, January 6-12
WHERE: Breckenridge, Colorado
January marks the 50th anniversary of Colorado’s wackiest festival, during which Breckenridge is transformed into an 11th-century Viking hamlet, complete with horned helmets, plenty of flasks, and the Ullympics, which features a frying-pan throw and wooden-ski race.
, February 1-3
WHERE: Lava Hot Springs, Idaho
This gala includes a costumed Polar Bear Float down the icy Portneuf River and the Running of the Bulls, in which locals don underwear and Uggs for a jog to the town’s 112-degree hot springs.
, February 1-10
WHERE: Saranac Lake, New York
The longest-running winter festival on the East Coast, the carnival celebrates its 116th birthday with music, parades, fireworks, broomball, and the Lighting of the Ice Palace, built with frozen blocks harvested from nearby Lake Flower. This year’s theme: Under the Sea.
, March 2-3
WHERE: Bellaire, Michigan
Held on northwest Michigan’s Schuss Mountain, the Slush Cup kicks off with a costumed ski race across a 40-foot melting pond and includes a seal-sled race that sends garbage-bag-clad contestants bombing down a hill.