Sandpoint Winter Carnival

The 53rd annual Sandpoint Winter Carnival runs February 13 through 22, 2026, delivering ten consecutive days of programmed winter activity across the town of Sandpoint, Idaho, and Schweitzer Mountain Resort above Lake Pend Oreille. Since 1973, the carnival has operated on its central premise: mid-winter in the Idaho Panhandle demands a counterprogram, and for five decades the community of Sandpoint has supplied one with remarkable consistency and genuine creative investment. This year’s edition features more than 30 confirmed events across the ten-day span, anchored by the opening Parade of Lights, the Schweitzer Let It Glow Parade and Fireworks, and the K9 Keg Pull on Cedar Street.

The Opening Weekend: Lights, Music, and the Mountain

The carnival opens Friday February 13 at 5:30 PM with the Parade of Lights, which departs the city parking lot off Church Street and loops through Second Avenue, Main Street, and First Avenue before returning via Cedar Street. The Winter Carnival King and Queen lead the procession of floats built by local organizations and businesses, followed immediately by the Pend d’Oreille Winery Block Party on Third Street, co-hosted by the Festival at Sandpoint, with fire spinners, dancers, and live music. The block party flows into live music at the 219 Lounge featuring Float Like a Buffalo, a funk-ska-reggae-jam band whose previous sold-out Sandpoint shows have established the act as a Winter Carnival institution. Schweitzer Mountain Resort hosts its own Presidents Day weekend programming during the second weekend, culminating in the Let It Glow Parade on Sunday February 15, when skiers and snowboarders descend the mountain carrying lights at dusk in a procession visible from the valley, followed by a fireworks display over the slopes.

Valentine’s Day and the K9 Keg Pull

Valentine’s Day falls on Saturday February 14 during the first carnival weekend, which Sandpoint’s downtown businesses treat as a parallel occasion: special menus at Marigold Bistro at 414 Church Street (reservations required at 208-253-9514), dance lessons at walk-the-Line wine bar, and retail events at Bella Terra Boutique on North First Avenue run alongside carnival programming without requiring visitors to choose between the occasions. The K9 Keg Pull, one of the carnival’s most purely beloved events, brings local dogs to Cedar Street for a racing competition structured around the simple fact that a dog pulling a keg down a street in winter is both competitive sport and self-evidently joyful spectacle.

If You’re Going With Kids: The Parade of Lights on February 13 is the single best family entry point into the carnival calendar. The procession is short enough to hold a young child’s attention through its entirety, the subsequent block party at Pend d’Oreille Winery is street-level and visually rich, and the evening concludes at a reasonable hour for families with early risers. The K9 Keg Pull provides the weekend’s most uncomplicated crowd-pleasing moment for children of any age who have been in the presence of a dog.

Lake Pend Oreille and the Wider Sandpoint Context

Sandpoint occupies a narrow strip of land between Lake Pend Oreille, one of the deepest and largest lakes in the American Northwest at 148 square miles and over 1,150 feet in depth, and the Schweitzer Mountain terrain above. The lake in February is quiet, cold, and photographically striking: the Selkirk Mountain range reflected in still water on a windless morning produces the kind of image that requires no filtration and no weather luck beyond the absence of clouds. Lake.com lists vacation rental options across the Sandpoint and Lake Pend Oreille area for travelers making the carnival into a full winter Idaho stay.