Lake Tahoe’s 13th Annual Winterfest
By Jason Reid

Now, I for one am not for skiing or snowboarding, I am however fond of enjoying our wintery conditions from the safety of a warm, cozy room with good friends and good cocktails. Thankfully Winterfest embraces people like me with the same warmth and hospitality they have for the avid skiers and snowboarders who frequent this week long winter event.

This was our first time ever to enjoy the festivities of Winterfest. I (personally) always had the preconceived notion that Winterfest was expensive and just for winter sports. I was wrong! The pricing for the week long festivities are really quite affordable and cater to everyone’s interests (for pricing on passes visit http://laketahoewinterfest.com/2008/).

Our first stop on the Winterfest journey was to the Welcome Party at Lakeland Village the perfect beach front resort in Tahoe to host such a fabulous event. We walked in to the cozy Lakeshore Room at Lakeland Village to find a group of snow-goers mingling about and enjoying the cocktails and appetizers. We absolutely loved the intimate cocktail party ambience and the warmth radiating from the guests (who weren’t afraid to get their swerve on when a good song played!). Kevin Ray, the head of Winterfest was a wonderful and gracious host who took time out of making sure everyone was enjoying themselves to introduce himself to the Bill, Sam and I, Kevin talked in depth about how Winterfest started and how it has grown over the years and become a world renowned Gay and Lesbian Ski Week. Patrons from Australia, Brazil, and London come every year to enjoy this winter getaway.

I was surprised to hear however, that very few locals attend Winterfest. This honestly baffles me! I mean really, what’s not to love? Beautiful scenery, nice people, great events some even with headlining celebrities such as this years International Pop Icon and Sex Symbol Ari Gold (if you haven’t heard his music look him up now!). In the past years Winterfest has been host to such talents as; RuPaul, Jacob and Joshua, Thelma Houston, Georgia Ragsdale, Bob Smith, and Boy George. Winterfest doesn’t just stop there with the entertainment, there is always a great comedienne on board as well, and this year the lucky lady was Jennie McNulty, known for her playfully sarcastic sense of humor and thought provoking insights. Jennie is also featured on LOGO’s new gay comedy “One Night Stand Up”.

Our next stop for Winterfest was The Rock Star Party at Tahoe Underground (formerly Faces Lake Tahoe). Anticipating Ari Gold’s performance I looked around Tahoe Underground and was surprised to see so many people slowly filtering in and greeting each other like lifelong friends. Tahoe Undergrounds’ bar staff was extremely friendly and I want to give a big shout out to the bartender Emma who lit almost all my cigarettes for me! We were also surprised to see HGTV’s Design Star Challenge winner David Bromstad there, who currently has his own show on HGTV; Color Splash.

When Ari made is appearance you could tell the crowd was spellbound by this gorgeous Jewish Adonis. Ari’s music is soulful, fun, and sexy. Keeping true to himself his lyrics are about being gay, being in love, and the hardships that we know all too well. One of my favorites was “He’s On My Team” a duet with the magnificent Kelly King. Kelly is another you should look up as well; her vocal talents rival that of Miriah Carey hitting the same high octaves, but in an acceptable way that doesn’t make your ears want to bleed. We absolutely loved Ari’s performance, but it was hard to get your swerve on due to the way Ari can hold you in his gaze (with those beautiful sea-green eyes) while he sings, this man has true passion for his music, and it shows! I expect we will be seeing and hearing a lot more from Ari Gold, I for one cannot wait until his next cd and show in our area.

I am definitely looking forward to next years Winterfest so I can check out the other parties I missed, such as The Cruize Party aboard the Tahoe Queen. If you love to ski or snowboard or just love hanging out in Tahoe in the late winter months I would suggest taking some much needed time off after the holidays and tax season and spend some time at Winterfest. I’d say: “See you on the slopes!” but I don’t ski, so, “See you in the Snow lodge!”