Warm weather appeared not to dampen the enthusiasm for Winterfest Hartford 2015/2016. This year, Winterfest Hartford celebrated its 250,000th skater to glide across the ice in Bushnell Park.
According to the city, Winterfest this year hosted 45,015 skaters and provided 567 hours of free skating. A total of $121,500 was raised to cover the costs of the rink’s operation this season.
The sixth annual winter festival in Bushnell Park opened on Nov. 22 to kick off the holiday season and continued for 63 days, closing on Jan. 24, 2016.
This year’s Winterfest Hartford activities featured a new spin – the return of $1 carousel rides. After being closed for a year of renovations, the historic Bushnell Park Carousel reopened just in time for Winterfest.
Winterfest traffic to the carousel increased by 35 percent when compared with festival visits before the renovation. This year, more than 14,800 Winterfest visitors enjoyed rides on the vintage wooden horses and enjoyed the warmth of the carousel pavilion, which is now heated and open year-round on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Approximately 2,000 people visited Santa’s Workshop between Nov. 22 and Dec. 20 for free photos with Santa in the carousel pavilion. Approximately 35 percent of Santa’s visitors came from Hartford, but guests traveled from as far away as California, Puerto Rico and France to enjoy the holiday festivities.
