“Beat the Bitter” this Week in North Liberty

Beat the Bitter features a tennis-court-turned-ice-rink, and that’s just the beginning.

Forget hibernating and embrace winter with the passion of a Norseman!

North Liberty’s Beat the Bitter festival is back with a week full of activities to get you out of the house for some winter games and good cheer. Head to the tundra of North Liberty between January 28–February 3 for fierce amounts of fun on some of the otherwise bleakest days of the year.

Friday and Saturday, in particular, are action-packed: Fire & Ice Friday, for instance, features a serious slew of festivities on February 2 from 3–9 p.m. Adults and kids can strap on some ice skates at Penn Meadows Park, make faces in a free photo booth, take a horse-drawn carriage ride, fiddle around at the kids’ playground, marvel at ice and wood carvers, grab tasty eats from nearby food trucks, warm up at the community bonfire with yummy s’mores and hot chocolate, see exciting fire-baton performances and a presentation of Iowa birds of prey, compete in a curling contest or tug-of-war, and oooh and ahhhh at the fireworks finale. I mean, come on.

And if games are your thing, come back Saturday for some Winter Games, including a 5Kish obstacle run, snowmobile rides, snowball tournament, broomball tournament, fat-tire bike riding, and … well, you get the picture. (North Liberty, you’ve outdone yourself!)

Most events are free, but a few do require registration, so snag your spot here. To learn more, visit BeattheBitter.com.

Have fun out there!