BOULDER COUNTY, Colo — Frozen Dead Guy Days, the famed festival that brings thousands of people to the small mountain town of Nederland, won't be held in 2023, event organizers said Tuesday.
The three-day festival, traditionally held in March, pays homage to a Norwegian man who was cryogenically frozen after his death and is still stored in the town to this day.
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Festival organizers said the 2023 event is canceled "due to numerous factors including our own operational hurdles returning after a two-year COVID hiatus, a lack of partnership with the Town of Nederland, and the challenges of large event production on the safety and security fronts."
Frozen Dead Guy Days was canceled due to the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021. More than 20,000 people attended the festival when it returned in 2022, organizers said.
"Reviving the festival required months of negotiations with the Town of Nederland that resulted in triple the budget expenditures compared to past years," organizers said. "The 20 inches of snow that fell the night before the festival's Friday kickoff also created more costs and hurdles for both Town and its production."
"FDGD started as a small festival and took on a life of its own. We have experienced growing pains over the past many years, as has Nederland,” festival co-owner Sarah Mosely Martin said in a news release. “At this time, we regretfully have to reassess how to go forward with every intention of honoring the cultural and historical value of Grandpa’s story and still be fiscally responsible."
"Until a plan is in place for the 20th Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival in 2024, the website frozendeadguydays.org will focus on merchandise and keeping its festivarian community informed," the release said.
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