This song says it all…so many all of us stars make community events like this possible.
We were delighted to welcome >300 people to Chocorua Lake Conservancy and Tamworth Outing Club’s 4th annual Winter Fest! Between cold water dipping, sledding down the big hill, roasting s’mores over the fire, listening to Andy Davis’s stories, joining Dex & Lucy for a song, activities with local nonprofits in the Barn, and dancing the night away with the Winter Festivarians, Winter Fest ‘26 was a whirlwind of fun.
Photo: Kate Wilcox, Hodge Podge Images
Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for Winter Fest, and we hope you had as much fun as we did! It is our joy to bring together the community to connect, enjoy winter, and support the work of our two nonprofits.
This event would not be possible without the extraordinary generosity of The Preserve at Chocorua. Thank you to Mary Phelps, Shayna Hidden, and The Preserve staff for all the help!
Thank you so much to the Tamworth Otters and Polly Mahoney for organizing the cold-water dip in Chocorua Lake to kick off Winter Fest. We are so grateful to White Mountain Sauna Haus and Levi Lucy for donating the awesome sauna tent for the dip. Twelve new dippers tested the waters!
Thank you to Sue Kelley and family for the snow globe photo booth! Photo: Kate Wilcox, Hodge Podge Images
During the day, local nonprofits hosted crafts and activities for Winter Fest visitors to enjoy and learn. Thank you so much to all these great organizations for coming to Winter Fest! Arts Council of Tamworth for the cutest vintage Valentine craft; Tamworth History Center with timeless rag rug making; Tamworth Community Nurse Association for teaching about healing winter teas; Remick Museum & Farm for the lessons on winter tree identification; Mt. Washington Valley Eaters & Growers for helping feed the birds and all of us, Bob Cottrell and Chinook Owners Association for sharing this region’s long history of sled dog racing, and the Tamworth Otters for their inspirational fabulous display!
Winter Fest needs its performers! Thank you to Andy Davis for telling imaginative and excellent stories to Winter Fest visitors. Thank you to Dexter Harding and Lucy Gatchell, and Siena Kaplan-Thompson for leading two rounds of Winter Songs of Joy and Celebration, and to the Winter Festivarians for a tuneful evening. Gratitude also to Jennifer McHone Villalobos whose calling made dancing a delight for the experienced and the new-to-traditional dance alike.
Thank you to Kimball and Neysa Packard of The Farmstand for providing delicious food for dinner. Thank you also to Peg Loughran of Sunnyfield Brick Oven Bakery for donating bread to the dinner, and Julie Tavares of Batter Up Bakery for donating lemon bars for dessert. Thank you to our Cookie Corps for providing the other amazing desserts.
We appreciate Hobbs Brewing, Tuckerman Brewing, and Moat Mountain Brewing for donating a spread of excellent beer to the Winter Fest bar.
This event was the result of extensive collaboration and effort from many people in the community. Thank you so much to everyone who helped with planning, setting up, cleaning up, selling raffle tickets, checking people in, parking cars, or one of the many other jobs that make Winter Fest a success! Kate Wilcox of Hodge Podge Images documented the event—thank you, Kate!
Thank you so much to everyone who made generous contributions to our silent auction, including Andy Davis Storytelling, Batter Up Bakery, Castle in the Clouds, Cheese Louise, Hobbs Brewing, Hodge Podge Images, Jenny-Wren Recycles, Pots by Dex, Pub on Page Hill, SkiWorks, Stoney Brooke Sawyers, Squam Lakes Science Center, The Swift River Ghillie, Tamworth Bakery, Tamworth Distilling, The Barnstormers Theatre, The Farmstand, White Gates Farm, White Mountain Sauna Haus, Yankee Smokehouse, and many individuals. The money raised from the silent auction allows our organizations to continue CLC and TOC’s work in Tamworth and beyond.