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Winter kicks off in Nelson

Over 30 events are set to celebrate the snowy season
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Peter Moynes and Janneke Guenther of Nelson and Kootenay Lake Tourism shovel snow Tuesday morning as part of the Winter Kickoff campaign. Photo: Tyler Harper

Keep those shovels in the garage, winter isn’t quite here yet.

Piles of snow were dumped around Nelson on Tuesday morning to promote Winter Kickoff, a 10-day celebration of everything freezing and festive.

Each mini-snow pile comes with flags, which Dianna Ducs of Nelson and Kootenay Lake Tourism hopes people feel free to pluck.

“People will hopefully take a flag and put it in their office and it will remind them that winter’s here and get excited about it,” she said.

Over 30 events are scheduled throughout Winter Kickoff. Some are already annualized events like the Santa Claus parade on Dec. 2, while others have visitors checking out Oso Negro’s roastery on Nov. 30 or learning to ski with the Nelson Nordic Ski Club on Dec. 2.

The event also has its own version of Burger Week, with restaurants offering hot chocolates that can be voted on at winterkickoff.com.

And of course, there will be a lot more snow to come. Whitewater Ski Resort is hauling a truckload of the cold stuff to dump in Hall Street Plaza on Friday. Live music and some of that aforementioned hot chocolate will also be on offer.

“We want it to be organic. We want the community to embrace the snow,” said Ducs.