HARTFORD--The Greater Hartford community has come together to make sure Winterfest happens this season.
Winterfest is the seventh year of the tradition at Bushnell Park highlighted by several weeks of free ice skating, free skate rentals, free lessons on Saturdays and even free pictures with Santa.
The city of Hartford in the past has contributed about half of the funding for the eight-week event, but budget cuts this year meant the rink lost a lot of its funding, and Winterfest nearly didn't happen. A fundraising effort was launched in the summer to raise $200,000 to hold the shorter season.
And it worked. During the first week of September, Bear’s Smokehouse donated the final $510 to help fund this year’s Winterfest.
The iQuilt Partnership, a group of organizations brought together to rebuild downtown Hartford, was able to raise $220,350 in all, meaning an even longer season was made possible.
Last year, Winterfest drew 46,000 people last year, and many didn’t want it to go away. That was evidenced through the shear number of donations, which didnt just come from corporate and foundation support. Jackie Mandyck, of iQuilt, said, "We had some tremendous response from individuals in the community who sent us anywhere from a $5 check to $2,000 checks."
In all, Mandyck said more than 200 individuals donated over $30,000.
"This is a great story about a community coming together to make sure that we keep a great Hartford tradition alive," said Mayor Luke Bronin.
The kickoff celebration with live music will be Saturday, December 3 at 5 p.m., though the rink opens Friday, November 25. It will remain open through January 8.
For more information on this year's event, click here.
