In addition to kite-flying, there will be ice sculptures, ice-carving lessons and free hot chocolate, coffee and snacks in the lakefront Veterans Park.
Welcome the new year with a 1 p.m. parade. Everyone is welcome to march.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Iowa state parks, 49 parks will hold guided First Day Hikes. Many also will offer hot drinks and snacks.
This Brainerd Lakes resort village celebrates with horse-drawn sleigh rides, an ice slide, snow golf and ice fishing.
Two Mississippi River towns host this event, with live-eagle and nature programs at Iowa's Clinton Community College and free bus service to Lock & Dam 13 in Fulton, Ill.
At the Quad Cities Expo Center, there's an environmental fair, with flying demonstrations by eagles, hawks and owls and many other events.
Antique sleighs and drivers in 19th-century costumes gather at Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center and offer rides.
This Finnish fest includes a ski expo, free kids' ski, 5K Fun Ski, 15km and 30km ski races, a free after-party at the Historic Ironwood Theatre and a free fat-bike demo on scenic bluffs and along the Montreal River.
Mushers travel two legs of 50 miles, starting and ending at the Trail Center Lodge on the Central Gunflint Trail.
Play outdoors on the beach at Fort Snelling State Park, near the airport. Try such sports as snowshoeing, skiing, skijoring, ice-fishing, quinzee-building, ice-sculpting and more.
It's free and hosted by the Mississippi Park Connection and Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and a vehicle sticker is required.
This town just west of Marquette pays tribute to the Finnish snow god with a Friday-evening parade, fat-tire bike race and, on Saturday, ski-jumping, luging open to the public and Yooper Feats of Strength, including toast-eating, human foosball and turkey bowling, followed by a bonfire, fireworks and music.
Frozen Lake Harriet hosts two dozen artist-designed ice houses and lots of fun art antics. Check for scheduled events and ice conditions.
A celebration of Wisconsin's greatest products at Alliant Energy Center, with plenty to sample. Tickets sell out, so buy early.
This festival north of the Twin Cities includes snowmobile races, fat biking, an ice-fishing tournament, sled-dog rides and a free ice-fishing clinic for kids.
Activities are on North Center Lake in Center City and in Chisago City, Lindstrom and Shafer.
Time to pack on the calories: More than 370 restaurants offer three-course prix-fixe menus for $24 at brunch or lunch and $36 or $48 at dinner.
Watch sledders or ride down a decorated hill at Powderhorn Park in your own wacky sled, which you can make at home or at free workshops at Powderhorn Park Community Center. There's also live music and hot chocolate.
There will be eagle viewing and family activities at Starved Rock State Park Visitors Center, Starved Rock Lodge and, across the river, the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center. Trolleys connect the three venues.
The winter festival in this Finnish town on the Keweenaw Peninsula features kicksled races, a Tori market, a wife-carrying contest, a polar bear dive and an 11 a.m. parade.
In addition to kite-flying, this event on popular Lake Harriet includes horse-drawn wagon rides, kids' ice fishing, arts, music and roasted marshmallows.
On the 400 Block downtown, there will be a snow slide, ice carving, ice skating, dog weight-pulling, horse-drawn wagon rides, fat-tire bike demos and a mac-and-cheese contest.
The nordic-skiing competition of the Badger Winter Games also is being held in the Wausau area.
From Billy's Bar, watch the start of the marathon to Grand Portage and the start of the mid-distance race to Lutsen Mountains.
This Door County village lets loose with such events as a toilet-seat throw, pie tin toss, bean-bag cannon shoot, smoosh racing and an ugly-sweater contest. There are also free trolley rides, ice carving, a fiddle contest, a snowshoe dance and fireworks.
There's an ice-carving competition in this Lake Michigan town, plus wagon rides, synchronized skating and a chili cook-off.
This village near Waupaca offers ice carving, a lutefisk dinner, ski and snowshoe races and ski jumping.
The festival in this town just west of Madison features such events as turkey bowling, a snowman-building contest, kick sledding, a spelling bee and a vintage snowmobile show and ride.
This annual festival in West Duluth's Quarry Park features such events as a free ice-climbing clinic for youths 12 and older, beginner and intermediate clinics for adult climbers, a fat-bike intro and presentations on mountain climbing.
Watch four races over two days and get in some skiing and snowshoeing on the side.
At Peace Plaza downtown, five ice bars each offer a different theme and signature drink, with ice sculptures illuminated by lights and nightly DJ entertainment. On Saturday afternoon, there's a FAM JAM for families.
Over two weekends, this festival features such events as a snow angels competition, tubing night, snowman build, fishing derby, wildlife tracking, fat-tire bike races and fireworks.
Visit more than 100 artists at studios in the Building 13 art complex. Many will give demonstrations. There will be also music, food and art projects for children.
This car show at McCormick Place is the largest in the nation and third-largest in the world.
There's turkey bowling, minnow races, an antique snowmobile show and a fat-bike ride in this western Wisconsin town.
Listen to programs and go on field trips to see such boreal species as evening grosbeak, northern hawk owl, gray jay and particularly snowy owls. Register early for this festival northwest of Duluth.
The weekend starts with a Friday-night party in Ashland. On Saturday night, ski or snowshoe across Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay on a 10-kilometer route lined by ice luminaries. If you're not too fast, fireworks will fill the sky as you're approaching Washburn; a bonfire, chili feed and blues music follow.
This town in north-central Iowa draws kiters from eight states for its festival, the largest in the Midwest, and stunt fliers will perform routines choreographed to music.
In this small town north of Cable, watch people careen down a hill on decorated bar stools, then stay for the chili feed.
On the snowy northeast edge of Wisconsin, go on horse-drawn sleigh rides and see such events as recliner racing, ice bowling, dog-sled dashing, snowshoe baseball and snow sculpting.
This Madison-area brewery celebrates with the Running of the Blondes 1K race, a fish throw, music, costumes and, of course, beer. Tickets go on sale Dec. 1 and sell out fast.
Birding experts give programs, and volunteers man spotting scopes at the Wisconsin Travel Information Center, just off the bridge into town. There will also be children's activities and an Effigy Mounds Winter Film Festival.
In this little town, not far from Munising and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, there will be potty-pushing contests for kids and adults, a best fur-hat contest and lots of craft beer.
The Lake Superior festival features fat-bike tours, a poker run, a candlelight walk, polar plunge and penguin-egg hunt.
There's a parade of mythical Germanic characters, a hunt for billy-goat heads on the Schell Brewery grounds and beyond and a big party afterward with beer, live music and a bonfire.
It's canceled in 2021.
It's all about bacon at this festival at the Horizon Event Center, with sampling and demos.
In the Central Gunflint, the Trail Center is hosting a sled-dog derby, skijoring races, a bonfire and maple cones.
This town on Leech Lake offers fat-bike demos, dog-sled rides, a snow-golf course, lumberjack races, children's games and craft beer.
The National Eagle Center holds live-bird programs and nature presentations weekends in March, when bald eagles migrate northward along the Mississippi.
Ice carvers compete in Wehmhoff Square Park in the Wisconsin Ice Carving Competition. There will also be horse-drawn wagon rides, live reindeer, visits with Santa and bonfires with s'mores.