Crowds descend on downtown Detroit for Winter Blast

Cameron Allen stood in front of a roaring fire holding a lime-green flower of a cup filled with a mound of ice the same color and tried to munch.

The 10-year-old Clinton Township girl managed a muffled "lemon-lime" when asked what flavor she was holding as she and her father, James Delpier, 35, took a break after riding the snow slide at the Meridian Winter Blast in downtown Detroit today.

Never mind that it didn't feel like snow cone weather outside. Hundreds of people filled Campus Martius Park today for the Meridian Winter Blast, which started Friday and ends Sunday. It includes 75 entertainment acts, science experiments for the kids, ice sculptures such as a replica of "The Spirit of Detroit," ice skating, a zip line, snowshoeing, dogsledding exhibitions, something called fowling — a cross between football and bowling — and lots of food vendors.

The event got its start in 2005 at Campus Martius Park.

Jonathan Witz, the event's producer, said today's warmer temperatures, which crept into the upper 30s, had really brought out the crowds. Despite the notion that a winter festival needs wintry weather to thrive, Witz said slightly warmer temperatures seem to attract more people.

"This is the perfect weather today, there's people not wearing coats," Witz noted.

About 10,000 people came to the festival on Friday, and Witz said organizers were hoping for about 40,000-50,000 people today and 30,000-40,000 people on Sunday.

Ruth Huckelby, 60, who lives on Detroit's west side, brought her great-granddaughters, Christianna Winbush, 11, and Adriana Weber, 7, out to try "everything fun."

It was the family's first trip to Winter Blast.

"They want to go on the zip line," Huckelby announced as she surveyed the offerings.

But Christianna hesitated.

"It's a long line," she said.

That was the sentiment of 72-year-old Gloria Erickson of Sterling Heights.

"An hour and a half is too long to wait in this kind of weather," she said after several members of her family finished their ride on the zip line, which begins 34 feet up and stretches 300 feet along Woodward Avenue. She suggested additional zip lines to speed the wait, an idea Witz said organizers are already planning for next year.

Those who rode, however, sounded less concerned about the line.

"It was awesome," said an obviously chilled Julie Whitaker, 39, of Oxford Township, as she tried to warm her hands.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.

Meridian Winter Blast

Open until 11 p.m. today and runs 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. No one younger than 18 is admitted without a parent after 5 p.m.

Fee: A donation for Matrix Human Services of one of the following: $2, three cans of food or a children's book. Children younger than 3 are free. Some events, such as the zip line, have additional fees.

www.winterblast.com