By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The span from January to May can feel like a brutal slog. In Emery County, to break the monotony, citizens gather each year for the Beat the Winter Blues Festival. This year’s rendition will be held on Friday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 24.
To discuss the event and what’s in store for attendees, Patsy Stoddard from the Emery County Business Chamber joined the KOAL newsroom to provide a comprehensive preview of the Beat the Winter Blues Festival.
Opening our conversation, Stoddard spoke on some of the new additions to the event as it enters 2026: “Every year we grow, and every year we try to add something new to the festival, and it’s just been a lot of fun. It gives vendors a chance to get out and show what they have to all the small businesses and home businesses in our area. So I just think it’s grown every year. It’s an exciting event. We bring in a lot of entertainment and we have vendor booths.”
She continued,” We have a couple of food trucks that are coming this year. We have Gettin’ Our Smoke On with his barbecue food. We have a gentleman who makes Navajo tacos; he’s going to be there … We have a cornhole tournament, we have a kids’ corner where the kids can come, and they do a painting, and that’s sponsored by Swell Retreat, we have a painting class by Brush and Bramble … So we just want everyone to come and participate. It’s a great event.”
Stoddard also provided a peek at the entertainment options available at the event: “So right now we’re still gathering entertainment, but so far we have Thunder gymnastics, San Rafael cheerleaders, the Miss Emery royalties, Carbon Chaos, and Encore dance.”
Switching topics, Stoddard spoke on the importance of community events like this, especially at this point in the winter,” I think it’s really important because, like you said, things get a little drab after the holidays. And so we just want to add something to the community where people can get out, they can mingle, they can see each other, they can see entertainment.”
Stoddard added,” Our entertainment is always just fantastic, and the dance groups that we have come in are just amazing, and the products that our vendors have at their booths, they’re all just really high-quality, great products. So we’re just excited to be able to offer something for the community.”
Continuing on the community aspect, Stoddard emphasized the free nature of the event: “It’s free to come into the festival. We do have door prizes and different things like that. So everybody who comes will hopefully take something home with them. And then we have a bingo bash. We have prizes for that, and it’s free to play bingo. It’s free to play left, right center, so you just come and join in.”
Closing our conversation, Stoddard shared,” Make sure you come to the event. On Friday, Jan. 23, it is from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. And then on Jan. 24, it’s from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. And if you want to join the painting class, then there’s a QR code on the painting flyer. So visit the Emery County Business Chamber Facebook page, and there’s more information on there about the festival.”
The Emery County Beat the Winter Blues Festival runs on Friday, Jan. 23, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Emery County Rec. Center at 75 South, 400 East in Castle Dale.
