This weekend marks the return of Raleigh’s outdoor ice skating rink (The AT&T Raleigh Winterfest Rink) after a it’s successful inagural run back duing the winter of 2009. The rink is located in the Downtown Raleigh City-Plaza across from the Marriot Hotel along the southern tip of Fayetteville Street. The opening of the rink kicks off with an all day celebration on Saturday December 4th from 4-10pm.
The grand opening event on Saturday will feature performances by two headliners, Jaron and the Long Road to Love and Christian Kane along with a special holiday performance by The Embers. These performances along with acts from local choirs and bands, dance groups and a multitude of other entertainers, a visit by Santa Claus, carriage and carousel rides and a dazzling holiday tree will be featured in a half-hour long holiday special on ABC11. A schedule of the December 4th performances is posted on the winterfest website here. This free kickoff event will be followed by two months of additional programming.
Last year there were several nightly events throughout the month of December including musical performances, movie nights, and sledding (provided by snow my yard). Check the winterfest website for future updates, but right now they have sledding events listed for 12/19, 1/9, and 1/16 from 12-4pm each day. As I recall, the sledding is included in the price you pay for skating on the rink. You can view some other great photos from last year’s kickoff to winterfest on Luster Studio’s Facebook Fanpage.
The Triangle Explorer 