As the residents of Nederland recover from big snows and strong winds, and Spring begins to bloom in the mountains, the Town of Nederland is ready to welcome warmer weather. That’s why on April 27, the Visitor’s Center will host the Nederdays Spring Thaw-Out.

Early in March, Nederland’s Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek provided the Board of Trustees (BOT) summary reports for 2023 events managed by Town staff. During that meeting Cacek detailed what went right and what went wrong for the town-wide, two-day festival Nederdays, with the inaugural event having launched on March 25, 2023.

Among other factors, Cacek noted that the unpredictable weather affected the turnout, that too much money and attention was spent on merchandise, and that the aim of including local businesses created too many disparate events spread out through Nederland that were not tied together by a central theme.

“One of the main reasons we wanted to do this event was to bring community together to help support our local businesses during the mud months,” Cacek explained. “There were a lot of good things that happened and a lot of less good things that happened.

“March 24 [2023] was a bright sunny day in the mid 50s and the following morning was 20 degrees with 40 mile per hour winds. It’s possible to plan around that, but it’s impossible to control.

“I do think we over-extended ourselves,” Cacek continued. “We had just too many events happening that weren’t necessarily tied together. Nederland isn’t really a theme to centralize an entire event around; there really wasn’t a core theme and having one could’ve really helped.”

Cacek reported to the Board that Nederdays in 2024 was being planned as several small events, each with their own specific theme.

“I’ve talked a lot with other visitor centers or chambers of commerce in other cities that have put on similar kinds of events to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t, and one of the things that came up was thematic days.

“Instead of having one large event, we’re breaking it into smaller things that can be run out of the Visitor’s Center,” Cacek said during the March, 2024 meeting with the BOT.

The Mountain-Ear reached out to Cacek for more details on this anticipated event.

“We’re expanding on the hot cocoa trail from 2023 by encouraging businesses to offer incentives to those that walk the trail, themed around Spring and warming up,” Cacek detailed.

“Folks will start at the Visitor’s Center, where they’ll get a complimentary map, lanyard, and trail pass that they can show to participating businesses for free goodies and specials.”

After starting the trail and claiming some hot cocoa supplied by Ikaro at the Visitor’s Center, attendees will follow their maps to other businesses around Nederland. Commemorative Nederdays camp mugs will also be for sale at the Visitors Center, though they are not required for enjoying the trail.

Kids will certainly enjoy the treats that they’ll find along the way, and parents and adults will also be able to join in the fun by entering into a raffle to win a massage from Mountain Massage and trying some hot mulled wine at Augustina’s Winery.

The fun begins on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Grab your complimentary map, lanyard, and trail pass from the Visitor’s Center, located at 45 West 1st Street, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and have fun thawing out!

For more information go to: https://nederdays.com.