Ullr Fest 2012
For decades Breckenridge has been in the myth-making business – creating greatly memorable vacations, fantasy-good lifestyles for locals and loose-yourself getaways for seasonal inhabitants. Never is this myth making more apparent than in January when, giddy with leftover holiday cheer, the town puts on another installment of the pageant of Ullr.
For 49 years, we’ve pretended Ullr Fest was some kind of ancient ritual from the nebulous old country and Ullr was the Norse god of snow.
Not that we adore false idols here. We simply know we’re crazy to be living in a place where snow can pile up so high it meets the snow sliding from the roof. We need a winter festival that’s just for fun.
So, our legend of Ullr is a complete fabrication created by ski-town hippies and members of the Breckenridge Resort Chamber, who began spinning this myth way back in the 60s. Every January, the myth gets magnified and confabulated, possibly aided by spirits. Spirits of the kind that are usually found in mugs and flasks, we carry around to warm our winterized blood while we crown kings and queens of Ullr, have skating and skiing parties, play silly games, make bonfires and watch the parade.
We flock to Main Street to chant Ullr! Ullr! from under the horns of our Viking costumes. Ullr! Ullr! we repeat stomping our bundled arms and legs as we wait curbside for this year’s mythology to roll down the street on flatbeds. Will we see the return of the Synchronized Waxing Team, or the Lost Snow Mine and the Rabid Powder Seekers or the Train to Debauchery? Almost certainly there will be under-clothed, winter-dwellers ski jumping off the back of a truck parading down Main Street and ridiculous plays on words like “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tele.
When you Google Ullr, there’s the wiki stuff about Norse mythology, with several spellings and references to a minor god, hardly mentioned in old literature. A god of winter, archery, the hunt, and several similarities to our Ullr: a great physical character, a multi-dimensional athlete, devotee of skis and snowshoes. Some legends say he taught everyone to ski.
After Wikipedia comes our Ullr; our ski-town mythology is No. 2 in Google. And every January, you can hear parents tucking in their children at night, saying … Long, long ago, way back in the ’60s, the folks who lived here longed for a winter festival to stave off the cabin fever, to show we can stay up past Happy Hour, and they created Ullr. Across the white land, you could hear people cry Ullr! Ullr …
2012 Events :
Sunday, January 8:
For 49 years, we’ve pretended Ullr Fest was some kind of ancient ritual from the nebulous old country and Ullr was the Norse god of snow.
Not that we adore false idols here. We simply know we’re crazy to be living in a place where snow can pile up so high it meets the snow sliding from the roof. We need a winter festival that’s just for fun.
So, our legend of Ullr is a complete fabrication created by ski-town hippies and members of the Breckenridge Resort Chamber, who began spinning this myth way back in the 60s. Every January, the myth gets magnified and confabulated, possibly aided by spirits. Spirits of the kind that are usually found in mugs and flasks, we carry around to warm our winterized blood while we crown kings and queens of Ullr, have skating and skiing parties, play silly games, make bonfires and watch the parade.
We flock to Main Street to chant Ullr! Ullr! from under the horns of our Viking costumes. Ullr! Ullr! we repeat stomping our bundled arms and legs as we wait curbside for this year’s mythology to roll down the street on flatbeds. Will we see the return of the Synchronized Waxing Team, or the Lost Snow Mine and the Rabid Powder Seekers or the Train to Debauchery? Almost certainly there will be under-clothed, winter-dwellers ski jumping off the back of a truck parading down Main Street and ridiculous plays on words like “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tele.
When you Google Ullr, there’s the wiki stuff about Norse mythology, with several spellings and references to a minor god, hardly mentioned in old literature. A god of winter, archery, the hunt, and several similarities to our Ullr: a great physical character, a multi-dimensional athlete, devotee of skis and snowshoes. Some legends say he taught everyone to ski.
After Wikipedia comes our Ullr; our ski-town mythology is No. 2 in Google. And every January, you can hear parents tucking in their children at night, saying … Long, long ago, way back in the ’60s, the folks who lived here longed for a winter festival to stave off the cabin fever, to show we can stay up past Happy Hour, and they created Ullr. Across the white land, you could hear people cry Ullr! Ullr …
2012 Events :
Sunday, January 8:
- Skate with Ullr at the Breckenridge Ice Rink, 1-3 p.m.
- Nordic Party & Bonfire at Main Street Station. Crowning of the Ullr King and Queen. 5:30-9 p.m.
- Ullympics on the Riverwalk Lawn. Teams compete in silly events for prize fun and prizes. 6-8 p.m.
- Ullr’s version of the old school Dating Game, hosted by KSMT, starts 8 p.m. at Cecilia’s
- Ullr Parade and Bonfire. Main St from Ski Hill Road to South Ridge beginning at about 4:30 p.m. Bonfire following the parade in the south Gondola parking lot until about 7 p.m.
- Comedy Night. 7 p.m.
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