Frozen Dead Guy Days canceled
Organizers consider resurrecting the festival in the summer
Because of the pandemic, last March marked the first time in nearly two decades that Nederland’s beloved festival Frozen Dead Guy Days didn’t fill the streets with macabre merriment, music and coffin races.
While the long-running event, that has attracted 25,000 attendees in prior years, will once again not happen the second weekend in March, organizers remain hopeful for an eventual resurrection — perhaps in a slightly different form from its previous incarnations.
“Frozen Dead Guy Days was canceled hours before the event in 2020, absolutely the right decision considering what we now know about COVID-19,” said Sarah Moseley Martin, a longtime volunteer who purchased 60% of the festival and took over as controlling partner last year. “The first few days, weeks, inevitably months after lockdown, we did our best to mitigate the tremendous financial impact, paid ever yone who worked and even some — due to contractual agreements — who did not provide ser vices.”
FDGD is vital to Nederland,
as it brings an economic boom delivering the busiest weekend of the year during a time that would other wise be incredibly slow.
“Our hearts were frozen and broken last year and we have so missed gearing up for the fest this year,” said Amanda Macdonald, who bought the fest from the Chamber in 2012 and remains a partial owner. “Although restrictions are gradually being lifted, we did not feel we could throw FDGD in a safe and freespirited fashion that really is its essence.”
Last year’s cancelation brought a stop to theater productions, late-night after-hours DJ sets at Ned’s Café and a whole slew of activities.
“Our sponsors, vendors, bands, VIPS, The Town of Nederland and our incredible attendees have been instrumental with their support of our efforts, as well as Tebo Properties and local businesses pitching in to allow FDGD to sell merchandise immediately after cancellation, which helped,” Mar tin said. “Ongoing online sales have been our lifeline in the past year.”
While costumed fans can not partake in frozen turkey bowling and a polar plunge this month, they can still show their suppor t for the iconic gathering by visiting FDGD’S online store at frozendeadguydays.org to purchase glitter hand sanitizer, trucker hats, pint glasses, totes, hoodies and, of course, T-shir ts.
“Frozen Dead Guy Days’ future, like many cultural events, is tenuous — strictly based on safety factors,” Mar tin said. “So, at this time, we are not able to consider full-scale operations in 2021. We’d love to host a smaller, possibly one-day event toward the end of summer — an ‘IceBreaker,’ in keeping with public health and safety guidelines set by our local and state of ficials.”
Music has always been an integral par t of FDGD and last year’s event promised live sets under heated tents from over 30 bands, including Foxfeather, Tierro Band, Dead Floyd, Flash Mountain Flood and many others.
The three-day festival’s lineups consistently featured well-known local artists and musicians from outside of Colorado.
“We are waiting to see if FDGD receives assistance from the SVOG (Shuttered
Venue Operators Grant Program) stimulus package, as we did not have insurance for cancelation by global pandemic or qualify for PPP,” Mar tin said. “The Save Our Stages, included in the stimulus act passed in December, would allow FDGD to recover enough of the losses from 2020 to go on as long as we qualify. We are working tirelessly to keep FDGD alive. If that funding doesn’t happen, we’d likely turn to crowdfunding.”
Even though the festival did not return last year, its memor y has yet to expire. What started as a relatively small event to honor one Nor wegian man’s action to cr yogenically freeze his deceased grandfather and store him in a Tuff Shed above town snowballed into an event that showcases the magic and unique spirit of Nederland.
“Over the last year, people from all over the world have reached out, bought merchandise and we are so lucky to have such a recognizable branded event that is unique to Colorado,” Martin said. “This time off has given us a chance to consider options beyond the three-day festival.”
Just when a full-capacity festival will return remains uncertain, but organizers would like FDGD to be celebrated in other ways.
“We’d love to see a FDGD vending machine with media and merchandise at (Denver International Airpor t) — of course it would look like a Tuff Shed,” Mar tin said.
She also envisions an eventual museum or art space that pays homage to the legacy of that Nor wegian on ice, Bredo Morstoel, known as Grandpa, and the world-famous festival.
“These dreams all require funding and we are not in a position to dream big just yet, so we are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best going forward,” Martin said.
Fans of the chilling fest may just have to wait for the ice to thaw and the arrival of warmer months to embrace the zany fun.
“While keeping an eye on restrictions and safety concerns, we would like to try to have a ‘Meltdown Get Down’— a one-day open-air event with live music and field day events possibly in late summer,” Macdonald said.