WHAT: MAJOR ENHANCEMENTS PLANNED FOR DOWNTOWN FESTIVAL INCLUDE NEW LOCATION, LARGER ICE RINK, AND TALLER TREE
WHERE: Outside BOK Center on Third Street, Between Denver & Frisco Avenues
WHEN: November 27, 2009-January 4, 2010
COST: Free outdoor entertainment
$8.00 (includes skate rental)
$5.00 (with your own skates)
$5.00 (children three and under)
“There is something for the entire family this holiday season at Arvest Winterfest in Downtown Tulsa.
SMG and the BOK Center have made significant enhancements to this year’s festival that are certain to impress you including a much larger ice rink, a wonderful new location, and an even taller Christmas Tree”
- John Bolton, General Manager
Families are invited to ice skate beneath the skyline again this year at Arvest Winterfest, the area’s largest outdoor holiday celebration in Downtown Tulsa. Major enhancements are slated for the festival including a new location, a larger frozen ice surface, an even taller tree, and the addition of a warming and hospitality tent. Over 100,000 visitors are expected to attend this year’s festival, open daily (weather permitting, excluding Christmas) from November 27, 2009 through January 4, 2010.
Arvest Winterfest will move from last year’s confined location on Frisco Avenue to an expansive site on Third Street in front of the BOK Center between Denver and Frisco Avenues. The focal point will be a larger 60’ x 150’ ice rink that will be flanked by a warming tent on one end for parents and spectators to watch skaters in climate-controlled comfort. The ice rink will be open to the public and prices are $8.00 (with skate rental), $5.00 (with your own skates), and $5.00 for children three and under. Group and corporate rates are available.
Just steps from the rink will be Oklahoma’s tallest Christmas Tree. The massive 44’ tree will feature 35,700 glowing lights, 109,534 individual tips, and a diameter at the base of nearly 30 feet. The magically-lit tree will provide an ideal backdrop for perfect holiday photographs.
A variety of outdoor live entertainment is slated for Fridays and Saturdays on the ONEOK Stage during Winterfest. Local nonprofit groups, school choirs and bands, and musicians from area churches will all share the stage.
Winterfest promises something for the entire family whether it’s delicious holiday concessions like gingerbread lattes, Polish sausage, eggnog, or apple cider, or an old-fashioned horse and carriage ride through the streets of downtown.
A variety of weekly promotions are scheduled during the festival. Every Monday, patrons can skate at half price with a donation of a non-perishable can of food to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. On Tuesdays, visitors can skate for only $4.00 with the donation of a new unwrapped toy to the Salvation Army’s holiday toy drive. On Sundays, parents are invited to bring their children to meet “Segway Santa,” a jolly fellow who will make appearances around the plaza from 1:00-4:00PM greeting guests, taking complimentary photographs, and handing out candy canes.
The Tulsa Figure Skating Club, the region’s only organization sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association, is scheduled to perform ten exhibitions at the Arvest Ice Rink at Winterfest. The rink will be closed for a half hour on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons as Tulsa's rising figure skating stars take the ice. The public is invited to watch the holiday routines free of charge.
On December 12, the annual PSO Holiday Parade of Lights will take a brand new route through Downtown Tulsa and will proceed down Denver Avenue just in front of Arvest Winterfest. The parade will include a variety of spectacular floats, marching bands, dance teams, and giant helium balloons. Spectators are encouraged to set up chairs on the sidewalks along Denver Avenue and on the front plaza of the BOK Center, and are then invited to enjoy ice skating at Winterfest or the Tulsa Oilers vs. Texas Brahmas hockey game at 7:35PM inside the arena following the parade.
Arvest Winterfest compliments a stellar line-up of shows inside the BOK Center. Tickets are still available for all Tulsa Oilers hockey games, Curious George Live, KISS, Daughtry, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Winterfest 2009 is presented by ARVEST Bank. Live entertainment on the plaza is compliments of ONEOK. Gold sponsors are Flintco, Reasor’s, and Bank of Oklahoma. Silver sponsors include Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino, LDF Companies, Doubletree Hotel-Downtown, Borden, Frontier International Trucks, and Mazzio’s. The official media partners are KTUL-TV NewsChannel 8, Tulsa Business Journal, Urban Tulsa Weekly, and Cox Radio, Inc.
A full Arvest Winterfest calendar with prices and daily hours of operation is available online at bokcenter.com. For more information contact Jeff Nickler, Special Events Manager at (918) 894-4254. For group ice skating rates, please call (918) 894-4242.
Paige Laughlin
Marketing Manager
