Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - WinterFest returns to Chestnut Ridge Park in Erie County Sunday.
Temperatures will moderate into the 30's just in time for families to take in winter fun both inside and outside at the casino and on the giant sled hill at Chestnut Ridge.
Families will enjoy live animal shows, entertainment, crafts, winter sports demonstrations, nature education presentations from the Erie County Rangers, and more on Sunday, February 5th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at Chestnut Ridge Park.
"Winterfest is all about celebrating the winters that we have here," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. "We've had a very, very difficult winter. There's no doubt about that from the seven feet of snow in November to the Christmas blizzard and then tp have had no snow here for basically most of the year, it's been an issue because people want to sled, people want to use it toboggans, people want to use the new ski hill and the the lift that goes back up.
"It's just very disappointing when we're not able to do it because it's one of the great features of Chestnut Ridge Park, this park just gleams during winter. But we do have snow, we got a number of inches of snow out there right now the weather is supposed to be cold for the remainder of the week. So we're gonna have a great WinterFest on Sunday."
Guest appearances will include Jeff "The Animal Guy" Musial, WNY Raptors and Wildlife Care, Kester Farm alpacas and the Buffalo Curling Club.
"Curling is an awesome sport. It's for any age group," says Kathy Youngs of the Buffalo Curling Club. "We're going to demonstrate for you how it's for any age group, children all the way up to the senior age. We have 80-year-olds that actually curl at our club. It's a great sport for the community."
Chestnut Ridge Park also has ungroomed cross country ski trails, there will be a family ski at 10:30 a.m.
All the events and activities are free.
See the player below to hear the full announcement: