Westbrook’s crowd-pleasing Winterfest returns for its fourth year March 4 with new attractions added to past favorites.

Along with one of the biggest draws in past years, the 35-foot inflatable slide, “Mount Everest,” festival goers can look forward to a photo booth, a mini market for artisans, more food vendors and a synthetic ice skating rink.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are expected to attend the festival at Riverbank Park, with activities scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., said Deb Shangraw, events chairperson for Discover Downtown Westbrook. In the festival’s first year, organizers expected 200 to 300 and more than 1,000 turned out, she said.

“It’s really fun. People are laughing and smiling and cooking free s’mores while they’re waiting for rides,” she said.

This year’s Winterfest will be virtually weatherproof in that it will not depend on snow or cold in order for festival goers to “break up the winter and do something fun,” Shangraw said.

“We didn’t want to be reliant on those two items for our big event,” she said. There is a rain date, however, of March 5.

Entertainment will include a river rescue demonstration, a fire hula hooper, a juggler, music and a Zumba class.

Horse and wagon rides, caricatures, face painting, a petting zoo, jumbo lawn games, a bounce house and more will be available all day.

A craftsman carves an object out of a tree trunk every year, and this year it will be the Grinch, with space inside it to light a fire for roasting marshmallows.

We’ve tried to include something for all ages, Shangraw said. “We might add on a pub crawl next year,” she added.

Discover Downtown Westbrook organizes the event, and numerous area businesses and organizations step up to sponsor activities.

For the full schedule of activities, go to downtownwestbrook.com/winterfest.

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