Hear Old Orchard Beach, and you likely think sunbathing, beach volleyball and roller-coaster rides.
But the OOB365 group has been working for more than a year to get local folks to enjoy the beach town once the tourists have disappeared.
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This weekend marks the second annual Winter Carnival in Old Orchard Beach, and the two-day event serves up a wintry mix of activities, competitions, live music and food.
“We do all our events in the off season,” said Sharri MacDonald, president of OOB365. “We try to do one to two big events a month. The purpose is to bring the community together and show there’s a lot to do in the off season.”
The carnival starts on Friday with a kids’ cookie-painting party at Beggar’s Ride Studio & Gallery from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Then the festivities really heat up, when from 4 to 8 p.m. you can sled down Old Orchard Street to the bumping soundtrack of DJ Joeyoke. This is also the time to enter the Sled Speed Trial and possibly win a trophy and bragging rights for the year.
Next up is the “Winter in Love” concert at Beggar’s Ride Studio & Gallery from 7 to 8 p.m. After that, head to the Brunswick for an All Fans on Deck fundraiser with the new Raging Tide Baseball Team, where you can meet team owner Doug Ayotte and bid on silent auction items.
On Saturday, the action continues with a full lineup of events. Start the day off right by getting the little ones into their favorite costumes and taking them to JJ’s Eatery where they can have breakfast with characters that include Elmo, Mickey Mouse and Snow White (who also does face painting). Breakfast is served 7 a.m. to noon.
At 10 a.m., the street sledding resumes and you’ll also find lots of food vendors, games, snowmobile rides and horse-drawn carriage rides (which begin at noon). From 1 to 2 p.m., the Whackiest Sled Competition takes place. Contestants aim to create the craziest-looking sled that can actually make it down the hill.
“One guy said he’s going to put skis on his bunkbed,” MacDonald said.
Saturday brings another outrageous event in the form of the human dogsled racing that goes on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. OOB365 provides the toboggans, but it’s up to contestants to form a team of up to eight people. One will ride in the sled; the others will push and pull. “It was wicked funny last year,” MacDonald said.
Finally, cap off the night with a pub crawl that starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Strike Zone. Stops include JJ’s Eatery, the Whaler and the Brunswick, where the crawl comes to an end and the ’70s-retro band Motor Booty Affair hits the stage at 9 p.m.
Children get to sled for free, but there is a cost to enter all races, take a carriage ride, join the pub crawl or hear Motor Booty perform.
However, you can buy a button for $10, which will get you into all the events and give you 10 percent off food and drinks on the pub crawl. You can buy buttons at the town’s Recreation Department, JJ’s Eatery, Board Silly and MacDonald’s Garage.
Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:
akamila@pressherald.com
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Twitter.com/AveryYaleKamila
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