During COVID times, wintertime was worrisome. Judiciously, the Lambertville-New Hope Winter Festival took two years off.
This year was going to be different. There was to be a full slate of events. But that proved daunting for several reasons. Glen Stephan, the former president of the organization, noted the difficulty in getting this huge undertaking on its feet again.
There are many events that the sister cities of New Hope and Lambertville have that are just one thing, be it a Halloween Drag Race or a Restaurant Week. There may be ancillary parts to that singular event but there is one main focus. Winter Festival, due to its many parts, was a harder task to get going again. But the many aspects of it was what was appealing to the crowds that came.
Scott Walker, Lambertville resident: “I always looked forward to WinterFest, in Lambertville and New Hope, every year. The beautiful ice sculptures, decorations and banners. Lots of fun times during re-enactments, pub crawls and dances. All are very fond memories.”
Prior to the pandemic, the festival included a live concert by a nationally known singer or band, a parade with Mummers, ice sculptures, a hugely successful and anticipated Chili Cook-off, an American Revolution-based pub crawl, a Fire & Ice Ball, a Taste of WinterFest restaurant event, a Magical Musical Pub Crawl, an Art and Antiques Gallery Crawl and other vents hosted by individual local businesses, theaters and musical venues.
Bringing back the old board, after three years off, was difficult. Some board members, after volunteering for so much for so many years, decided to move on. The new president of The Lambertville-New Hope Winter Festival is longtime New Hope resident and nationally known musician John Danaher. Prior president Stephan stepped down after many years with the organization. Both Danaher and Stephan said they are looking forward for the winter festival coming back next year in full swing. The festival benefits the town’s businesses by bringing people in during the slow winter off-season. And it raises money for many nonprofits in our area, like Fisherman’s Mark and the Delaware Valley Food Pantry.
This year the winter festival was able to host The Lambertville New Hope Winter Festival Chili Cook Off 2023 at The Oldestone Steakhouse. Other participating restaurants included More Than Q, Holy Que Smokehouse, Greenhouse, Havana, John & Peter’s Place, Brick Farm Brewery, Bowman’s Tavern, Jericho National Golf Club, Square One Pub, Martine’s RiverHouse Restaurant, The River House at Odette’s and The Burgerly.
Judges gave first place to Oldestone Steakhouse, second place to Greenhouse and third to Odette’s.The crowd favorites were Greenhouse, Havana’s and Odette’s.
Danaher said that he had planned a concert this year but there were issues in acquiring the venue. Regardless, with a full board eager to do it all again next year and bring back most of the old events and possibly some new, they are planning already. In years past, the concert has brought in Peter Asher from Peter & Gordon, Livingston Taylor, Kate Taylor, Jeremy Clyde from Chad and Jeremy. Mickey Dolenz has been booked for 2024 and other plans are on the drawing board.
All parties seem excited about bringing the festival back next year bigger and better than ever and in raising funds for many deserving non-profits.
Local resident and musician (a.k.a. Just Jeff) Jeff Penque always attends with friends and family. He summarized it all.
“We have always enjoyed Winter Fest and looked forward to it every year,” he said. “We would wait anxiously to buy tickets to our favorite events before they would sell out. We particularly enjoyed the variously themed pub crawls each year, seeing creative ice sculptures and our most favorite — the chili cook-off. Winter Fest brought locals and tourists together for quality entertainment and community spirit.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
