Winter Blast 2025 to bring the heat with new events

ROYAL OAK — Freezing temperatures are back, which means more fun activities in downtown Royal Oak to enjoy the weather.

The annual Winter Blast event will be back Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 and will be full of fun winter activities for the whole family at Centennial Commons near The Rink, 221 E. Third St. in Royal Oak.

“The Winter Blast is one event in town that’s free admission, or one of the only major festivals out there now that are free admission,” Jon Witz, event producer said. “It just has a lot of value. It's a time for people to get out of the house and embrace winter and just get moving again."

Kicking off the 2025 Winter Blast will be a special event that has never been seen before. The Royal Oak Police Department and the Royal Oak Fire Department are going to be competing in a game of broomball to raise money for two Royal Oak homeless shelters, Outreach on 7th and the Welcome Inn Day Center. 

“We are excited, and police and firefighters are excited to get out on the ice and compete in broomball,” Witz said. “There are two celebrity coaches, Ryan Ermanni from Fox 2 Detroit and Erica Erickson from Channel 4.”

Ermanni will be coaching police and Erickson will be coaching fire. The game will take place from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 31, according to Witz, and tickets will be on sale on the Winter Blast website at winterblast.com. 

“It’s an exciting community kickoff to support the unhoused in our community,” Witz said. “We are glad that it is going to be the opening event to the winter blast.”

Ice sculptures will be on display in the Ice Garden, presented by Henry Ford Health. The display will be showcasing “expertly carved, photo worthy sculptures that light up in vibrant colors at night,” according to a press release.

The sculptures will include medieval designs like a fire and ice tower, dragons and knights, and sculptures of the Detroit Lions’ logo to celebrate the team’s success. 

The Winter Blast is going to be a complement to the excitement already surrounding the Lions, according to Witz.

“We are going to certainly turn the festival into the largest Lions pep rally possible,” Witz said. “We have Theo Gridiron performing, who does the Lions fight song, we have specials planned if you wear Lions merchandise, guest appearances, and more to support and celebrate the Lions.”

Another addition to the Winter Blast will be an ice carving competition between 10 different ice sculptors from Michigan and Ohio carving for cash and prizes.

In other ice themed news, The Rink will be free for one weekend only at the Winter Blast event. Attendees can skate for free and have the option to bring their own skates or pay $5 to rent skates. 

Coming back for its second year is the Rock the Mic 2025 Karaoke Competition where participants can compete for prizes.

 There will be 15 karaoke singers who had to qualify for the Winter Blast performance through previous karaoke competitions, according to Julie Dilworth, owner of Fusion Entertainment, the company hosting the karaoke competition. 

Karaoke singers will be covering songs at the DTE Energy Family Stage in the Cornerstone Family Tent; the competition will offer $2,000 in cash prizes to the top six performers.

“There is some amazing talent in metro Detroit, and this is a chance for a lot of these singers to get out there and perform for a huge crowd,” Dilworth said. “You will see all sorts of different styles of music, everything from pop music to country. It appeals to an audience of all ages and demographics.”

Dilworth said that the singers are encouraged to do popular songs to relate to the crowd and get the party going. 

The singers will be judged by a panel consisting of a group of professionals within the music industry. This could be singers, producers or professional theater directors. The audience will also be voting. 

Last year the Winter Blast included a medieval village, which will be making another appearance this year with expanded hours and more adventures. 

New to the festival will be animatronic dragons covered in lights that are intended to add to the whimsy of the medieval village. Michigan’s own Knights of the New Order, a renowned medieval jousting team, will be performing for attendees. 

Returning to the medieval village experience is the quest to recover a stolen dragon egg. This activity is for kids and adults, and those who successfully complete the challenge will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a weekend getaway at Soaring Eagle Waterpark. 

Throughout the weekend there will be multiple hands-on activities for all to enjoy, including archery, ax throwing, interactive storytelling and a knighting ceremony. 

Delirio del’Arte will be performing, a group of “professional idiots” that specialize in juggling, magic, comedic improv, fire manipulation and more, according to a press release. 

At 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 will be one of the highlights of the event, when the village ice tower will be set ablaze.  

Thrill seekers can enjoy the 34-foot-high, 300-foot-long zip line that will go over Centennial Commons. Tickets for the zip line are available at $15 each or two for $25. 

Local artists, bands and fan favorites will be performing in the M3 Investment Services Comfort Zone every day of the event. 

Winter Blast will also have a House of Dank Comfort Zone including the House of Dank Gallery Stage showcasing performances by bands and musical acts representing a variety of genres. They will be selling CBD, but no THC products will be sold or consumed. 

“There is not much going on in February, and to be able to bring people together to embrace winter, it’s exciting to provide that opportunity to get people out and about after you have those January blues,” Witz said. 

Winter Blast will have free admission to the public from 4 to 11 p.m. Jan 31, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Feb 1, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb 2. For more information, visit winterblast.com.