Featured image: An inquisitive dog sniffs an Eskimo ice sculpture during a previous Lambertville * New Hope Winter Festival. (photo credit: Lambertville * New Hope Winter Festival)

Lambertville, New Jersey, and New Hope, Pennsylvania, are on opposite sides of the Delaware River, connected by a toll bridge short enough to walk across. In addition to the bridge, these two quaint towns share a love of culture. Everywhere you look, you’ll find art galleries and studios.

The two towns’ shared love of culture doesn’t stop there. In 1997, they formed the Twin Rivertown Projects, a non-profit volunteer organization that hosts a weeklong winter festival with ice sculptures, a paint party, live music, pub crawls, karaoke, dance parties, walking tours, a chili cook-off, and much more. Proceeds from the event go to the local parks and recreation departments; food banks; schools; and fire, police, and rescue organizations.

The festival idea came from Louise Decker, who wanted to throw a winter carnival similar to the celebrations in New England. She recruited family and friends to help her organize the first event in 1995, the Lambertville Winter Carnival. Highlights included ice carving, cross-country skiing, and a torchlight parade down Belle Mountain, a ski resort that closed in 1998.

By the second year, more people in the community wanted to participate, so the Twin Rivertown Projects formed, the carnival expanded, and the name changed to the Lambertville * New Hope Winter Festival.

Unlike most Northeast winter festivals spanning more than one weekend, the Lambertville * New Hope Winter Festival schedules activities every day. Other winter festivals hold activities on the weekends only, or Friday-Sunday.

Here’s the roster for the 2018 Lambertville * New Hope Winter Festival, Saturday, January 20-Sunday, January 28.

Saturday, January 20

• noon—Revolutionary Pub Crawl*
• 2 p.m.—Impression Sips Paint Party*
• 3 p.m.—Pub Crawl After Party*

Sunday, January 21

• 2 p.m.—Kalmia Club Winter Fun*
• ​​3 p.m.—Blues & BBQ*

Monday, January 22

3 p.m.—Inn-to-Inn Dinner & House Tour*

Tuesday, January 23

4 p.m.—Winter Walking Food & Shop Tour*

Wednesday, January 24

7 p.m.—Winter Fest ​”Jamaican Jam”*

Thursday, January 25

7 p.m.—Taste of Winter Fest*

Friday, January 26

• 6 p.m.—Pre-Concert Reception*
• 8 p.m.—Concert*

Saturday, January 27

• 8 a.m.—Winter Bird Walk
• 10 a.m.—Lunch and Snack and Tucker’s Tales Puppet Theater
• ​11 a.m.—Gallery Crawl and Ballet Time
• noon—Musical Pub Crawl*
• 1 p.m.—Beef ‘n’ Brew*, Theatre Arts School of Dance & Performing Arts, and Marshall House Museum Tour
• 2 p.m.—New Hope Historic Walking Tour and Lambertville Historic Walking Tour
• 3 p.m.—Pub Crawl After Party*
• 7 p.m.—Karaoke Night*

Sunday, January 28

• 11 a.m.—Gallery Crawl
• ​1 p.m.—Chili Cook-off* and Marshall House Museum Tour
• 2 p.m.—Canal & River Walk

* Ticket purchase required.

View the full schedule and activity descriptions.

Buy tickets here. Some events are sold out, so grab tickets as soon as you can!

For more information, visit the Lambertville * New Hope Winter Festival’s website.