Southold’s 4th annual WinterFest returns this Saturday, Feb. 8 from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. with a full schedule of free events and activities for the community.
Main Road in Southold Village will be closed to traffic from Horton’s Lane to Youngs Avenue and will feature over 50 displays from local businesses and organizations, food trucks, free samples of food and drink from local restaurants and live music.
The Southold Town Economic Development Committee came up with the idea for WinterFest in an effort to provide a fun community event that would stimulate business in the quiet winter months.
The festival, which began in 2022 with a couple of hundred attendees, “has grown to become a much-anticipated event,” says Brian Q. Smith, Winterfest’s operations coordinator. Jennifer Del Vaglio of East End Pool King, and a member of the Southold EDC, “is the driving force behind the festival,” says Smith.
This year, the committee expects about 2,000 visitors in Southold.
Music and dance performances throughout the day will include DJ Phil, the Eastern Long Island Old Time Jam, the Greg Humphreys Band, the Gunk Band, the HooDoo Loungers, Lady T Dance Troupe, Emphasis Break Dancers, the Roth and Ruhr Men Band and the Wantagh American Legion Pipe Band. You’ll also find events for all ages including crafting workshops, drawings for gift baskets, face painting, ice carvings, a stilt walker, hair tinseling and popcorn stations.
If your crew is ready for lunch there’s lots of options, including four food trucks: Braun Seafood, Nonna’s Pasta Truck, Beleza Brazilian BBQ, and NoFo Flour Shoppe. Several restaurants, wineries and breweries will be offering tastings — there are too many to list, but you will find tables from Southold Fish Market, About Food, Country Corner Café, Maroni Cuisine, McCall Wines, North Fork Roasting Company, Raphael Winery, Eastern Front Brewery and Southold General.
CAST will host a break dancing performance, cupcake decorating, light bites provided by their North Fork Culinary Program and and a woodcarving demo with Gregg Klewicki; the Southold Historical Museum will be open for tours from 11 a.m.–2 p.m., with the shops at the Prince Building offering special sales. The Southold Free Library will have hot chocolate, a snowman craft and other activities in the children’s and teen area, and the First Presbyterian Church will host music, line dancing, sand art, and their famous twice-baked potatoes.
Smith acknowledged that the event could not happen without the hard work of the WinterFest Committee and the support of WinterFest sponsors. “I can’t walk down the street without someone asking me about WinterFest,” he says. “I can’t wait!”
The Rain Date for Winterfest is February 9. For updates and schedules, visit the Winterfest Facebook page or email the organizers at [email protected].
