World of Winter Event 2020
Photos and Story by Sara Moore Edited by Amber Ballard
Most people tend to seek an escape from the cold weather this time of year (wow it’s cold in Michigan!), but it’s just not possible for everyone. Especially people with little ones – like me! So, we decided to embrace the wonderful Michigan weather and attend several outdoor events at the World of Winter: A Festival of Frozen Fun. The events were hosted by Downtown GR Inc. and ran Jan. 17 through Feb.16. During this time, I managed to attend four different events with my fam. Check out my World of Winter 2020 Event Review below:
World of Winter: World Market & Game Day
The first event that we attended was the World of Winter: World Market & Game Day. It was pretty cold so we bundled up the entire family and just went for it. The event featured a s’more’s station (which my toddler, Liam loved!!), fire pits for warming up our hands, yummy food trucks, “Santa’s” Reindeer (another of Liam’s favorites) and fun games made of ice. The ice games were pretty cool- they had Foosball, Connect Four, Corn Hole, and a few others. We also had the opportunity to check out the Prismatic on Monroe, a fantastic prism instillation that has traveled the world, created by Raw Design. I would highly recommend viewing the installation at night- its so beautiful! Overall, this event was well organized, the volunteers were friendly and there were a variety of activities for adults and children. We had a great time!
Liam and Brad exploring the Prismatica on Monroe 
Liam checking out the ice games 
Brad and Liam roasting marshmellows at the World Market and Ice Games event
World of Winter: Movies in the Piazza
Next, we attended the World of Winter: Movies in the Piazza event hosted at Studio Park. They have a really cool outdoor movie area where the event took place. We bundled everyone up (minus Mila baby, because she is just too little), packed our chairs and arrived just in time to catch the showing of Moana. This just happens to be my toddler’s favorite movie. My dad a.k.a GPA joined us for this one too. The sound system and movie quality at the outdoor theater were really good, plus they had a s’more’s station again, the kids could meet Moana (I thought Liam was going to run away with her!), and, my personal favorite, hot toddy drinks for the adults. This event was our favorite! 🙂
Liam meets his favorite Disney charater, Moana! 
Liam and Gpa enjoying Moana at the Movie in the Piazza at Park Sudio 
Movie at Park Studio downtown Grand Rapids
World of Winter: Ice Bar
Then, after almost four months of no date nights (new Mila baby), my husband and I escaped for the night for Valentine’s Day. We ate and drank our way through the Grand Rapids Market (highly recommend this!). And, we stopped by at the World of Winter: Ice Bar! They set up a full bar made of ice with themed drinks to match. We also wandered and checked out the 15+ ice sculptures they had at the market.
World of Winter: Paint the Park
Finally, we attended the World of Winter: Paint the Park event at Rosa Parks Circle . This is one of my favorite areas of downtown Grand Rapids. It’s a beautiful open space, flanked by the G.R.A.M and McKay Tower, as well as shopping, bars and restaurants. This event featured ice carvers, tons of ice sculptures, food trucks and booths, a meet and greet with Frozen’s Anna and Elsa (Liam got all nervous when it was his turn to meet them-it was so cute!) and of course, the ice painting. The event organizers let us all head out onto the ice rink with a few colors of our choosing and paint the ice rink! It was cold and slippery, and we all ended up covered in red paint, but it was worth it. Liam had a ball and couldn’t stop talking about the ice painting the rest of the day. This was a fantastic event for young kids and families.
Liam at Paint the Park 
Bradley and Liam trying not to fall 🙂 
Liam was sooo excited to meet Anna and Elsa! 
Myself and Liam with ice sculpture 
Painting the ice at Rosa Parks Circle 
Liam on the ice at Rosa Parks Circle
The World of Winter: A Festival of Frozen Fun featured a variety of more than 20 events for everyone in the family. I would highly recommend anyone in the Grand Rapids area to attend at least a few of the events in 2021. Thank you, Downtown GR Inc., for hosting such a wonderful set of events! And thanks for reading my World of Winter 2020 Event Review! 🙂
Check out other articles about Grand Rapids HERE!
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About the Author
Hi my name is Sara and I am the creator of WanderMoore! 🙂 I started WanderMoore in early 2020 after leaving a full-time job in the Communications/Marketing field to stay home and raise my kiddos, Mila and Liam. I wanted something fun to work on in my free time and WanderMoore has become one of my biggest passions! Thank you for reading my post! I can't wait to share more of my travel adventures with you 🙂
Beautifully written. I will attend World of Winter next year for sure