One of the best things about 2021 is that after a pretty “meh” year for many parks around the world, normalcy is beginning to return. Last year, Carowinds was able to provide a “Taste” of both the holiday and theme park season with “Taste of the Season” (which was quite good in its own right). However, after a year’s hiatus, WinterFest is BACK at Carowinds, providing both North and South Carolinians a chance to celebrate the season during the largest Holiday celebration in the Carolinas.
When we talked with Ryan Allen, Carowinds’ Live Entertainment Manager, earlier this year, he made sure to note that WinterFest at Carowinds was about creating traditions. With that in mind, a lot of the elements of WinterFests pasts (at least the current “run” beginning in 2017) are present at this year’s event. There’s millions of Christmas lights, literal tons of holiday decor, more live entertainment than can be experienced in one night, delicious holiday food, and a number of operating attractions, all of which are “oh what fun” to ride.
We visited Carowinds for WinterFest on a Sunday night, and there was a definite chill in the air, which made it even easier to get into the holiday spirit. Here’s just a quick sampling of what we saw and experienced!
There are more than a dozen live entertainment options at Carowinds’ WinterFest, so many in fact, that there’s a better chance of Santa getting to every house in the world in one night than you being able to see every WinterFest show in its entirety during one visit. The gates to the park opened just prior to 5:00pm on our visit, and we made our way to the large WinterFest tree that straddles the state line, to get ready for the nightly tree lighting, which took place at 5:30pm.
Before the tree lighting, we were greeted by Blitzen’s Brass Brigade, who played some holiday favorites with a “jazz-y” twist. The six-piece band played for just about ten minutes before moving to their next location. I’ve got to give Carowinds a lot of credit for the outfits. The antlers? The sweaters? Chef’s Kiss.
After Blitzen’s Brass Brigade, it was time for the nightly tree-lighting ceremony, which was accompanied by a little song and dance!
If you’ve visited Carowinds for WinterFest before, this show will definitely be familiar. The performers are all great, and between the dancing holiday lights, the music, and the “snoap” falling after the tree lighting, it’s a great way to get in the holiday spirit before the night ahead.
Following the tree lighting ceremony, I made my way towards “Celebration Slopes,” the holiday-themed name for the Thrill Zone, to catch a showing of Winterfest’s newest show, SnowXtreme.
This show features four “Xtreme” athletes performing a number of flips and maneuvers on trampolines, with snowboards attached to their feet! It had the perfect amount of tricks, performer interaction, and a fantastic soundtrack. For fans of the former Skeleton Crew show at SCarowinds, SnowXtreme is truly “can’t miss” entertainment. But, if you can’t make it to WinterFest, luckily for you, we have video footage!
Elsewhere in Celebration Slopes, another “new” version of an old favorite is presented with “Four Drummers Drumming.” 
Traditionally (at least in the past and at other Cedar Fair parks), the “Four Drummers” have resembled tin soldiers with robotic movements. In line with the Celebration Slopes theme, the four talented percussionists are decked out in ski garb, which carefully hides their drum harnesses. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for a good theme park drum show, but this was my favorite version of “Four Drummers” that I’ve seen at various WinterFests. The movements were crisp, the stick handling was impressive, and the music was top notch as well!
Check out Four Drummers Drumming below!
Elsewhere in Celebration Slopes, the Rock Shop has been taken over by eleves, who are delivering letters to Santa Claus. The store had been completely gutted and heavily themed to a North Pole post office.
Elves were everywhere!
I loved this letter from Ebeneezer Scrooge that was displayed among the letters from children. Note the brand synergy in the crossed out word!
Not specifically related to WinterFest, Carolina Cyclone is undergoing a repaint. It’s decidedly less yellow than it was earlier in the season!
This not the first time the Carolina Cyclone has been a blue-ish color!
The traditional red and white lights and Coca-Cola branding were in Polar Bear Plaza, taking over half of County Fair. The other half was occupied by Tinsel Town Fair.
The Mistletones were on stage in Tinsel Town Fair, singing a number of classic holiday tunes!
There were a number of guests skating on Snowflake Lake — I’m far too uncoordinated for ice skating!
Inside of Harmony Holiday Hall, another new show for this year’s WinterFest was “Sparkle City Swing Machine,” which is a play on a previous Carowinds’ show, Spark City Swing Machine. Four vocalist were accompanied by five musicians playing upbeat “big band”-esque Christmas tunes. This was one of the more “traditional”-sounding set lists. While I didn’t get the full experience (again, so much to do, so little time), be sure to check out the Saxophone solo early in the set! It was awesome!
It’s always good when a performance can be accompanied by live music as opposed to a backing track, and these musicians were awesome!
Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen has a new location this year, taking over Pier 73. While I didn’t participate in the cookie decorating, the space was immaculately decorated, and featured a number of bright pink Christmas trees inside. It almost resembled something that would come out of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
There were a number of families inside decorating their oversized holiday cookies.
While it’s definitely Christmas, there were some great holiday Easter Eggs on this bulletin board inside Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen.
On a night where the temperatures were a bit frightful, the fire truly was so delightful.
Outside of Holiday Hall, the Holly Jolly Trolley made a stop with its classical holiday tunes that had a bit of a “show tunes”-y twist. These are some of my favorite WinterFest costumes every year, and there’s always some great audience interaction.
Watch the Holly Jolly Trolley Singers perform “Polar Express” below!
Every year, the Carowinds team absolutely outdoes themselves with the holiday decorations for WinterFest. Past numbers have indicated more than 5 million lights are used for WinterFest. I wasn’t counting, but I have no reason to doubt that number.
Even the big guy himself was taking photos with guests!
Each night at WinterFest, Carowinds puts on the WinterFest Wonderland Parade. Originating from Carolina Harbor, the parade makes three stops along the route– one in County Fair, one in Celebration Slopes, and one near the main entrance. There’s a lot of energetic performers and song and dance! (Check out the 2019 parade here!)
But I’ve always wondered…what would a parade look like from the other side? So, I got to find out.
Each night, Carowinds selects several guests to ride on floats in the WinterFest Wonderland parade. I got to ride on the Toy Box float with a stuffed bear, Raggedy Ann, and Raggedy Andy.
We were located near the back of the parade, which stages inside of Carolina Harbor.
Riding in the parade was a lot of fun. I got to practice my royal wave, and attempt to learn some choreography during the three parade stops.
The interaction between the performers and the audience is awesome, and that parade music is still stuck in my head — in a good way!
We went live on Instagram for a bit during our ride, which can you watch below!
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After riding in the parade, participants have the opportunity to get a photo with several of the parade characters!
If you’ve scrolled through all of the photos and videos coming all the way to the bottom for a TL; DR scenario, you’re in luck. It was an incredible experience at WinterFest. The crowds were light, everyone was in the holiday spirit, and the entertainment that I saw was all incredible. If you were to see only one show, I recommend “Four Drummers Drumming,” but the beauty of WinterFest entertainment (and Carowinds’ Live Entertainment in general) is that more often than not, it’s truly a step above your traditional regional park entertainment, and will be enjoyable.
While I didn’t ride anything during this visit, Copperhead Strike, Afterburn, and Ricochet were all open for those looking for their roller coaster fix! I wish I had a little bit more time, because it’s always fun to ride Carolina Skytower and see all of the five million lights from above!
Bottom Line: If you’re in the Carolinas this winter, you should definitely check out the return of WinterFest to Carowinds.
WinterFest is open daily (save for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) from December 15-January 2, and will feature Carowinds’ first January operating days in a long time, (if ever) with one additional weekend of operation on January 8-9. For specific WinterFest hours, be sure to visit the Carowinds website.
For more information on WinterFest, be sure to visit the Carowinds website, and follow the park on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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