People in Haines for years have been talking about a winter carnival, a big weekend event that could draw people here from surrounding communities.
Like Skagway’s Buckwheat ski race, or Whitehorse’s Rendezvous.
On the face of it, the idea has potential. Haines has better winter weather than Juneau, a bigger venue than Skagway, and lots of room to romp. The Alcan 200 snowmachine race, soon to turn 50 years old, proved that people will travel long distances in winter to play here. And the state fair’s Winter Games shows we can come up with events. Its kiddie sled dog race (I-Kid-A-Rod) a few years ago was an example of a contest that would take off.
The start a few years ago of the Dennis Miles Ski Classic and the growth of ice hockey also bode well for some kind of combined winter event in Haines.
The question is how – and when – to put them all together and how to get the weather and the ferry schedule just right to make it work.
We could see a bit of a preview this weekend, when the Winter Fest and the 36th annual Dick Hotch Memorial Basketball Tournament coincide.
As Winter Fest is new and the basketball tournament was scheduled last year, it was up to fest organizers to set a date. Putting it on Hotch tourney weekend was a gutsy call.
It’s a conflict for some women’s basketball players who also want to participate in snow events. It’s also a potential conflict for basketball fans who might want to be at the fairgrounds Sunday afternoon. (The fair’s annual Winter Games get going at the same time as Hotch’s men’s championship.)
But the timing may turn out to be genius. Folks in Skagway, Juneau or Whitehorse may not come here just to watch basketball or to ski in a race. But if we offer a weekend where they can watch a basketball tournament AND ski in a race or ride their snowmachines, take in a film festival, visit a few art galleries and maybe go out dancing to live music – that might be draw enough to bring folks from out of town.
It would be a big effort for a little town in the middle of winter. It would require many volunteers and involvement by all our groups, including the Chilkat Snowburners. It would need the luck of favorable weather – both in terms of getting people here, and for the success of events that happen on snow and ice. It would also need a lot of promotion.
On the up side, it might get locals off their sofas and out with a neighbors at a time of year we could all stand to be neighborly. And it might just work.
It’s certainly worth pursuing. We’ll be speaking to people at both events to see what they think.