NEWPORT – After two straight years of Covid cancellations Newport Winter Festival is back for its 32nd annual celebration, and the schedule from Feb. 17-26 is packed with events full of food, music and fun scattered all across the city.

For the past two years organizers made the difficult decision to cancel the festival after considering the health and safety of the community, but this year the events are back with a festive vengeance: among 150 events, competitions and experiences to choose from, community members attending this year’s festival can sip presidential cocktails with Litchfield Distilleries on President’s Day, catch Tom Petty and Jimmy Buffet tribute acts during the week and turn up the heat on the competition’s taste buds in the 26th annual chili cook-off.

“I enjoy seeing the town busy in the dead of winter…what we’re really proud of is the whole business community gets involved, enjoys themselves, and generates some revenue in the winter. In past years we’ve even sold out a lot of the hotels, in the middle of winter,” Festival organizer David Rosenberg said. “We’re very excited to bring the Winter Festival back after a two-year hiatus – it has a huge economic impact on the business community, and a psychological impact on everybody else with 10 days of nonstop fun during the doldrums of winter. Our theme is ‘Don’t hibernate, celebrate!’ and we have something for everybody, of every age.”

While the full schedule is available at newportwinterfestival.com here are some of the highlights:

Where can you get Newport Winter Festival bracelets, tickets?

Commemorative Souvenir Winter Festival bracelets provide discounts or free admission to all official Festival events, as well as discounts at over 50 local businesses and restaurants. The bracelets are $10, and the Winter Fest website said they could provide over $500