♪ I'm with Shane Fox, Town Manager of Blowing Rock.

Shane, tell me, how does Blowing Rock celebrate the holidays?

- Yeah, Deborah.

So the Friday after Thanksgiving annually we have the lighting of the town, the beautiful lights you see behind us here.

And then the following day on Saturday after Thanksgiving, we have an annual Christmas parade that's attended by, you know, 10,000 or so people that come up and just want to experience the small town nature that is Blowing Rock and the beauty that is and the lights that are before you.

[bright festive orchestral music] - [Deborah] Shane, what is Winterfest?

- Yeah, Deborah.

So Winterfest is in its 28th year this year, it's the last weekend in January, and it's a chance for us to bring folks here to town, typically in the past, before Winterfest.

You know, it was an off season for us with the winter, we do have winter sports and skiing, so it's an opportunity for us to kinda show off the town.

[bright festive orchestral music] - [Deborah] And tell me about the Polar Plunge.

- Yeah.

- What's that?

- [Shane] The Polar Plunge is something special.

So, again, 28 years of the Polar Plunge, Chetola Resort here locally has been a host for the Polar Plunge.

It's an opportunity to come through and have a chance to jump in truly the lake.

So, typically, it's the- - Oh my God.

- Winter months, so, obviously, with the cold weather, we have to break the ice most of the years to do that.

So it's a chance for those that are brave enough to jump into the freezing cold water.

It's an experience you have to do if you're here during that time.

- Well- - Yeah.

- [Deborah] Maybe I won't be here then.

[Shane and Deborah laughing] I'm just kidding, just kidding.

Tell me about some of the other activities that week.

- [Shane] Certainly, yeah.

We have a number of activities here in the park for kids and families to experience.

We have snow making that's typically here, we have Winterfest activities throughout the town, ice-sculpting here in the town as well here in the park.

So a number of things just to try to let the families and folks that are here enjoy it.

- Is it?

- Yeah.

So Blowing Rock is known for its beauty, you know, in the summertime we're known for our flowers and our beauty, and these lights that you see behind us are just another aspect of trying to bring that beauty through in the winter months.

But outside of what you have here in town, fine-dining, a lot of activities throughout the town itself, we have winter sports, we have a number of ski resorts within the area, Appalachian Ski, Sugar Mountain, Beach Mountain, et cetera, there are a number of places for folks to be able to have activities, you know, in the wintertime.

So the vibe is a beauty vibe, it's a laid-back, relaxing vibe, winter sport vibe.

Yeah.

- And very charming.

I definitely look forward to visiting every single time.

- [Shane] Yeah.

- To plan your visit to Blowing Rock, visit their website at blowingrock.com.