Those are certainly central features of the event.

But the annual dog weight pull is another.

Iron Dog Weight Pull will host the event this year – on both Saturday, Feb. 5, and Sunday, Feb. 6, at Chapman State Park.

Jenna Starr of Iron Dog will return for her sixth visit to Winterfest – and first since 2019.

Photo submitted to Times Observer Dezzy of Iron Dog Weight Pull strains at his harness.

The event has a special place in Starr’s heart.

“Winterfest used to always fall on the weekend of my birthday,” Starr said. “So, my birthday present to myself and from my fiance was to go there.”

In fact, Tony Collins became her fiance at a Winterfest. “In 2018 is actually when he proposed,”

“I can’t wait to return,” Starr said. “This year, it will be a belated birthday gift.”

The event was moved from its former mid-January schedule to the beginning of February this year.

The event will feature dogs and trainers will years of practice. Champion pullers like Dezzy of Iron Dog could be there straining at harnesses.

But, it will also include walk-ons.

“Anyone can do weight pull,” Starr said. “People show up all the time that have never done it before. We will have extra harnesses.”

Of course, “specific training usually helps them be more competitive,” she said. But you have to start somewhere. That’s how she got involved 12 years ago. Her dog did well, so they stuck with it.

“We like to help new people out so we can grow the sport,” Starr said.

Like the rest of the world, 2020 and 2021 were down years for the world of dog weight pulls. “We definitely had fewer events that people hosted last year,” she said.

She is ready for Winterfest … and maybe not just for the weight pulls.

“The only thing that always makes me sad is we are usually finishing up the weight pull during the Polar Bear Plunge,” she said. “I always wanted to do the Polar Bear Plunge.”