16th annual WinterFest breaks record number for attendees

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

When snow comes, and the weather is crispy and cold, staying indoors and in the warmth is usually the way people tend to go. That is until events like WinterFest, bring the community out to enjoy the winter weather.

This annual event marks the 16th year of a day full of winter activities, hot food, music and a variety of different vendors. 

Caledon broke their record number of attendees at this year's WinterFest. 650 residents of Caledon attended WinterFest for all their winter activities and community fun.

“We never quite broke the 500 mark so it was very good. It's the Mayor's basic levy and it's a way to get people out in the winter, bring them out, keep them active, swimming, skating, we had face-painting, edible crafts and regular crafts,” says Alyson Monery, Recreation Coordinator at the Town of Caledon. 

The even began at 1 p.m. and continued on through till 4 p.m. In previous years, the vendors that attended mainly came directly through the Mayor's office. But, this year new faces, and new vendors participated.

“This year, we had Special Olympics, Jason's Quest, who is a local Special Olympian in the community, the Caledon Public Library, the fire department, Peel Crime Stoppers for the first time, Caledon Parent Child Centre and the Early ON Years. The Caledon Trailway book that just launched, were giving out trail maps and selling the books, where $20 of each sold book goes back into the community, and into the trail system,” says Monery, who has been hosting the WinterFest for the past seven years.

Several members of council attended including Mayor Allan Thompson, Wards 3 and 4 Regional Councillor Jennifer Innis, Ward 2 Regional Councillor Johanna Downey, Ward 5 Area Councillor Tony Rosa and others. 

Each year WinterFest grows and grows in quality and quantity of participation and attendees. 

“The first year we did it, we might have had about 200 people. It has considerably grown from word advertisement, marketing and social media. When we first started, we didn't have any vendors. It was just face-painting, swimming, skating and a cake. Now we do a full desert table, hot dogs, cider, funnel cake fries,” says Monery. 

Through fun activities and free skating and swimming members of the community completely forgot about the chilly weather and got to start off the new year with a fresh and fun beginning. 

For more information on upcoming events, visit caledon.ca.