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ATTLEBORO - Attleboro's Winter Night Festival is on.
The downtown, family-oriented celebration starts tonight at 6 o'clock, but recent unruly weather forced city officials to keep a close eye on the sky before deciding to go ahead.
After months of planning and with everything ready to roll, the fate of the city's first-ever winter festival came down to a weather forecast at mid-day Friday.
Winter weather was needed and Mayor Kevin Dumas, who was under a tight deadline to notify key participants, was finally satisfied around 1 p.m. that he was going to get it after anxiously watching weather reports for hours.
"It's a go," Dumas said late Friday. "It was very difficult watching the weather all day, but we had to make sure we could go because we had to notify the ice (rink) company by around one. We're going to be positive and hope for the best." That company will be providing one of the many highlights of the festival - skating in Gilbert-Perry Square.
Dumas and his team of planners, Mim Fawcett from the Attleboro Arts Museum, Dianne Thurber from Cardinal Marketing, Nancy Young from Attleboro Jewelry Makers and Jim Jones and Josh Perry from DoubleACS held their breath all morning hoping for cold. And if precipitation was to be in the air, it had to be snow, rather than rain.
The last thing they needed was more monsoon-like weather, which plagued the city for a week. Anything like that in a forecast would have forced a postponement.
Snow - within reason - would be fine. "Snow showers won't hurt anything, and that's what (forecasters) seem to be leaning toward," Dumas said.
Earlier in the day, Thurber was a little nervous. "We're ready to go. Everything's in good shape, so I hope we do it," she said.
A huge spotlight is to be painted in the sky with light to draw people in, and if it snows it will be a beautiful site, Thurber said.
Likewise, Fawcett was on the edge of her seat. Anticipation has been building for weeks and she hoped it wouldn't be melted by rain. "The momentum is fabulous," Fawcett said. "We don't want to lose that."
She said the festival has stirred up more than a flurry of excitement on the street.
Friday morning, people kept asking, "is it still on?" she said. "I loved hearing that because that's what we wanted," Fawcett said.
The festival, which runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., is free and open to the public.
It features food, skating, arts, crafts, face painting, tractor rides, music, a jewelry display and sale and a roaring bonfire for all to enjoy.
While the food won't be free, organizers said it will be reasonably priced with families in mind.
Attleboro's Winter Night Festival is the cold weather version of its Expo for the Senses held last June, which attracted thousands of people from throughout the area.
Highlights tonight include skating for all on an ice rink donated by Bay State Gas at Gilbert-Perry Square. Skates will be available for those without.
Sculptures will be chiseled out of big blocks of ice on the steps of the Registry of Deeds. Inside, there will be a jewelry display and sale.
Food from local restaurants, including the new Scorpio's Italian Eatery, will be sold in a food court between city hall and the registry.
A variety of musical performances will take place in city hall and on the grounds of the Attleboro Arts Museum, which will have an exhibit on diversity.
The bonfire will blaze throughout the evening to brighten the dark and warm the chill.
And there will be one surprise performance called "A Different Spin," which will take place near the bonfire.
Dumas said the aim is to provide a good time for families who've been cooped up all winter and to bring the community together.
"It's a whole new thing to experience," he said. "It's very different and special. We're very excited about it."
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