Dartmouth Carnival ranks among top 10 winter festivals
In locales with long, severe winters, cities and universities worldwide revel in winter festivities similar to Dartmouth's Winter Carnival. As celebrations of the snow and cold weather, the festivals feature traditional winter activities, including snow sculpting, ice hockey, skating and skiing, in addition to traditions unique to each carnival. National Geographic Traveler Magazine ranked Dartmouth's Winter Carnival sixth out of the world's top 10 winter carnivals in its January/February 2012 issue. Fur Rendezvous of Anchorage, Alaska, the top-rated winter carnival in the world, is a 10-day celebration of Alaskan life. Originating in the 1930s as a sports tournament, the carnival coincided with the period during which miners and trappers brought their goods to town, according to National Geographic Traveler. Almost 80 years later, "Rondy" continues to spotlight outdoor sports, including snowshoe softball, ice hockey and the two-and-a-half-kilometer and five-kilometer Frostbite Footraces, according to National Geographic Traveler.
