What To Expect At The Cold Front Duluth Festival 2026

Get ready to bundle up for a fun time!

Duluth's annual Cold Front Duluth Festival is coming up soon! The 2026 Cold Front Duluth Festival will mark the 9th winter the City of Duluth's Parks and Recreation Department has hosted this fun, free festival at Bayfront Festival Park.

This year's edition of the one-day festival is scheduled for the first Saturday in February this winter, with a whole day's worth of fun and activities for the entire family.

Here's what to know as you make your plans to attend Cold Front Duluth 2026.

When and where is Cold Front Duluth 2026?

This year's Cold Front Duluth is scheduled for Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth.

Activities will get going at noon, with fun stuff planned until 7 pm Saturday evening.

What events and activities are scheduled for Cold Front Duluth 2026?

There is a full slate of activities available all day long (seen below), with a handful of activities scheduled for specific times during the day.

Here's a look at those scheduled activities happening at specific times on February 7:

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Youth Dog Sled Rides (For kids 12 and under)
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Hay Rides
3:15 pm - 5:15 pm: There are three different activities scheduled during this window. They are:
- Adult Snow Volleyball Tournament
- Giant Ski Races
- Palm Swings Closest to the Pin Golf Competition
5:15 pm - 7:00 pm: "Glow Front" Ice Skating Party on the ice rink

Beyond the time-specific activities noted above, there is a whole list of things available to do all day long. Those free activities include a luge sledding hill, ice skating at the Bayfront rink, craft and activity stations, hot chocolate and s'mores with bonfires, a groomed cross-country ski loop, a sensory tent, and more.

Besides the s'mores and hot chocolate, if you're hungry while at Cold Front, you'll have additional options! There will be food and beverage options available on site for purchase.

You can see the full list of activities here.

The 15 Snowiest Winters On Record In Duluth History

Since the National Weather Service began keeping weather records in Duluth in the late 1800s, here are the 15 winters with the highest snowfall totals on historical record.

It is worth noting that the official records from 1941-today have been recorded at the area now known as the Duluth International Airport (away from the lake, on top of the hill). Before then, various locations closer to Lake Superior had been used for official weather recording data. For anyone that knows anything about how Lake Superior and the hill play a role in temperature and snow, you can see how this makes older records inherently different.

While these records note the "snowiest winters", they actually include all seasonal snowfall from July 1 through June 30 of the following year.

Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth

Source: What To Know About The 2026 ‘Cold Front Duluth’ Winter Festival

Filed Under: Duluth, winter

Categories: Lifestyle