Once again, Durango survived another round of Snowdown.
In its 36th year, the winter carnival wreaked havoc, as expected, on the otherwise quiet January days and nights.
There were a record number of events this year – close to 150, according to Snowdown’s designated director of media relations, so called Media Monkey Julie Oskard.
Twenty-nine new events debuted this year. Based on that, the festival is growing.
“Usually, about a week after the event, our coordinator will meet with the city and the police department, and they do kind of a post-mortem,” Snowdown board president Dawn James-Staten said. “They make an estimate of the crowds, but it’s anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 people.”
That’s a lot of people to get riled up in the downtown area. The Durango Police Department called in support from the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office on Friday night to help manage the scene, according to Sgt. Tischer.
“It was the normal Snowdown crowd,” he said. “Lots of people.”
He said he knew of nothing serious that occurred.
James-Staten said the Light Parade went off without a hitch, and the Follies were success.
While the classic posters still are a preferred method of promotion, Oskard said Snowdown’s Facebook page increased by more than 500 likes throughout the year. Also, “the whole hash tag ‘snowdown2014’ thing seemed to catch on fairly well, too, considering it was a new thing for many of us,” she said.
At least one county resident mistook an article in the satirical-news publication The Snowdown Sneer, calling the county about possible drones trying to confiscate his firearms.
“Someone really thought they were going to fly some drones,” Oskard said. “We had some complaints about that.”
Overall, at least until the final police reports come in, event organizers said this year’s festival ran smoothly. Favorite Snowdown activities drew enormous crowds, and some were so full that many had to be turned away.
“From what I heard, the Georgia Peach had increased interest,” Oskard said about the in-bar golf tournament. “That’s growing in popularity dramatically.”
James-Staten said the chili cook-off drew hordes.
“I was there. It was packed,” she said. “I heard a lot of people saying that they had a lot of fun.”
So, what then will be in store for next year?
“After some much-needed rest, the board of directors will begin to plan next year’s festival at our regularly scheduled February board meeting,” Oskard said.
The 2015 theme is already underway: steampunk.
“Its a genre of science fiction that draws on the Victorian era,” James -Staten said. “Think H.G. Wells and ‘The Wild Wild West’ series and movie.”
“It’s a futuristic view of the Victorian age,” added Oskard.
In a way, one might say that Durango is already a little on the Steampunk side, considering our modern world squeezing in to a century-old rail town: Internet and iPads at anitquated hotels, 2014 SUVs in 130-year-old carriage houses. The train. That’s kind of steampunkish.
“I understand the train is putting together a display car that will draw on the Steampunk theme,” James-Staten said. “I can’t wait to see that.”
Board members are happy this year, and as the Broncos ran onto the field in New Jersey at the Super Bowl, the annual winter festival came to a close – but another party was only beginning.
“I love this community and how everyone gets into Snowdown,” James-Staten said. “Without everyone being involved, this would be just another lame event.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
