Schuylkill County WinterFest kicks off

Iyee Jagne
·2 min read

POTTSVILLE, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A local outdoor WinterFest is back for the first time in years in Schuylkill County and despite the freezing cold temperatures, dozens in the community made sure to come out and celebrate.

Despite the cold weather this morning people still came out to WinterFest in Pottsville.

WinterFest is back for the first time since the pandemic and is being put on by the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

“We wanted to do a community-based event. We looked at all the options and one of the options was to restore WinterFest to bring it back since it hadn’t been done since the pandemic,” said Robert Carl the president & CEO of Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

The crowd was on the smaller side but that did not stop those who showed up to have a good time. There was also a chili competition indoors where people could warm up with a hot bowl.

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“Whatever the attendance is it is, we realize that this is a colder week and probably we expected but you know you could’ve been 50° and then people would’ve probably asked the question why is it WinterFest,” explained Carl.

This was also a way to help out local businesses while getting out into the community.

“January typically tends to be kind of slow and you know everybody’s cold and wants to stay inside so we’re trying to get everyone out into the businesses out into the community and have a good time,” added Samantha Chivinski the Vice President of Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

One man says regularly of the weather he’s happy to be outside and enjoying a local event, after not being able to during the pandemic.

“It’s really strange when nobody’s doing things or you know everything being postponed so it’s great it’s great that things are getting back to normal and things like this like people feel comfortable and back to normal,” says Michael Bolinsky from Pottsville.

One thing is for sure the weather did fit the theme.

“We certainly have winter we certainly have snow and we have cold and it’s an opportunity to enjoy and I think people can expect that when they come out and if you are truthfully wearing the appropriate clothing, I think it’s very enjoyable,” continued Carl.

WinterFest will go on until 7:00 po.m. , so if anyone wants to stop by you still have a chance.

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