Downtown snow bash Winter Blast won’t happen in Detroit in 2022

Organizers of the annual outdoor Winter Blast celebration say the event will not return to downtown Detroit in 2022 because of funding challenges. 

“We are grateful for the support of the City of Detroit and all of our past sponsors and partners who have helped make this winter experience in Detroit a successful, inclusive family-oriented festival for more than a decade, but due to time constraints caused by COVID and other factors, we did not have enough time to raise the necessary funds to produce the 2022 event in Detroit,” said Winter Blast producer Jon Witz.

Highlighting wintertime fun like ice skating, skiing, snowshoeing, roasting marshmallows and ice carving, the free Winter Blast has been taking place in various forms for 17 years in Campus Martius.

Witz says he and his team are in talks with another “major municipality” that may help fund the festival and bring it to life in a new location in early 2022.  

“We will make a formal announcement if that option comes to fruition, and if it doesn’t, we will resume fundraising efforts in the year ahead so the festival can return to Detroit in 2023,” Witz said in a statement released Wednesday. 

Witz is also the producer for the long-running Oakland County festival Arts, Beats and Eats, which takes place in downtown Royal Oak over Labor Day weekend.