Groundhog Day: An Excuse To Do Something

If you’re looking for any excuse to get out of the house, know that Groundhog Day falls on a weekend this year. While it’s not traditionally the most exciting event on the calendar, any enticement to break up the winter doldrums is welcome.

If you’ve been, ahem, living in a hole, Groundhog Day is a tradition based on a Dutch superstition where if a groundhog sees its shadow on February 2nd, it will scurry back to bed, and winter will last for six more weeks. If it doesn’t see its shadow, spring will arrive early.

But you probably knew that. Groundhog Day isn’t exactly suffering in the public relations department. Reports of Punxsutawney Phil’s search for his shadow are a staple of TV news, shown the end of the broadcast to rinse away the bad taste of the preceding 29 depressing minutes. Unfortunately, the action is mostly in one small Pennsylvania town and pretty much over before most have had their cornflakes. However, enterprising people everywhere can use it as an excuse to kickstart a Sunday Funday this year. Or a make a weekend out of if you’re near Sun Prairie.

Their annual Frozen Fest runs from January 29th to February 2nd. They have a series of events scheduled, including their own Groundhog prognostication on Sunday morning, and there’s also a beer garden. This is the fourth installment of the festival and the 77th springtime forecast ceremony in Sun Prairie.

You can still get in on the C-list holiday fun if that’s too far away. Groundhog Day’s lack of traditions leaves a lot of room for improvisation. Exchange weird gifts, write your own Groundhog’s Day carols, or have your hairiest friend strip, run outside, and look for his shadow. The only limit is your imagination.

You can also just swing by the DW Pub for a regular Sunday Funday. There won’t be a groundhog there unless one just wanders in purely by coincidence, but there’s beer and Old Fashioneds and TVs. And that’s all you really need to give a rodent its due.