The Moscow Chamber of Commerce is bringing an ’80s ski theme to the downtown area for the city’s third annual Winterfest in February.

Samantha Martinet, Moscow Chamber of Commerce executive director, said Winterfest is a family-friendly block party that came out of the idea that the downtown area needed to be utilized.

There will be activities such as live music and a photo booth, and this year will be the second year a local business will host a cake walk, Martinet said. Everything is free, except for the drink tickets people can use at the alcohol vendors.

Other activities include safety throwing targets from Moscow Axe Throwing, face painting, crafts, a s’more station and more.

“It’s really the business community coming together to celebrate our community and having a great space in our downtown, where we not only do business, but also create a space where we’re bringing families and community members down to participate in this community celebration of what it means to be Idaho’s fest city,” Martinet said.

Two years ago, the Moscow Downtown Business Association was formed, which led to the discussion of using the downtown area in a beneficial way for the community, Martinet said.

The Downtown Business Association receives money every year through the state to market to tourism, she said. The money comes from a bed tax on hotel stays, and it all goes back to the state, which grants it regionally.

The money Moscow receives from the state goes to generating more hotel space, so the Downtown Business Association wanted to identify Moscow and find things to bring people to the city, Martinet said.

The Moscow Comedy Fest already existed, as well as a film festival, so Moscow was led to be known as Idaho’s fest city, leading to multiple festivals and annual block parties, including Winterfest, she said.

“It really just started out as an idea to see if people would come to Moscow and if we could generate more people downtown and I think the events have grown over the years,” she said.

Last year, 765 wristbands were sold, but there were over 2500 people overall in the downtown area for the ’80 ski-themed block party, Martinet said.

Stefan Yauchzee, Moscow Pour Company owner and downtown events planning committee member, said the Pour Company is one of the alcohol vendors every year at Winterfest.

In the two years the block party has existed, Yauchzee said he has seen people love to dress up.

With the ’80s ski theme, people wear brightly colored jackets and pants, so they can still have fun while being a part of the theme, he said. 

“The amount of people that show up just because they get to dress up and hang out and party like it’s one of those cliche ’80s ski movies is really fun,” he said.

The vendors will dress up as well and play ’80s and ’90s music. Yauchzee said the theme is the best part of the event.

“The biggest thing that I love the most is the first year, we saw some people dressed up,” Martinet said. “Last year, it was crazy because you were the odd man out if you weren’t in a costume.”

Winterfest will be from 12—4 p.m. Feb. 3 on Main Street in Moscow.