Bold + Bright Winter Festival to Help St. Cloud Embrace Winter Fun

(KNSI) – The Bold + Bright Winter Festival returns to downtown St. Cloud the last weekend of January, intent on proving that cold and snow is something to embrace, not run from.

Bold + Bright gets started on Friday, January 30th, and the laughs will be flowing faster than the beer. Organizers have set up a comedy crawl at a half dozen venues. Most will be free to get into.

Visit Greater St. Cloud Executive Director Rachel Thompson dishes on all the side-splitting details. “So, the top of every hour is a new show starting at a venue, and they go an hour and a half. So really, we want you to crawl from one to the next. You won’t be able to make it to everyone, considering the time frame there, but you can jump around. So, there are five free shows, and then there is one that is a ticketed show. The host is Adrian Washington at the Red Carpet.”

Everything gets kicked off at the B-Side Indie Music Cafe at 5:00 p.m. Most shows have two opening acts, followed by a spotlight performer. Other free performances include 6:00-7:30 p.m. at the Pickled Loon, 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Iron Street Distillery, 8:00-9:30 p.m. inside Arroy Thai + Filipino Restaurant, and then Open Mic Night from the Keller Bar at 10:30.

Mr. Washington’s show costs $15, with tickets available online or at the door of the Red Carpet.

For those coming out on that Saturday, the 31st, It starts just as the sun has come up over Lake George with curling and pond hockey. For spectators looking to warm up after they watch friends and family go for glory on the ice, organizers think they’ve come up with the perfect solution. Thompson explains that 10 restaurants throughout downtown are participating in a Mac and Cheese Crawl, with passes to sample the food costing $30.

The entries will range from traditional comfort food to the exotic. “You can use whatever noodle base you want. Word on the street is there’s some Pad Thai inspired [entries.]”

Additionally, there’s few limits as far as toppings go.

Watch out for the wacky racers along West St. Germain Street at 6:00 p.m. Thompson notes to KNSI that organizers are being generous when they call it a toboggan derby. “Really, it could be a recliner on skis. It could be a wagon that you pull. It could be a dolly. Whatever the apparatus is, is what we’re calling your toboggan. And the most creative wins, as well as the fastest in the heat.”

Watching the races is free, but anyone taking part has to pre-register and agree to a liability waiver. The course has two switch points, and each person in a team of three must take a turn being a passenger on their toboggan. All sleds have to be pulled by humans only. No motors, batteries, or engines allowed.

Saturday ends with a bang. When the sun goes down, Bold + Bright really lives up to its name.

Thompson expects hearty St. Cloud residents will be willing to brave the cold to take in the lighted parade and fireworks show. “The Lights Parade, down [West St.] Germain. It is going to be lit up. It is going to be bold. I don’t want to hear that you’re cold, though that’s — you live in Minnesota. You figure that out. And then it’ll follow with fireworks.”

The parade begins at 7:30 p.m. and runs between 9th and 5th Avenues. The fireworks are lit off an hour later at Lake George. The festival wraps up on Sunday with the end of the pond hockey tournament and the last of three weekend performances of Rock of Ages at the Paramount Center for the Arts.

The full activity lineup is here.

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