Rice Creek Field Station invites the public and members of the campus community to its free Celebrate Snow winter festival on Saturday, Feb. 19 (with a severe weather date of Feb. 20). The family-friendly outdoor festival (noon to 2 p.m.) will be followed by an invited lecture at 2 p.m. by Rochester Institute of Technology professor Michael Peres on “Photographing the Best Snowflakes.”

This year's outdoor festival will include hands-on family friendly activities related to snow and winter. Planned activities include a glacier hike, fizzing snow science, a campfire drum circle, catching and observing snowflakes, warming winters trivia, a mammal track walk, snow crafts, and free hot cocoa. Adult-sized snowshoes will be available free of charge to glacier hike and mammal track walk participants, weather permitting.

Participating organizations include the Children's Museum of Oswego, the Oswego Public Library, the college's Department of Atmospheric and Geological Sciences and its the Department of Biological Sciences, and more. While festival entrance and most activities are free, outside vendors may charge for certain activities.

At 2 p.m., the event transitions indoors for invited speaker Peres’s talk on "Photographing the Best Snowflakes,” sponsored by Rice Creek Associates. Peres started photographing snowflakes in 2003 at the suggestion of a Rochester Institute of Technology student who had recently seen the work of Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley at the Buffalo Museum and Science Center. That initial push exposed Peres to what has been a fascinating continuum of experimentation and improvement to make stellar photographs of these natural wonders. Peres will share his story of perpetual curiosity, his photographs, and his methods in this casual and richly illustrated presentation.

COVID policies: There are no restrictions for the outdoor family festival; however, visitors should bring a mask in case they need to visit the indoor restroom facilities. For the indoor talk at 2 p.m., visitors must follow Oswego's Indoor Spectator Policy, wearing a mask and either (1) showing proof of full vaccination status or (2) proof of a recent negative COVID test. Any policy updates will be posted to the Oswego Forward website.

Additional event details are available at oswego.edu/celebrate-snow. For questions about the event or how to be involved as a participating organization or volunteer, please email rcfs@oswego.edu or call 315.312.6677.

Located on nearly 400 acres of mixed terrain accessible from Thompson Road, Rice Creek Field Station has served as a living and working laboratory and educational facility for more than 50 years. In 2013, the facility opened a 7,700-square-foot, state-of-the-art visitor center. Rice Creek’s five miles of hiking trails are open daily dawn until dusk. Building hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.