Bundle Up for Alaska’s Fur Rendezvous

The official name is Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, but the locals call it simply “Rondy,” and it’s the biggest winter festival in the state. Begun in the 1930s, the festival will be held this year from Feb. 8 to 17. It includes such typically Alaskan activities as Eskimo blanket tosses, dog sled races and a prospectors’ ball. Other highlights are helicopter rides, pancake breakfasts, horse-drawn carriage rides, fiddle contests and melodramas.

For more information, contact Greater Anchorage Inc., 400 D St., Suite 200, Anchorage, AK 99501; (907) 274-1177, www.furrondy.net.

Colorado

Denver will honor Buffalo Bill on his birthday with two big events. The annual birthday party will take place at the city’s oldest saloon and one of Buffalo Bill’s favorite bars, the Buckhorn Exchange Restaurant. The festivities on Feb. 23 will include a look-alike contest that usually draws a dozen or so Buffalo Bill ringers, plus Old West gunfights and western music. Reservations are required for dinner but not for the general milling about. The following day, the look-alikes and other Bill fans will reconvene at Buffalo Bill’s gravesite at the Buffalo Bill Museum.

For more information, contact the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1555 California St., Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202; (800) 393-8559, www.buffalobill.org.

Nevada

The 18th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Jan. 26 to Feb. 2 in Elko, is a jubilee that celebrates contemporary ranching traditions--far more inclusive than a strictly poetry event. Cowboy poets from as far away as the Australian bush will participate this year. Visitors can sign up for workshops in rawhide braiding, horsehair hitching, western dancing and cooking Apache camp bread and mutton stew.

Or they can just sit back and enjoy performances by the poets (including headliners Baxter Black and Waddie Mitchell), storytellers and western musicians. Reservations are suggested.

For more information, contact the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Western Wildlife Center, 501 Railroad St., Elko, NV 89801; (888) 880-5885, www.westernfolklife.org.

Florida

The Gasparilla Pirate Fest, Feb. 2 in Tampa, began in 1904 when local citizens donned costumes to reenact the historic invasion of the bay by Jose Gaspar. This year hundreds of pirates-for-the-day will sail into the bay led by the Jose Gasparilla, a fully rigged pirate galleon, and accompanied by a flotilla of pleasure boats. They will proceed to “capture” the city and hold a victory parade into downtown, strewing trinkets as they pass.

For more information, contact Event Makers Corp., 3701 W. Azeele St., Tampa, FL 33609; (813) 353-8108, www.gasparillapiratefest.com.

Louisiana

You can have a wild time celebrating Mardi Gras in Louisiana without ever setting foot in New Orleans. Lafayette is just one alternative where the good times roll with parades, balls, dancing in the streets and plenty of food from Feb. 8 to 12. The Courir de Mardi Gras dates to early settlement days and re-creates ceremonial medieval begging rituals. A caped horseback rider travels from house to house seeking ingredients for a communal gumbo. Tee Mamou features 400-year-old European chants sung in French. And while most fancy balls are private, the Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Assn. Pageant and Ball is open to all--and is free.

For more information, contact the Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission, P.O. Box 52066, Lafayette, LA 70505; (800) 346-1958, www.lafayettetravel.com.

Texas

Brownsville’s Charro Days, Feb. 28 to March 3, have paid tribute to the city’s strong Latino heritage and its border location for 65 years. Three parades on three consecutive days, with bands, floats and tejano and mariachi music, will march over the international bridge into Matamoros. The indoor merienda is a pageant of traditional and ornate Mexican dress. At the Sombrero Festival visitors can enjoy more local music.

For more information, contact the Brownsville Convention and Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 4697, Brownsville, TX 78523; (800) 626-2639, www.brownsville.org.

Belgium

Binche, about 34 miles south of Brussels, hosts the country’s most lavish pre-Lent celebrations, Feb. 10 to 12. On the 10th “Mam’selles” are on parade. From dawn to dusk on the 12th, streets will be filled with more than 800 local men and boys costumed as “Gille,” a hay-stuffed carnival character with white feathered headdress (some as high as 4 feet). These Gilles toss oranges to the crowd. Also part of the tradition: a brass band concert. To learn more about Binche’s carnival tradition, stop by the town’s Carnival and Mask Museum.

For more information, contact the Belgian Tourist Office, 780 3rd Ave., Suite 1501, New York, NY 10017; (212) 758-8130, www.visitbelgium.com.

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