As 2022 was coming to a close the Town of Nederland learned some hard-hitting, disappointing news. The Town’s major March event, Frozen Dead Guy Days (FDGD), was not only canceled for 2023, but was bought by Estes Park and The Stanley Hotel. The loss of the festival made Town staff, representatives, community leaders, and residents hearken back to the original reasons for creating the phenomenon in the first place.

As 2023 began there was news of a new festival brewing. Just as the Nederland Chamber of Commerce created FDGD as a device to bolster local business during the worst revenue-earning month of the year, Event Organizer Stephanie Andelman, Town Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek, Parks Department Director Nicki Dunn, and Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher created the concept of “Nederdays” with very much the same goal.

But there was also the ulterior, perhaps more important, goal of spreading positivity and igniting Nederland’s joyful and creative spirit. And in the aftermath of the first annual Nederdays, which was held on March 24 and 25, it is clear that the festival was incredibly successful in that goal.

A new festival with a focus on families: above, the winning teams who participated in the Mountain Man Outdoor Store’s Sasquatch Hunt take a selfie with the great beast.[/caption]

“A big shoutout goes to all those who helped organize this and envisioned what it would be,” Fisher told The Mountain-Ear. “I’m very excited about all that we were able to do for this first year, and I hope that we have more to come!”

The festivities began on Friday, March 24 at 5 p.m. Parks Department staff quickly set up a stage and merch tent right outside of The Train Cars, with hay bales arranged in the parking lot to block off the “dance floor” for the inaugural Nederdays event, an authentic Barn Dance. Residents of all ages smiled and laughed as Richard expertly emceed the dance while the bluegrass trio Hotfoot provided the musical accompaniment.

As people danced up an appetite at the Barn Dance they could saunter across the Caribou Village Shopping Center parking lot and grab a delicious grilled bratwurst from the B&F sponsored and run barbecue. In the same center festival goers could attend a children’s magic show at Wild Bear Nature Center, or enjoy a glass of wine while relaxing in their Long Johns at Augustina’s Winery.

Once the Barn Dance wound down at 7 p.m. residents had their choice of several events to attend, all being put on by local businesses. Very Nice Brewing Company (VNBC) became packed shoulder-to-shoulder when hosting the NoGo Gilbillies, who rocked the crowd well into the night.

“We felt Nederdays was very much a success,” Jeffrey Green, owner and head brewer at VNBC told The Mountain Ear. “It felt like an original experience for our town and considering it was the first year, better than we had even hoped for.”

Over on East 1st Street the Silent Disco, sponsored by Igadi and supplied by CiferNoise Productions, rolled on late Friday night with three DJs providing their own unique sets, ranging from EDM to classic funk and disco. And for those wishing to continue the Nederdays party past 10 p.m Ned’s hosted four different DJs, Adages, Blue, Canerero, and GODLAZER, who spun into the early morning hours.

During all the late night activities on Friday the Parks Department staff were on the move breaking down events and preparing for the next one. Trustee Jesse Seavers, Owner and President of High Performance Earthworks, helped to move snow from Eldora to East 1st Street on Friday night so Parks Department staff could construct a sledding course early on Saturday morning.

Nederdays volunteers were constantly positive and energetic while standing out in the early Saturday cold and wind, calling out to all who passed by to sign the safety waiver and sled down East 1st Street. The Sledding Course stayed open all morning until 1 p.m., after which, much to the dismay of all those who were enjoying the sensation of racing down the middle of the street, it was quickly plowed so the street could reopen.

Bringing better days to Nederland: Contestants faced off in one of Nederdays’ main events, the Wood Splitting Contest. The split wood from the contest was delivered to Nederland veterans and those in need.[/caption]

Parks Department staff made the best course possible from the only three truckloads of snow made available from Eldora, while also scouring every last bit of snow that could be found in Nederland.

All Saturday long festival goers had a plethora of events to choose from, including a 5K run that launched on East 1st Street, a Beard Contest hosted by the Mountain People’s Co-op, and a Wood Splitting Contest, which drew quite the crowd down near the Community Garden. The wood from the contest was delivered to Nederland veterans and those in need.

Meanwhile, in other parts of town, from Salto all the way to Knotted Root, there were five ice sculptors working on their masterpieces, competing for a grand prize of $500. The grand prize was awarded to Matt Ounsworth, who carved a phoenix out of ice in front of Salto. The audience award of $250 went to artist Bongo for his “Hugging Bears” ice sculpture displayed in front of Nederland Feed and Pet.

Five sculptures competed for two top prizes ($500 for the best overall as determined by the judges and $250 for the audience award based on votes). They were given two blocks of ice and had six hours to create a sculpture that had something to do with our area, was executed with precision, had artistic composition quality, and made you go “wow!” Above: Matt Ounsworth - Salto Coffee, “Phoenix” Overall winner. PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEDERDAYS[/caption]

The Nederland Fire Department hosted demonstrations outside the Boulder Creek Lodge, and the Nederland Community Library provided homesteading skills classes where festival goers could learn candle making and soap making skills.

There were other hands-on classes available for both adults and kids as well, such as pottery making at Spinning Silica, and a Kids Writing Competition being held at Blue Owl.

One of Nederland’s newest businesses, Mountain Goat Tees, celebrated their grand opening the very same weekend as Nederdays. Owners Nance and Stephen Mathews were ecstatic to open the doors to their Ned-centric T-shirt shop on the very first day of the very first Nederdays. Their store offers locally made, Peak-to-Peak inspired T-shirts and hoodies, as well as stickers, toys, and tons of fun memorabilia.

“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Nance Mathews confessed to The Mountain Ear. “It feels like a privilege,” she said, when asked how it felt to open her store during a new festival.

Boogie Records celebrated their 4th Anniversary during Nederdays by raffling off many amazing prizes, including a custom cake made by Natalie Duplessy of Peace, Love, and Cake. Peace, Love, and Cake was also present at VNBC selling warm apple, blueberry, and peach cobblers while the bands Reservoir Fog and Mountain Reverb played to a packed house. Duplessy also hosted the BOT Pie Throwing event.

Mayor Billy Giblin, Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald, Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail, and Trustee Nichole Sterling lined up for Nederland residents to show their appreciation for their representatives by throwing cream pies in their faces. This event was one of several opportunities for residents to donate money to the Nederland Area Youth Activities Scholarship Fund, which was created by Nicki Dunn and the Parks Department.

The Hot Cocoa Trail was also a family oriented activity aimed at raising money to help fund attendance to camps and other outdoor activities for Nederland youth. Five dollars got attendees a complimentary Nederdays mug which could be brought to Kaleidoscope Kitchen, Mountain People’s Co-op, New Moon, Salto, and The Train Cars for refills of fresh hot cocoa.

“We sold all our mugs, it was a huge hit and that was nice to see,” Fisher said, noting that Nederdays’ focus on family friendly events, as opposed to an alcohol-heavy festival, was a big part of its success.

Despite the road being closed for half the day, most East 1st Street businesses reported having a busy Saturday, especially for March. However, comparatively the busy Saturday did not equate to as much revenue typically earned by businesses during FDGD, which brought tens of thousands of people to Nederland each year. Nederdays was only planned for roughly 500 to 1,000 attendees.

Weather was also a factor as several retail businesses hypothesized that festival attendance may have been lower than expected due to the bitingly frigid breezes that cut through town all day Saturday.

Some businesses, such as Mountain Man Outdoor Store, reported a 10% increase in their weekend sales averaged over the last few months, which, especially for retail businesses in town, are some of the hardest months of the year. Restaurants reported having busy, lucrative weekends, but made no indication of their Friday or Saturday business being any higher than average. Even restaurants who hosted live music or events, like Busey Brews and Kathmandu, reported just normal weekends with decent revenue.

Nederdays, as a new concept, advertised only within a tight radius in the Peak-to-Peak region and was never intended to draw the same crowd as FDGD.

“Just on crude observation, it seemed about 80% locals,” Green stated, though he shared the sentiment of several business owners that Nederdays’ focus on locals was a benefit. “It provided a great opportunity for them to come out and support the small businesses that make our town unique,” Green said.

Unfortunately the amount of loss in revenue to the town from losing FDGD is still on a lot of residents’ and business owners’ minds. It can not be helped that rumors of how much the Estes Park festival earned this year are circulating and being compared to how much Nederdays may have earned, with those numbers having yet to be released.

Regardless of the question of revenue earned over the two-day slew of events, it remains a fact that the people of Nederland showed up to Nederdays ready to have a good time and embrace a hopeful new tradition. Local businesses each put their best foot forward to come up with exciting and entertaining events to bring in the crowds (more than 40 overall events), and Nederdays organizers and volunteers worked diligently to perfectly execute main events in town and to circulate foot traffic throughout Nederland.

“I’d say just the general positivity of the entire weekend felt like we had hit upon something very cool for our town,” Green concluded.

There are some things that have come and gone that can not be replaced. The loss of such things is hard to accept, but the fact remains that they are truly gone. Nederland’s spirit and strength does not lie solely within that which has been lost, but is in its willingness to pick up the pieces and continue on.

Nederdays has the opportunity to become the phoenix born from the ashes of FDGD, as long as it is eventually accepted that Nederdays is also its own animal, not meant to be compared to what we once knew. Nederdays, in its first year, may not yet be embraced in this way, but the work has been done to create a solid foundation that, with the continued support of hardworking and industrious Nedheads, can be used to lift the town up for years to come.