Wellsboro is celebrating winter with lots of activities and entertainment for all ages on the four Wellsboro Winter Weekends in February.

Next Saturday, Feb. 6-7 is Ice Ice Baby Weekend with a hats off to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics being held Feb. 6-22 across Lombardy and Northeast Italy. Featured will be snow and ice sports like skiing, skating, bobsled, and the debut of ski mountaineering.  

Several free Wellsboro Winter Weekend events will focus on the Olympics. 

The excitement begins next Friday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. with the opening ceremonies for the free “Winter Games Olympics” offering various competitions at Pop’s Culture Shoppe at 25 Main Street. Earn points, watch the leader board and receive participation awards. Skill games like “Ice Cool” targets and an “Olympic Rings” game will be set up in Pop’s Playroom and available for free open play that night and anytime during regular store hours for the next two weeks. Get in some practice rounds and then record your score when you are ready. 

In addition, special events will be at 7 p.m during three of Pop’s four free February Game Nights. On Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m., slide your penguin down the ice but avoid the orca as you play “Push, Push Penguin,” a family board game recommended for ages 6 and up. Celebrate the Olympics at 7 p.m. on Feb. 13 by playing “Ticket to Ride: Italy” recommended for ages 8 and up. On Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. create a frozen wonderland with “Winter,”  a quick two-player abstract strategy game recommended for ages 8 and up. Stop by Saturday, Feb. 21 between noon and 2 p.m. to see the final scores and enjoy some “All Star” treats as rhe Winter Games Olympics closes at Pop’s.  

7 Ice Scuptures on Main Street 
Saturday, Feb. 7, seven different ice sculptures, some representing the Winter Olympics, will be on display in downtown Wellsboro all day. The throne, featuring characters from the Candy Land board game, will be in front of the Ginn and Vickery law offices at 99 Main Street. Children and adults can sit on the ice throne to have their pictures taken by friends and family.  

Also offering photo opportunities for the public is a hockey player in front of the Penn Wells Hotel at 62 Main Street and a toboggan in front of Beck’s Bistro at 104 Main Street. People can put their faces in the head of the hockey player and sit on the toboggan.

The first ice carving demonstration will begin at 11:30 a.m. in front of Dunham’s Department Store at 45 Main Street. It will be a polar bear.  The second demonstration will start at 12:30 p.m.  It will be a carving of a skier in front of CS Sports at 81 Main Street. The third ice carving, ice skates will be at 1:30 p.m. at Nessmuk’s Sporting Goods at 91 Main Street. The fourth carving is snowflakes at Finkelstein”s Emporium (formerly Hub’s) at 86 Main Street. 

The public is invited to watch the ice carvers at work and ask them questions. It’s free.

Winter Market Shop & Sip Event to be at the Deane Center Saturday, Feb. 7
Admission is free for the Winter Market Shop & Sip Event being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street.

“This event celebrates our region’s shop‑local culture, bringing together 35 to 40 makers, bakers, artists, and small businesses offering boutique clothing, handmade jewelry, local honey, baked goods, home décor, and artisan gifts, along with tastings from a local brewery, two wineries, and a distillery,” said Nicole Hilfiger, owner of Urban Daisy Boutique.

“Many of our vendors also participate in Mansfield’s Final Friday Markets, and several are members of the Crossroads Collective artisan store in Mansfield.

“My boutique has hosted smaller Shop & Sip pop‑ups for several years, and the community support behind those events helped the idea grow into a full Winter Market,” Hilfiger said. :We outgrew the Mansfield spaces we had been using and moving to the Deane Center in Wellsboro allows us to welcome 35 to 40 local vendors — two to three times more than before — with free admission and two levels of shopping, in the lobby and the elevator-accessible Grand Community Room.”

The other three Winter Weekends are: Feb. 13-14 Ice and Spice, Feb. 20-22 Lights, Canvas, Actions and Feb. 27-March 1 Crafts and Cuisine. 

FYI:
For information about all four Wellsboro Winter Weekends, visit the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.wellsoboropa.com, email info@wellsboropa.com or call 570-724-1926.