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AUBURN — For the second straight year, Auburn’s Winter Festival should have just enough snow to be fun.

“We have had to move some around, but we should be ready,” Recreation Director Ravi Sharma said. “We might even get a little during the week. So we should be OK.”

This is the 13th year the city has hosted the celebration. It kicks off Friday, Jan. 25, with hockey tournaments and skiing deals at Lost Valley. It winds up Feb. 3 with a Super Bowl celebration, mountain bike races and public skating.

Other events throughout the week include ski races and snowboarding demos and freestyle contests, snowmobiling demonstrations, snowshoeing tours, food, bonfires and music.

A lack of snow delayed some of the hockey tournaments in 2012.

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“But we had just enough snow to get through,” Sharma said. “We could have used a bit more, but we made it.”

Events will be hosted at Lost Valley Ski area, at the Walton School in New Auburn, the Auburn Public Library, the Ingersoll Arena and the Lake Auburn Community Center.

The Community Center is the newest addition to the venues this year.

The former West Auburn barn at 115 N. Auburn Road will host snowshoeing and cross country skiing, dog sledding and snowmobiling on trails around the lake maintained by the Perkins Ridge Snow Travelers. They’ll also host a warming fire with coffee and treats from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27.

Parking for the events at the community center is along Spring Road.

The festival kicks off Friday with the three-on-three pond hockey tournament, sponsored by Tim Hortons. The tournament continues through Sunday, with the finals scheduled for noon.

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The Walton School will also host free public skating Feb. 2 and 3 with hot chocolate and coffee.

The Auburn Public Library will offer winter stories and crafts at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 25, and will show the children’s movie “Madagascar 3” at 1 p.m. Feb. 2.

The annual ice sculpture demonstration is set to begin Feb. 2 at Lost Valley. The ski area will offer a range of lift ticket deals during the festival and will be home to three non-ski related activities: a downhill shovel race at 2 p.m. Feb. 2, a mountain bike race series at 9 a.m. Feb. 3 and cardboard sliding at 3 p.m. Feb. 3.

“That’s for anybody that wants to bring a cardboard box, decorated or not, flattened or whatever,” Sharma said. “They can just slide down the mountain.”

staylor@sunjournal.com


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