Bring your friends and family and kick off the holidays with a tree lighting ceremony, horse-drawn carriage ride, Santa’s Cottage, a historic cottage tour, festive market, guided hikes and more!
Carriage Rides: WinterFest includes a cozy carriage ride around the picturesque Chautauqua Green and Flatirons.
Santa’s Cottage: a Santa meet and greet! Visit Santa in the historic Missions House Lodge, decorated for the holidays, and take a picture with Santa. Mrs. Claus just might be there too. Cottage tours featured in video.
Cookie Decorating: decorating delicious cookies from local bakery, The Sugar Cookie Store. Perfect for all ages.
Festive Craft-Making: Create holiday keepsake by a warm cozy fire.
Scavenger Hunt: Explore the beautiful, historic Chautauqua campus while playing a digital scavenger hunt. This interactive experience will have you solving riddles and puzzles, answering trivia, taking creative photos with virtual images, and more. Cottage tours featured in video.
This is your opportunity to peek behind the doors of five charming Chautauqua cottagers. WinterFest 2023 Historic Cottage Tour has decked out the cottages for the holidays! This year, the tour includes the recently restored Mary H. Galey Cottage, long-time home of Mary Hindman Galey, who was instrumental in preserving the Colorado Chautauqua, as well as four other unique cottages constructed during the first half of the 20th Century. Refreshments included. Free for kids 12 and under. Cottage tours featured in video.
Jeff and Paige, have seven albums and have won several awards, have reached thousands of children with their playful spirit and passion for ecological awareness. Using songs, storytelling and interactive play, they engage children (ages 3 – 9) with nature, music and movement. This event blends their nature and science-themed kids’ music with fun/familiar holiday favorites! Expect educational skits, quick costume changes, loads of audience participation, and an interactive, family-friendly connection to the holiday season and winter wildlife adaptations. Kids are invited to wear PJs and bring their favorite stuffed animal.
Tree Lighting
Outside the Community House Friday, December 8, 5:30 p.m.
WinterFest 2023 kicks off on Friday, December 8th at 5:00 p.m. as Chautauqua’s historic buildings and majestic evergreens are transformed into a holiday wonderland.
WinterFest Market
Community House Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
Visit our WinterFest Market and shop specially curated treasures from local artists and vendors. Or find something special for the Chautauqua-lover on your list and choose from a wide variety of Chautauqua-branded merchandise.
Meet at the Ranger Cottage Saturday, December 9th 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Join musician Jeff Kagan (of Jeff & Paige) and OSMP staff for a holiday hike of caroling. Expect a moderate group stroll through the Chautauqua meadow with a handful of stops along the way to sing some holiday favorites. Suitable for all ages. Total this will be a 1.2 miles hike.
Wildlife in Winter Hike
Meet at the Ranger Cottage Sunday, December 10 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Join naturalist, Kelly, on this family-friendly hike to explore how plants and animals survive the winter in different ecosystems. Bring warm drinks and snacks and be prepared for cold and snow.
Enchanting Ecology Hike
Meet at the Enchanted Mesa Trailhead Sunday, December 10 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Join naturalist, Basil, on this family-friendly hike to explore the superpowers of the ponderosa pine forest ecosystem in winter. Bring warm drinks and snacks and be prepared for cold and snow.
Art in the Park
The painted bears are back this year. Art in the Park bear installation starts December 1st and continues through April 16th.
WinterFest Pass
Chautauqua’s WinterFest is offering a pass that includes many activies. With the pass you can enjoy the entire fun-filled day of WinterFest activities. The pass is available on Saturday and Sunday as individual passes or choose one of their family four packs and save even more. Free for kids 2 and under.
A horse-drawn carriage ride around the Chautauqua Green
A visit to Santa’s Cottage
Cyber-Scavenger Hunt with prizes
Festive craft-making
Cookie Decorating
A keepsake polaroid with the WinterFest bear
WinterFest Discount
October 4 – December 31, 2023
Stay in one of the cottages for an extra special visit. December 8 – 10 a stay during WinterFest. Use code WFEST when booking for 15% off. Subject to availability.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Most Popular
Comments / 0