GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Great Skate Winterfest is returning to downtown Grand Rapids for the 19th year and there will be plenty of people to meet and things to do.
Beginning on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 10 p.m. and running through Sunday, Jan. 28 at 10 p.m., Rosa Parks Circle will be bustling with winter fun for a full 24 hours.
The festival is being held to raise money for the Griffins Youth Foundation through donations sponsoring Griffins players in the marathon or fundraising with family and friends.
Randy Cleves, vice president of communications for the Griffins, said there are currently over 500 children skating in the program. Kids in the program can participate in co-ed hockey teams for boys and girls from first through 12th grade, a girls' high school division and a learn-to-skate program.
"A lot of our kids are underprivileged, underserved, at risk, they have other kinds of special needs, and otherwise wouldn't be able to play hockey if it weren't for the foundation," Cleves said.
There will be a skating marathon running for the duration of the festival with each Griffins player and coach skating for at least an hour.
"It's an opportunity to come down, three in the morning, eight in the morning, whatever your pleasure is, if you're a night owl if you're a morning person to come down here and have the chance to skate with a Griffin," Cleves said.
There's free admission for the festival, but there is a skating fee of $4 for adults and $2 for kids. Skate rental is free.
When each player is skating and how to sponsor them can be found here.
When you're ready to get out of the cold, warm food and drinks can be found inside a heated tent.
Other sports are joining in on the fun, and you can meet Grand Rapids Rise volleyball players Claire Chaussee and Emiliya Dimitrova at the festival from 1-3 p.m.
There will also be horse-drawn carriage rides from 1-4 p.m. The rides are 10 minutes long and $5 per person.
During the event, there will be an online auction where the community can bid on more than 125 items, including sports memorabilia, brewery certificates and concert tickets.
"It takes a lot to make this happen," Cleves said. "We depend on a lot of volunteers both for the foundation and the Great Skate itself to put it on. So it's really, you know, the community all coming together to provide these opportunities for the kids."
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