zodiac signs including yours, where the holiday is celebrated and where you can celebrate at Lunar New Year 2024/Animal, Dates and celebrations.

Although called Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year, the festival is also celebrated in other countries such as Vietnam and Korea. 

Here, in the Chicago area, there are dragon parades and other events in a couple of neighborhoods such as Argyle Feb. 17 and Chinatown Feb.  18, plus lots of red decorations (for good luck) in Asian restaurants. This year is the Year of the Dragon.

nfl-shield

Football’s Superbowl Sunday Feb 11, 2024

The event will be at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the game doesn’t matter unless you are a fan of one of the teams. But the commercials are usually worth watching. Check top 10 for 2023 on UTube to see what was good last year. Peanuts (the edible kind) and M and Ms were still around.

For Super Bowl LVIII info visit 2024 Super Bowl LVIII Sunday – When, Where & More – NFL.com

Good news this Groundhog Day

After the predition. (Photo courtesy of Woodstock Groundhog Organization)
After the prediction. (Photo courtesy of Woodstock Groundhog Organization)

Maybe the handlers of Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania and Woodstock Willie in Illinois decided the Midwest and Northeast US deserved spring.

But whatever guideline they used from how cloudy it was when they woke their respective groundhogs early in the morning Feb. 2 when no shadow was seen, to possibly consulting the Farmers’ Almanac, they both announced an early spring for 2019.

Visit  Groundhog for Phil and Woodstock for Willie to learn more about their history, town fun and predictions.

For the movie connection to Woodstock visit Where Groundhog Day was Filmed.  It also has a link to the movie clips.