In honor of its 20th season on the city's Delaware River waterfront, Blue Cross RiverRink will heat up this holiday season with Winterfest, a huge, 37-day celebration that runs from the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 29) through New Year’s Eve (Tuesday, December 31). And it just might be the coolest thing to happen to winter since they invented hot toddies and snow days. 

 

Blue Cross RiverRink and Delaware River Waterfront enlisted the help of Avram Hornik’s Four Corners Management (Drinkers, Dolphin Tavern, Boot and Saddle, Morgan’s Pier, Union Transfer) to transform the popular destination into a breathtaking winter wonderland and pop-up holiday village. 

 

Within the village, visitors will find a 500-person warming tent; The Lodge, a temporary restaurant with food from acclaimed chef George Sabatino; Art Star Holiday Market, curated by the NoLibs gallery and boutique of the same name; and a winter garden that’s reminiscent of last summer’s PHS Pop Up Beer Garden on Broad Street; plus retail shops, food and drink all housed within repurposed shipping containers in a forest-like setting complete with pine trees, fire pits and seating. 

 

Throughout its run, the village will be abuzz like a hive of holiday activities and entrainment, including Bright Lights, Big Santa, an immersive 3D light show designed and created by Ricardo Rivera of Klip Collective. The musically-synced spectacle re-imagines age-old holiday light shows with festive mash-ups of color, lights, hip hop beats, and dancing elves all brought to life with Klip’s patented projection-mapping technology. It will play every evening on the hour, from 5-11 PM. 

 

Surely with this much fun lined up, Winterfest and its pop-up holiday village should have everyone feeling warm and cheery until the frost thaws next spring.